PGA

Press release from PGA.com,

The PGA of America and Turner Sports have extended their broadcasting and interactive media agreements covering the PGA Championship, PGA Grand Slam of Golf and PGA.com through 2019. The new agreement between the two organizations will also expand to include licensing, with Turner’s Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE) serving as the PGA’s licensing agent in the youth marketplace. In addition, Turner and the PGA will collaborate on a number of new media and consumer marketing initiatives to increase awareness and brand recognition of The PGA of America among key audiences, as well as introduce new, younger audiences to learning, playing and following the game.

For as long as we have had promotions in sports, teams have worked with franchises for “special prizes” when teams hit milestones in games. Free fries for a 100 points, double chili for six goals etc. etc. have always been a get something for nothing mantra that drives foot traffic as the added bonus for a team partnership for many retailers and franchisees. In February Quiznos took in one step further by using many of its sports platforms to promote its one million free sub giveaway, which generated a countless amount of foot traffic and publicity even with some of its snafus with demand outreaching supply.

No one is safe when the economy is in the state that it is. Generally speaking the first thing off the balance sheets of troubled companies are expensive sports sponsorship packages.

Wachovia, a Charlotte NC based bank, was spening up to 10 million dollars a year sponsoring the PGA tour. Now that this bank has failed and been absorbed by CitiGroup the future of the sponsorship remain a question.

Private Insurance company AIG is now under the control of the federal Government and that surely will affect it’s prior commitment to the PGA tour as well.