Rivals unite to cash in on Ryder Cup appeal
The Ryder Cup is becoming “the biggest one-off weekend in sport”, branding bosses claimed last night as rivals the United States and Europe join forces to offer new global commercial deals worth more than £200million.
Ryder Cup Europe and the Professional Golfers’ Association are breaking with tradition by combining efforts to lure new worldwide sponsors, a move which industry experts predict will send profits surging.
Record numbers are expected to follow the action at Le Golf National, near Paris, from Friday, with 14million Britons keeping tabs on this year’s match, according to market research.
“The Ryder Cup poses one of the greatest rights opportunities in sports,” said Mark Thompson, managing director of global sponsorship management company SponServe. “It has the potential to become the biggest one-off weekend in the sporting calendar. The Ryder Cup’s full commercial potential remains untapped.”
In previous years, sponsors have been put off big-money global deals because they have had to negotiate with marketing executives on both sides of the Atlantic. However, parcel delivery giant UPS has this year become the tournament’s second “global partner”.
Nathan Homer, the commercial director for Ryder Cup Europe, said: “Ryder Cup Europe and the PGA of America are working together to maximise the global commercial opportunities of the Ryder Cup.”
There are 34 partners, suppliers and licensees of the Ryder Cup. The average price per sponsor for the European event is about £2million, while in the US it is nearer £4million.
Next weekend will be the first time the event has been held in France but organisers say ticket sales have been buoyant, helped by the box office appeal of Tiger Woods’s return to the contest after six years.
Carsten Thode, chief strategy officer at sports marketing firm Synergy, has helped land a series of sponsorship deals with Europe and America. He said: “It’s become a powerhouse of an event. People who are not necessarily golf fans are interested.”