Tuesday
Sep222009
"We were putting all our eggs in one basket with this tournament"
Did anyone else find this statement justifying Anheuser-Busch's pullout of the Kingsmill event a bit curious?
"We were putting all our eggs in one basket with this tournament," said Dan McHugh, A-B vice president of media, sponsorship and activation. "We want to widen our footprint and hit a few more tournaments. By no means are we walking away from the LPGA."
At a news conference Monday, McHugh said Anheuser-Busch planned to be an "associate sponsor" of other tournaments but conceded that "we're not sure what associate sponsor means yet."
Anheuser-Busch putting all of its eggs in one basket sponsoring an LPGA event? They probably spend more on Superbowl pre-game advertising that the Kingsmill event!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 08:22 AM
Reader Comments (13)
That's just a pitiful copout, period.
The PGA Tour date in July was never a good one (it's dog-breath hot and humid in SE Virginia that time of year), but the LPGA date in May was great. I saw a lot of great players, especially from the LPGA, there and I'm disappointed that they won't be back in 1010.
...the tour has "close to" 20 events confirmed for 2010...'
Wow, what a testament to mismanagement under Ms. Bivens. I had no idea you could run a proven product into the ground that fast. It must be some sort of land speed record.
Still, I like virtually everything that's been said and done under the new temp regime, including the comments by LPGA's Eric Albrecht in this link. 2010 will likely be the 'vision' they wish they never had, but they seem to be moving in the right direction.
LPGAFAN, local beer dstributors get "official beer" designation at PGA Tour events for a LOT less than $50,000. Hell, usually an ad in the program, a couple pro-am spots and some tickets will do it. Usually some cross-promotion involved as well.
I agree with you that being an associate sponsor is a useless exercise.
AB is just talking the talk in order to back away as quietly as possibly...
Or making a quit but quick beeline for a larger piece of the action with Finchem and the boys.
could have taken sponsorship with cash from his money clip. . .
Thing is, their sponsorship budget is plenty big to do both tours...I think Mike T. is right, this order to cease and desist is coming from InBev.
Same thing happened to the Charlotte PGA Tour event when Wells Fargo took over and bailed on the Wachovia tourney. Thing I don't get there is Wells Fargo still has to fulfill the 5-year contract but they refuse to use it to their benefit?!? You know what my Dad would say -- fck 'em.
But sometimes, sponsors might want other options. With title sponsor, you get one big hit, that week.
Maybe they want a lot more smaller hits in more markets. Kinda like the Kodak Challenge thing on the PGA tour. It's cheesy, I admit, but they get some exposure on TV every week, cross-promo rights, rights to promo on all tourney grounds, etc.
Who knows, maybe they'll do an agreement to be exclusive beer supplier at all LPGA events, superceding Farmingdale's point.
Grey Goose was sold to Bacardi in 2004 but your point isduly noted as Frank sold the Grey Goose brand for 2 billion dollars.
Farmingdale, I do remember a post where Thomas and the CBA were mentioned. It was a non sequitur for me because I thought CBA referred to a collective bargaining agreement. :)
It wasn't until I just goggled now, that I learned of the Continental Basketball Association. Thomas wins hands down. According to the Wiki timeline 54 years and then within 18 months - poof!
And what's even worse is that jock sniffing dolt Jim Dolan went on to hire Isiah to run the Knicks!!! We know how that ended up...
I heard Dolan used to travel with the team and make them sit and listen to him play guitar on the plane between cities, bet those players were m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e!!! (prob still does for all I know)
FYI, it's the same on the PGA Tour. Each event cuts their own deal in their respective marketplaces...