The Irish Open is to have a new headline commercial sponsor when it arrives in Royal County Down in May.
Indications are that a deal will be announced on Friday involving an Irish brand with international reach.
The deal is believed to be for an initial one year with an option to continue for more after an evaluation of what 2015 delivers. The fee is believed to be in the region of €1million.
The Irish Open has been supported by Fáilte Ireland since the departure of Three who last were involved in the year that Shane Lowry won.
Rory McIlroy’s rise to become the world’s top golfer has happened since then and his strong support for the tournament has played a key role in it’s coming to the fore as a sponsorship opportunity for international brands.
McIlroy, Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and more are already confirmed for May and others are being added each week with a strong hint from weekend winner Dustin Johnson that he will be coming as well.
Emirates, AIB and AIG are all strong brands in Ireland that have an association with golf here, among others. We will see on Friday if one of them is to be the next big brand in the history of the Irish Open, and is to secure a piece of Rory McIlroy for this summer at least…
