Ever since the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour announced their initial “strategic alliance” in 2020, there has been angst among many of the rank-and-file DP World Tour players. Most of this angst is centered around the idea of, Yeah, this is good, but what’s in it for me?
Despite this concern, the alliance was expanded two years later, morphing into a 13-year agreement through 2035. Perhaps the most visible aspects initially of this amended agreement were in securing Genesis, the luxury brand of Korean automaker Hyundai, as the title sponsor of the Scottish Open, and Horizon Therapeutics, which was acquired by Amgen in the fall, as the title sponsor of the Irish Open. Both of those sponsorships began in 2022.
And yet, the angst continues. GGP’s Matt Cooper captured some of this sentiment in an insightful column last week after he spoke with numerous players at the Bahrain Championship. This time, it is the PGA Tour’s new private-equity deal with the Strategic Sports Group that has gotten under the skin of some DP World Tour players.
And yet, players on the European-based tour are benefiting from the alliance with the PGA Tour. Another sign of that occurred last week when it was announced that FedEx, the PGA Tour’s umbrella sponsor, would become the title sponsor of the French Open, beginning this summer.
In 2023, some $20 million in prize money was handed out from sponsorship deals that fall under the alliance. This year, that amount will be $40 million. That is real money for the rank-and-file European tour players. And it is likely to increase in the years ahead, as both tours have combined to set up a coordinated sponsorship platform to make it easier for global brands to do business with the tours together. This platform dedicates eight executives in London and Asia, calling on global brands.
“If this global tour somehow comes to fruition in the next few years, could you imagine bringing the best 70 or 80 golfers in the world to India for a tournament?”
RORY McILROY
The inspiration for this new platform is the Ryder Cup, of which the DP World Tour is a partner with the PGA of America. Rather than sell companies sponsorship of one match or one team, the partners in the Ryder Cup pivoted to a new model several years ago by creating worldwide partnerships covering multiple matches. This new approach to sponsorship resulted in a 153 percent increase in funding during the recent four-year cycle, which ended in Rome last fall.
FedEx, the American shipping behemoth, is exactly the kind of blue-chip global company that the DP World Tour needs to thrive in the new world order of professional golf. That new world order means that the game will become more global than ever. There are golf-hungry audiences that remain underserved. LIV Golf proved that last year when it went to Adelaide, Australia, which was well-received and a tremendous success by all measures.
Keith Pelley, the DP World Tour’s outgoing CEO, has been a staunch advocate of the pro game becoming more global. When asked last month at a tournament in the United Arab Emirates about where he would like to see the game going, he said: “This is a global game. Every business now that is growing wants to be global. You see that here in Dubai. … What I would like to see is the game becoming more unified with a global strategy.”
Rory McIlroy endorsed Pelley’s comments. He envisions a new global tour modeled on the Champions League in European soccer.
“If this global tour somehow comes to fruition in the next few years, could you imagine bringing the best 70 or 80 golfers in the world to India for a tournament?” McIlroy said. “I think [it] would change the game and the perception of the game in a country like that. So again, there’s so much opportunity out there to go global with it.”
In the meantime, the FedEx sponsorship in France should bring some stability to the oldest DP World Tour event on the European continent. Since 1998, the French Open has had six different title sponsors. On four occasions, it was played without a title sponsor. On the tour calendar, it used to be held in the summer. This year, it will be played in October, part of the “Back 9” series of nine historic events and national opens from late August through October that extend beyond the conclusion of the PGA Tour’s calendar FedEx Cup season.
Hopefully, the benefits of the FedEx deal, coming on the heels of Genesis and Amgen, begin to sink in with more rank-and-file members on the DP World Tour as a net positive association.
E-MAIL JIM