Today In PGA Tour Sponsor News: Cadillac In, Humana Out
/Ron Kroichick reports that the 2015 World Golf Championships-Cadillac Match Play will be sponsored by the automobile maker, also the sponsor of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship in March at Doral. It is believed this is a one-year deal.
The press release also resolved television coverage, with NBC/Golf Channel taking what used to be a CBS week on the schedule when the Wells Fargo was played.
As part of this announcement, Golf Channel and NBC have also been announced as host broadcasters of the event. Golf Channel will air the first three days of round-robin play live in primetime Wednesday through Friday. On Saturday, Golf Channel will air the Round of 16 live on Saturday afternoon leading into NBC’s coverage of the quarterfinal matches live in prime time on Saturday night. On Sunday, Golf Channel will air live coverage of the semi-final matches leading into NBC's live coverage of the championship and consolation matches on Sunday afternoon.
In a big surprise, Humana will be ending their sponsorship of the tournament formally known as the Hope, bowing out after 2015 despite an agreement that Larry Bohannan reports, was signed through 2019. Even more bizarre is what a good fit the company and event seemed to have, arguably the best "synergy" of sponsor, event theme and host (Bill Clinton) on the PGA Tour. The Clinton Foundation remains involved.
From Bohannan's report, see if you can translate the corporatespeak:
But Humana, based in Louisville, Ky., and the tour say that a changing business environment for the healthcare company led Humana to exercise an opt-out clause in the deal after the 2015 event, to be played Jan. 22-25 at three courses in La Quinta.
"Humana's business is changing rapidly. As we continue to shift toward a direct-to-consumer focus, we have to align our marketing and sponsorship commitments to areas that are the best fit for our business, brand and members," Tom Noland, senior vice president for corporate communications for Humana, says in a statement that will announce the end of the sponsorship deal Monday.