Nationwide Insurance not to title sponsor PGA tour in 2013
Nationwide Insurance has been a prominent name amongst the golf event sponsors over the years but it has now announced that it will finish its title sponsorship of the PGA tour’s developmental circuit when the company’s present contract ends in 2012. Nationwide will instead cooperate with the Jack Nicklaus founded Memorial Tournament.
"We've been very, very happy for the last eight years with the Nationwide Tour, but when we have the opportunity to step up and present the Memorial, it was too good of an opportunity to pass (up)," said Jim Lyski, Nationwide’s Executive Vice President. He added, "When you look at that, and you look at the inventory we have in golf, you reach diminishing returns when you keep adding and adding."
The Ohio-based company has been the major sponsor of the PGA tour for eight years now. According to PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, the tour is economically in a good state despite having survived various financial roadblocks. He added that since the insurance company has ended their sponsorship, they will now have to look for some other company to take their place. But still satisfied, Finchem claimed that the tour is 100 percent sponsored for the coming years. They don’t see immediate problems for now; they just need to find a partner.
Meanwhile, Nationwide has promised a six-year deal to Memorial Tournament which starts in 2011. The Nationwide CEO, Steve Rasmussen has offered help to PGA Tour for its transfer to a new sponsor. While citing the tour as his company’s child, Rasmussen said that they will work with Tim and his team to make sure that the tour’s future remains secured. Nationwide is also linked to the Children’s Hospital Invitational that takes place at the Ohio State Scarlet’s Course. The company is in an agreement to sponsor the Invitational for the next two years.
According to Lyski, the company had to make some tough decisions and the main reason for not sponsoring the tour any more is that they wanted to reach a certain level in the golf property. They now want to smartly plan their budget.
Now, of course when some companies stop sponsoring, others start doing so. Banks, finance and automobile companies would surely be looking to sponsor this most prestigious event in the future. Most of the companies are continuing to sponsor the championships or tournaments they are presently linked with. An example is that of Deutsche Bank, which hosts the championship in Boston. It has assured to remain the sponsor of 2012’s twelfth edition also. In the older days, most of the tournaments were referred to by their locations, but that’s not the case anymore. Now sponsors determine their names.
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