By SCOTT HAMILTONSenior WriterNorthern Trust Corp. will be the new title sponsor of the PGA Tour’s 81-year-old stop in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The Chicago-based financial services provider has signed a five-year agreement through 2012 estimated to be worth nearly $8 million a year. The first Northern Trust Open will be played Feb. 14-17 at Riviera Country Club and will have a $6.2 million purse, a $1 million bump from last year.
It will be the first change in sponsorship in nearly 20 years for the event. Nissan was the event’s presenting sponsor in 1987 before assuming title sponsorship in 1989. It was set to continue that role until 2010, but opted out of that deal after it relocated its corporate office from Torrance, Calif., to Nashville.
This will mark Northern Trust’s initial foray into a major sports sponsorship, as it has instead used the arts and cultural exhibits to communicate with its target demographic: families and corporate executives with at least $1 million in investment assets. According to Rick Waddell, president and chief operating officer of Northern Trust, the company began discussions with the Tour a year ago in an effort to expand its brand awareness in North America. Sponsorship of the Tour’s Tampa, Fla., stop was considered, but Northern Trust declined before deciding to align itself with the former Los Angeles Open, seeing it as a better vehicle to entertain current and prospective clients.
“It’s a great venue and has got a great history behind it,” Waddell said. “For us, it’s a great opportunity to put on a premier event.”
It was the second major deal recently finalized by Wasserman Media Group’s Raleigh, N.C.-division, formerly known as OnSport. Earlier this month, it brokered Nationwide Insurance’s arrangement with Nascar to sponsor its No. 2 racing series, a seven-year deal estimated to be worth $25 million a year.
• • •
Scott Hamilton is a
Golfweek senior writer. To reach him e-mail
shamilton@golfweek.com.
Posted: 10/14/2007
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