CVS Not Renewing Title Sponsorship Of It's LPGA Tour Event

[Blue]

Originally Posted by golfnut

Let's face it, if the tour stayed inside the U.S. until the tour championship, the events played here have almost zero chance of attracting the casual fan because of the NFL.

I didn't address this in my other post, but we hear this all the time ... Can's have the LPGA in March because of NCAA basketball. Can't have it in the fall because of NFL. Can't have it end on Sundays because of the PGA. Can't have it on weekends from February to whenever because of Nascar. Can't compete with football, baskeball, WNBA, Olypmics, tiddlewinks world championship.

As xman said, there is always something and increasingly with a gazillion and one channels on TV and more on demand.

If the LPGA plans its schedule so as not to compete with other sports, they'll be holding their tournaments on the dark side of the moon.

[Saint-Just X]

Originally Posted by Blue

I didn't address this in my other post, but we hear this all the time ... Can's have the LPGA in March because of NCAA basketball. Can't have it in the fall because of NFL. Can't have it end on Sundays because of the PGA. Can't have it on weekends from February to whenever because of Nascar. Can't compete with football, baskeball, WNBA, Olypmics, tiddlewinks world championship.

As xman said, there is always something and increasingly with a gazillion and one channels on TV and more on demand.

If the LPGA plans its schedule so as not to compete with other sports, they'll be holding their tournaments on the dark side of the moon.

Both points of view have a validity.

It's not that the LPGA shouldn't choose to compete against other sporting events,it's more to do with 'when' people choose to view sports.

Golf,in general,is a Spring/Summer sport,you become accustomed to watching it at certain times of the year.In Fall/Winter,people move on to different sports,so golf takes a backseat.

If there's going to be golf at that time of year,it has to be meaningful.There has to be a finale to pull people in.The LPGA does not have that.

In truth,the PGA Tour doesn't,either.They have a better climax,with the play-offs and the Tour Championship,but that's all over by the end of September.

Then they have the Fall Series.

Which is something other than gripping.

I don't have the figures,but I'm fairly confident that once the whole FedEx Cup is over and done with,the majority of PGA Tour fans just switch off,literally and figuratively.(Unless watching a bunch of journeymen scrambling to retain their tour card is someone's idea of must-see tv.)

Watching golf on tv in November and December is a bit like seeing a christmas tree in February ;it's a touch incongruous.

It's a simplistic rationale,but it's all my own...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

[Blue]

Originally Posted by Saint-Just X

Watching golf on tv in November and December is a bit like seeing a christmas tree in February ;it's a touch incongruous.

It's a simplistic rationale,but it's all my own...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

The date of the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge is October 11-17. That's late summer for most people, isn't it? Anyway, the scheduling seems trivial. They can move it up a few weeks to the middle of September and solve the problem.

[golfnut]

Originally Posted by Blue

I didn't address this in my other post, but we hear this all the time ... Can's have the LPGA in March because of NCAA basketball. Can't have it in the fall because of NFL. Can't have it end on Sundays because of the PGA. Can't have it on weekends from February to whenever because of Nascar. Can't compete with football, baskeball, WNBA, Olypmics, tiddlewinks world championship.

As xman said, there is always something and increasingly with a gazillion and one channels on TV and more on demand.

If the LPGA plans its schedule so as not to compete with other sports, they'll be holding their tournaments on the dark side of the moon.

I never said anything about the LPGA scheduling their events to avoid all other sports. All i said was that the LPGA domestically should avoid going up against the NFL, which crushes anyone that does go up against it. Why does the PGA Tour, with a higher level of exposure and popularity end there playoffs at the end of september? To avoid going against the NFL! Even Finchem admitted that. This isn't about avoiding all other sports, it's about capitalizing on when the tour has the best chance at exposure domestically and that is between march and the end of august.

[golfnut]

Originally Posted by Blue

The Kraft Nabisco has not moved. It has always been held in the last week in March/first week in April, dating back to 1983, the first week it became a major. This is documented quite nicely here:
Kraft Nabisco Championship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It will be held from March 31-April 3, 2011 which happen to be the exact same dates it was held the first year it was a major in '83 when Amy Alcott won.

You cannot compare the LPGA Championship with the PGA Championship. The PGA Championship has to compete with three other majors which are, without a doubt, far more prestigious, older (except the Masters) and with more tradition. This is not true in the case of the LPGA Championship.

I don't understand how going last in the string of majors takes the shine off anything.

One of the biggest problem with the LPGA perception in the US, and this was true even before the schedule shrunk in 2010, is that it almost disappears from the United States after mid-July. Even the few tournaments that take place in Europe or Asia after that aren't broadcast on TV in the States or not broadcast live. There is no reason for this.

Actually that isn't true. The Nabisco used to be played the final full week of march, the same week as The Players Championship on the PGA Tour. The LPGA moved it by a week so that it wouldn't conflict with The Players anymore, which is the current slot it's in now.

[golfnut]

Originally Posted by xman5

Not that I say it is a good idea, but where are this "7 week world wide tour " events comming from? The Asian events right now are half events at best and do a disservice to the half of the LPGA players that are not eligble to play. Even if they all became full events somehow, how are the bottom 60 of the LPGA players going to pay for the travel expenses.

Does the Japan Tour want an LPGA event in the middle of their season, or the Korean Tour in the middle of theirs. So far the events in China and elsewhere have not been a smashing success and China seems to have continual sponsorship problems. One event in Japan and one in Korea seems sustainable. Others I am not so sure.

If there was going to be this amazing growth in Asia it would have happended already. I think that it has actually hit a wall.

If they are not going to have 30+ events then the must compact the schedule. March thru September would be good. If they want to play in Asia, then start in Asia, then hoepfully in up in Hw then get on with the US events with Evian and WBO in the middle of the summer and have the season ender in Sept. As more tournamnets can be added then expand out the months.

Don't worry about what other sports might be playing. There will always be something going on in Football, Baseball Basketball, Playoffs, Super Bowl, World Series, Daytona 500, Olympics etc.

As far as CVS it sounds like a different corporate culture.

We have the same problem here on Long Island. There has been a Seniors tour event here for over 20 years, going thru a few different local sponsors over the years. The last was a regional Bank. The Bank was taken over buy another Bank from outside the area and now the Tournament is gone.

Coincidentally they had been talking about trying to bring an LPGA event to Long Island after the 2013 US Open is palyed here.

First off, my idea of an international swing to open and close the year is just that, an idea. I never said that i had any concrete evidence on this.

Second, you say that international events have hit a wall, that's intresting because let's take a look back a decade and see how many international events the tour had then. In 2000 the tour only had 7 official international events compared to 10 this year. That to me looks like fairly solid growth considering the number of domestic events have fell from 24 in 2008 to 14 this year.

Third, once again i never said the LPGA should avoid competing against all other sporting entities, just the NFL which even the PGA Tour does to a certain degree as well. Once the NFL season kicks off it's very difficult to get that type of nationwide exposure that the LPGA can get during the spring and summer months when competing against much, for lack of a better word, easier competition. It's sad but true.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by golfnut

Actually that isn't true. The Nabisco used to be played the final full week of march, the same week as The Players Championship on the PGA Tour. The LPGA moved it by a week so that it wouldn't conflict with The Players anymore, which is the current slot it's in now.

Well actually you are are wrong.

But so was I.

The tournament used to be held in the last week in March.

In 2006 the schedule changed so it ended on the first weekend in April. This was done to prevent a conflict with the Players Championship.

See: LPGA's First Major of Year Is Moved Back One Week - Los Angeles Times

You had the change to prevent a conflict with the Players right, but the ultimate change in dates was trivial as witnessed by the fact that the tournament dates in 2011 are exactly the same as the tournament dates in 1983.

Moving the Kraft Nabisco four or five days earlier will do nothing.

[golfnut]

Originally Posted by Blue

Well actually you are are wrong.

But so was I.

The tournament used to be held in the last week in March.

In 2006 the schedule changed so it ended on the first weekend in April. This was done to prevent a conflict with the Players Championship.

See: LPGA's First Major of Year Is Moved Back One Week - Los Angeles Times

You had the change to prevent a conflict with the Players right, but the ultimate change in dates was trivial as witnessed by the fact that the tournament dates in 2011 are exactly the same as the tournament dates in 1983.

Moving the Kraft Nabisco four or five days earlier will do nothing.

You said the Nabisco had the same current date all the way back to 1983, when fact is that it hasn't. I agree four or five days doesn't make that big of a difference, but for accuracy and honesty in discussions it does. Which doesn't make me wrong since you said the event had the same dates dating all the way back to 1983, implying that the event had never changed it's date.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by golfnut

You said the Nabisco had the same current date all the way back to 1983, when fact is that it hasn't. I agree four or five days doesn't make that big of a difference, but for accuracy and honesty in discussions it does.

I did not say that. I said the dates for 2011 are the same as the dates for 1983.

That is not the same as saying it had the same current date all the way back to 1983. Obviously no tournament is scheduled with the same end date every year if we want tournaments to always start on Thursday and end on Sunday.

It has, however, been held with a start date no earlier than March 22 and no later than April 3 all the way back to 1983. This is not much beyond the natural cyclical variation necessary to assure a Thursday start each year.

So the date has not changed that much.

It was never held in the first week in March anytime since it's been a major, contrary to what you have claimed.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by golfnut

So the Safeway, NW Arkansas, Navistar, CVS and Tour Championship are esentially no domestic events? That's 5 by my count, which is a heck of a lot more than essentially none.

You've based your example on the 2010 schedule, so let's use that. The last domestic event before the Safeway is the USWO, ending on July 11, so that's four weeks with no domestic events. Then there are five domestic events spread out over 16 weeks. So, yeah, that's essentially no events.

Point of interest: The Futures Tour has already played more events this year than the LPGA.