Economy hurts golf tourney's sponsorship chances ajc.com

We didn't realize how important you were." The end result, recalled Steve Jackson, who also worked for G-P at the time, was tens of millions of dollars in new pulp sales. There are," Jackson notes, "those kinds of stories."

Jackson, who's now on the search committee looking for a new title sponsor for the tournament, hopes corporate America takes the point: Being title sponsor of a PGA Tour event like the one in Atlanta can pay off in many ways.

Now, if only someone would seize the opportunity to spend about $7 million a year for five years, plus related marketing costs, to put their name on the event. The tournament's effort to land a title sponsor has been hampered by the downturn in the economy and by the reversal of fortunes of many companies that might otherwise jump at the chance to put their name on the event. We are the victim of the timing of business economics," Jackson said.

People are saying, 'We're not going to increase our spending this year.' When the 2008 tournament concludes Sunday afternoon at the TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, AT&T will drop off as the event's title sponsor, leaving a vacuum that no other company has yet filled. When AT&T merged with BellSouth, it inherited the tournament, but with two other PGA Tour title sponsorships, plus two on the Champions Tour, the company gave notice last November it would trim the Atlanta event.

If no title sponsor is found soon, the tournament, after 40 years and essentially just two title sponsors (G-P and BellSouth AT&T), could disappear.

There is no single drop-dead date to find a sponsor, but the PGA Tour releases its 2009 schedule in November, and a company must be found before then, preferably well before then. Since January, Jackson, tournament director Dave Kaplan and other officials have contacted 149 companies and made presentations to 23 and formal proposals to seven.

Five of those prospects are still classified as "active," meaning that one might agree to serve as title sponsor. Every Atlanta-area company that could legitimately serve as a title sponsor has been contacted, they said. Gov. Sonny Perdue and U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson have helped the search committee make contact with possible sponsors, as has as the Atlanta Sports Council, Jackson said.

If this had been 18 months ago, or 18 months from now, we'd probably have had a sponsor," Kaplan said. Technically, a would-be sponsor wouldn't have to spend any dollars until 2009.

But for many corporations, including a list of top Atlanta companies that have cut back through staff reductions and other cost paring, the idea of committing tens of millions of dollars to sponsor a golf tournament is unseemly. Several major local corporations called by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are not interested in taking over the event's title sponsorship, including Coca-Cola, UPS and Georgia-Pacific. It's not something we will be doing," said Susan Stribling, spokesperson for Coca-Cola North America.

Jackson, Kaplan and company tout PGA Tour title sponsorship as a way to introduce a new product or brand, boost name recognition, and build or cement relationships with customers and partners. The PGA Tour, they say, reaches "influentials" - key corporate decision makers. For its money, a title sponsor gets extensive TV commercial air time, spots in the tournament pro-am event, signage throughout the course, hospitality opportunities during the week, and privileges at other TPC clubs. Plus, the sponsor gets the public relations value of backing a local charity.

Since 1989, the tournament, through the non-profit Atlanta Classic Foundation host organization, has donated more than $13 million to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Still, there are many alternatives if a company wants to spend money on sports. It's always competitive," said PGA Tour executive Tom Wade.

Companies have a lot of options how to spend their marketing and community dollars, and in this economic environment it's more challenging than normal." Vote for this story!

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