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

[golfnut]

Golfweek.com is reporting that CVS won't renew it's title sponsorship of the CVS Pharmacy LPGA Challenge. The article also reports that tournament staff are confident that a new title sponsor will be found. This looks like the first real true test to see what te new commissioner will do. I for one, hope this event can find a new title sponsor.

[Saint-Just X]

It would be a huge blow to lose another US-based event.

I just wonder,in these economic times,how you sell an LPGA event,in the middle of October,to potential sponsors.

I think they need to take a good,long look at their calendar and try to create more interest in the late Summer/early Fall months.There's an end-of-season feel about the LPGA,even though the final tournament isn't until December.

Moving the LPGA Championship to September and having a tour championship that was worthy of the name would add vigour to the schedule,at a time of year when golf has to compete with a lot of other sports for attention...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

[golfnut]

Originally Posted by Saint-Just X

It would be a huge blow to lose another US-based event.

I just wonder,in these economic times,how you sell an LPGA event,in the middle of October,to potential sponsors.

I think they need to take a good,long look at their calendar and try to create more interest in the late Summer/early Fall months.There's an end-of-season feel about the LPGA,even though the final tournament isn't until December.

Moving the LPGA Championship to September and having a tour championship that was worthy of the name would add vigour to the schedule,at a time of year when golf has to compete with a lot of other sports for attention...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

I would like to see the Tour Chapionship played the last full week of October. From the beginning of September to the Tour Championship (roughly 7 weeks) would be a great time to go abroad. The tour would get considerably more interest than here in the states, and most likely could still be televised here on TGC. I would also like to see the tour open it's schedule the first full week of janruary through the end of february (again roughly 7 weeks) abroad as well, then play here in the states from march-august. This way the ladies get a full schedule, and the tour gets the maximum exposure possible when they are here in the states since they would be competing against less fearsome competition (NBA, PGA Tour, etc) versus competing against the likes of the NFL. Just a thought.

[golfnut]

Originally Posted by Saint-Just X

It would be a huge blow to lose another US-based event.

I just wonder,in these economic times,how you sell an LPGA event,in the middle of October,to potential sponsors.

I think they need to take a good,long look at their calendar and try to create more interest in the late Summer/early Fall months.There's an end-of-season feel about the LPGA,even though the final tournament isn't until December.

Moving the LPGA Championship to September and having a tour championship that was worthy of the name would add vigour to the schedule,at a time of year when golf has to compete with a lot of other sports for attention...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

The LPGA Championship is just fine being held in late may and early june. Making it the last major would take some of the shine off of it, just like the PGA Championship has struggled at times because it is the last major held each year. I say move the Nabisco back to it's original slot in march, have the LPGA in late may, the U.S. Open is almost always held in either late june or early july, and leave the British at the end of july or beginning of august. That is proper spacing and all of the majors recieve their just do.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by Saint-Just X

It would be a huge blow to lose another US-based event.

I just wonder,in these economic times,how you sell an LPGA event,in the middle of October,to potential sponsors.

I think they need to take a good,long look at their calendar and try to create more interest in the late Summer/early Fall months.There's an end-of-season feel about the LPGA,even though the final tournament isn't until December.

Moving the LPGA Championship to September and having a tour championship that was worthy of the name would add vigour to the schedule,at a time of year when golf has to compete with a lot of other sports for attention...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

I think there is a lot of opportunity for a top sponsor for this event. It's the only event in Northern California where there is a very large following for the LPGA. Maybe a Silicon Valley high tech company would be interested. Ricearoni and Cougar can tell us more accurately, but I don't know that this event has suffered for attendance. The problem was more likely that CVS didn't want it after they bought Longs Drugs. I don't see October being a big hinderance.

The LPGA Championship should definitely be moved to late August or early September. We've talked about this before. The biggest problem with the LPGA schedule is that they shoot their whole wad in a six week period between Memorial Day and mid-July and then there are essentially no domestic events after the US Open. They should move the LPGA Championship to late August, make it the last tournament before Solheim Cup selection in Solheim Years, and make the venue either movable or memorable, neither of which it is now.

[Saint-Just X]

Originally Posted by golfnut

The LPGA Championship is just fine being held in late may and early june.making it the last major would take some of the shine off of it

I think playing it two weeks before the US Open takes a lot more of the shine off it.

Originally Posted by golfnut

I say move the Nabisco back to it's original slot in march, have the LPGA in late may, the U.S. Open is almost always held in either late june or early july, and leave the British at the end of july or beginning of august. That is proper spacing and all of the majors recieve their just do.

That spacing works better,but you still have a vast wasteland,after the WBO,without anything to pull the 'casual' fans in.

If you look at the PGA,I think the FedEx cup is fairly rubbish,as I don't believe people care who is #74 in the rankings and where he has to finish in order to stay ahead of the guy who is #82,but,in saying that.....

It does,at least,lead to a series of competitve events,with a narrative,where the best golfers in the world are whittled down to the final 30 for the Tour Championship.(I think 30 is too few a number,but that's by the by.)

I like the idea of the last week of October for the LPGA Tour Championship. Having it in December,after there wouldn't have been a tournament in the States for about seven weeks,just makes it look like a meaningless add-on to make the number of events on the schedule look better.

Don't even get me started on the 120 player field...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

[golfnut]

Originally Posted by Blue

I think there is a lot of opportunity for a top sponsor for this event. It's the only event in Northern California where there is a very large following for the LPGA. Maybe a Silicon Valley high tech company would be interested. Ricearoni and Cougar can tell us more accurately, but I don't know that this event has suffered for attendance. The problem was more likely that CVS didn't want it after they bought Longs Drugs. I don't see October being a big hinderance.

The LPGA Championship should definitely be moved to late August or early September. We've talked about this before. The biggest problem with the LPGA schedule is that they shoot their whole wad in a six week period between Memorial Day and mid-July and then there are essentially no domestic events after the US Open. They should move the LPGA Championship to late August, make it the last tournament before Solheim Cup selection in Solheim Years, and make the venue either movable or memorable, neither of which it is now.

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.

Second, moving a major championship to the end of august/beginning of september means moving an event that already struggles for exposure to a part of the schedule that has it going directly against the NFL? That's absolutely absurd. The majors are fine where they are. the LPGA and U.S. Open need to be spaced out a bit more, but that's all.

[golfnut]

Originally Posted by Saint-Just X

I think playing it two weeks before the US Open takes a lot more of the shine off it.



That spacing works better,but you still have a vast wasteland,after the WBO,without anything to pull the 'casual' fans in.

If you look at the PGA,I think the FedEx cup is fairly rubbish,as I don't believe people care who is #74 in the rankings and where he has to finish in order to stay ahead of the guy who is #82,but,in saying that.....

It does,at least,lead to a series of competitve events,with a narrative,where the best golfers in the world are whittled down to the final 30 for the Tour Championship.(I think 30 is too few a number,but that's by the by.)

I like the idea of the last week of October for the LPGA Tour Championship. Having it in December,after there wouldn't have been a tournament in the States for about seven weeks,just makes it look like a meaningless add-on to make the number of events on the schedule look better.

Don't even get me started on the 120 player field...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

I don't think that there is a vast wasteland after the WBO as you put it. Under my scenario there would still be events held every week, just outside the U.S. where the tour has a better chance at greater exposure. 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. Like it or not it's the truth. At least going abroad would enable the tour to recieve greater international exposure which in turn creates greater playing options at home and abroad. It's a win-win.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by golfnut

The LPGA Championship is just fine being held in late may and early june. Making it the last major would take some of the shine off of it, just like the PGA Championship has struggled at times because it is the last major held each year. I say move the Nabisco back to it's original slot in march, have the LPGA in late may, the U.S. Open is almost always held in either late june or early july, and leave the British at the end of july or beginning of august. That is proper spacing and all of the majors recieve their just do.

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.

[xman5]

Originally Posted by golfnut

I don't think that there is a vast wasteland after the WBO as you put it. Under my scenario there would still be events held every week, just outside the U.S. where the tour has a better chance at greater exposure. 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. Like it or not it's the truth. At least going abroad would enable the tour to recieve greater international exposure which in turn creates greater playing options at home and abroad. It's a win-win.

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.