Vince Pellegrino, the newly promoted VP of Tournament Operations for the Western Golf Association, is happy. BMW has just extended its sponsorship of the BMW Championship, run by the WGA, for two more years. That is great news for
1. What is your perspective on the PGA TOUR’s challenge with sponsorships?
All PGA TOUR sponsorships are based on the underlying financial strength of their sponsoring companies. In these difficult economic times, most companies are looking at ways to tighten their budgets. That said, effective marketing strategies are even more important in this climate, as companies struggle to maintain, and possibly increase their market share. PGA TOUR sponsorships offer integrated marketing strategies that I expect will continue to be attractive to current and potential new sponsors.
2. BMW just extended its relationship with WGA. What enabled you to accomplish this?
BMW has a strong commitment to golf and to communicating with the kind of audience that follows the PGA TOUR. The TOUR and the Western Golf Association are perfectly aligned with BMW’s marketing needs and provide the company with unique ways to reach its domestic and international customers. BMW has been delighted with the results of their sponsorship thus far and also feels it is important to continue supporting the tournament’s sole charity, the Evans Scholars Foundation.
3. Was the criticism of PGA tournament sponsors and their event activation fair? Could they have handled the critics differently?
Some early tournaments on the ‘09 schedule may not have been proactive enough in communicating their side of the story. People need to know about and appreciate the positive economic impact and charitable support that a local golf tournament offers. The economic impact alone is estimated to be nearly $200 billion across all
4. Tiger Woods is your defending champ. How will you handle his controversy?
The uncertainty for all of us on the PGA TOUR is the question of when Tiger will return to competition. How we handle our promotions for the BMW Championship will depend on when he decides to return. That decision and any related issues are beyond our control.
5. How do you feel about the Cog Hill redesign and renovation?
The Jemseks, who own Cog Hill, always have been great friends of the tournament and first class people to deal with. By investing $5 million in course renovation, they took a great golf course and made it even better. It’s an incredible commitment to the game.
6. What are you doing in social media to grow the BMW and WGA fan base?
We are already very active. We have a Facebook fan page, LinkedIn profiles and an E-newsletter. We will continue to develop other social media strategies to engage fans as long as it's a valuable and relevant to our audiences, BMW and our other partners.
