“The contract is ironclad.”

Jon Show reports that Jeld-Wen wants out of its $9 million annual commitment to the tour, The Players Championship The PLAYERS and one of the nine senior majors (but apparently that number does no include the free window frames for the VP's, which pushes the value of the deal to $15 million). Show also reports the Ginn and Mayakoba sponsors want out of their deals in light of the real estate crisis.

It also comes on the back of fallout in the auto and financial industries.

The tour is faced with a tough sell given the unsold inventory it already has in the marketplace, including a $3 million annual title deal for a new Fall Series event in Georgia and two $7 million annual sponsorships of the Presidents Cup.

Now here's a tour attitude I've noticed in a few articles...

There is still no decision on what brand will be attached to events in Ohio and Charlotte after their lead sponsors, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia, were bought by Bank of America and Wells Fargo, respectively. Despite speculation, the new banks will automatically assume those deals unless the PGA Tour and the acquiring companies mutually agree to part ways.

“There’s no technical ability to get out,” said Jon Podany, head of sales for the PGA Tour. “The contract is ironclad.”

Now, I can understand talking that way so that other sponsors don't get any funny ideas about renegotiating. Still, you would hope that privately they are far less assertive about that language if a sponsor wants to re-work their deal. I know, I know, I don't understand how business works.

Oh wait, Adam Schupak talks to former PGA Tour and Golf Channel exec Gary Stevenson, who offers this sage advice:

I suspect that the PGA Tour, LPGA, the governing bodies, are taking two giant steps back and making sure that the value they deliver is consistent with what they are asking – and if it’s not, they should be making adjustments to those packages so that the value is there. I’m of the mind that title sponsors, once they take a look at what they get for their money compared to other money they spend, will determine the value in golf is better.

If I was a golf tournament director, I would be less concerned about my title sponsor than I would those sponsors that were spending between $50,000 and $250,000. Those are the hardest to find. If there was a way of creating a different value and locking them in for three years, I’d do that right now.