The Ryder Cup gets underway at Haseltine in Minnesota later today and will dominate sporting coverage and conversation through much of the weekend.
It does clash with the Al Ireland Replay in Ireland but Sunday’s concluding singles matches will still be the talk around most meeting rooms on Monday.
Here are six snippets which you may find of interest from around the commercial side of the tournament.
Global Partnership
Standard Life Investments is the only global sponsor for the competition, in contrast to most major sporting events where a multi sponsor model is now the norm.
Driving to success
On the team side there is more depth to the sponsorship roster and some interesting match ups just as there are in the opening four balls.
If you were wondering about the demographic of those attracted towards the tournament the two official vehicle partners for the respective sides are Mercedes for the home team and BMW for the Europeans.
Watch out for the Watches
Omega are the official watch of the PGA Tour while Roles are supporters of the European team.
Because watches are not though part of the official ‘team kit’ players remain free to wear their own sponsored brand so that a degree of crossover occurs.
It was reported that in the official team photographs taken this week that European players in particular were asked to cover up their watches except for those wearing Rolex.
Checking for updates
US Sport is a stats based affair and Microsoft are very visible sideline sponsors of tablets in use on the sidelines of the NFL.
Samsung is an official partner of the US Tour so expect to see a few Notes in the hands of Davis Love and the US Captaincy.
Residual Value
Although it is only one weekend every two years, the European Tour is understood to have received a total dividend of over €200 million from the Ryder Cup over the past decade. A report from Gleneagles in 2014 showed that it had attracted 63,000 visitors and a ‘drop’ for the local economy of over €120 million.
Fine Threads
Nike and Under Armour may be the brands on most pro golf playing gear but the casual wear sported by Team Europe is this year supplied by Italian fashion house Loro Piana who have a signature bomber jacket in their range that retails for an eye watering €3,100.
Sport for Business’ Coverage of the Business of Golf is in partnership with Carr Golf – Experts in the Business of Golf
