Corporate Hospitality, Sponsorship – CN Canadian Women’s Open, by Jeffrey Reed
As Published By BUSINESS MONDAY, The London Free Press March 6, 2006

When London Hunt and Country Club hosted the 1993 du Maurier Ltd. Classic, the LPGA Tour offered a total annual purse of $22 million US. Just 12 years later, the tour’s total purse more than doubled, reaching $45 million US in 2005.

What’s more, just in the past four years, LPGA crowd figures were up 20 per cent, and TV ratings were up 26 per cent, thanks largely to an influx of young, brash, talented golfers. In fact, the tour markets its product with the slogan, “These Girls Rock!” It’s a statement that knocks some golf traditionalists off their 19th hole bar stools, but why not brag? With 34 events set to offer nearly $50 million US in total prize money, the LPGA Tour has plenty to cheer about in 2006.

So, too, does the 1,800-member Hunt Club, and the city of London, preparing to host the 2006 CN Canadian Women’s Open Aug. 7 to 13. It’s the tour’s only Canadian stop, offering a purse of $1.7 million US – $255,000 US to the winner – thanks to a new title sponsor in Canadian National Railway Company.

A golf tournament isn’t won on Saturday afternoon, nor is it planned overnight. The Hunt Club and its host committees, along with the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) – the governing body of golf in Canada – and the LPGA Tour are all working together in preparation for the event. Each group has its own set of financial responsibilities necessary to hosting a successful 2006 tournament, which was late teeing off.

“We were five to six months behind, because CN came on board late, but we’re on track, off to a great start,” said RCGA manager of media and public relations, Dan Pino.

The Bank of Montreal ended its five-year title sponsorship of the BMO Canadian Women’s Open following the $1.3-million tournament in Halifax this past July. Without a title sponsor, the RCGA almost exhausted its search efforts until CN saved the day with a multi-year sponsorship agreement announced on Oct. 19. A five-year deal – three years, plus a two-year option – sees the railway company as title sponsor of the CN Canadian Women’s Open, plus the Canadian Women’s Tour and CN Future Links developmental tour.

“We’ve had some financial success or else we wouldn’t be in a position to do this,” said CN President and CEO Hunter Harrison. “It’s an opportunity for us to give back to the community, to give back to Canada and to give back to our customers.” CN announced record third-quarter earnings of $411 million in 2005.

The $1.7-million purse puts this August’s tournament among the LPGA’s top 10 in money, something that CN executive vice-president, sales and marketing James Foote said was necessary “to draw the top talent for this event.” Foote added, CN is “fully committed to working with the city of London to host this event in 2006 and to make this an event that the entire community can be proud of and benefit from.”
When Dottie Pepper of The Golf Channel competed at London Hunt in 1993, she called the course “the best golf course I think we’ve played in six years that I’ve been on tour, especially the condition. It was a treat.” A $2-million facelift in 1999 and 2000 has made the course even more attractive, and tougher from tee to green.

It’s full steam ahead, then, for the CN Canadian Women’s Open. On the tee: corporate hospitality and sponsorship sales, ticket and merchandise sales, and recruitment of up to 1,300 volunteers. 

Hunt Club board member Doug Alexander, former chief financial officer at Trojan Technologies and tournament co-chair, said the club has “a lot of work ahead of it.” Alexander, vice-chair of London Health Sciences Centre, said about 300 volunteers had been enlisted before Christmas. In late February, 1,000 were on board.

Alexander said money is the last thing on the club’s mind when hosting a nationally-televised week-long event. “(The Hunt Club) is one of the original clubs forming the RCGA” he explained. “It offers everything you would look for in a first-class facility to present the kind of event we’re going to bring here.” He added, “It’s not for money. It’s our responsibility to host the event. We’re showcasing our golf course, opening the doors to London.”

The 1993 tournament made a profit of $400,000 for the Hunt Club, thanks in part to a Thursday through Sunday gallery of 38,000. This time around, the RCGA has guaranteed the Hunt Club a $30,000 profit, plus a percentage of revenue from ticket and concession sales. The RCGA estimates the cost of staging the tournament at $2.5 million to $3 million.

Pino said the RCGA estimates, London will benefit “from $10 million to $13 million in economic spinoffs” from the tournament. The RCGA uses a model template made available by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA) when estimating payback. Pino said Halifax saw about $13.3 million in spinoffs, while in 2004 Niagara Falls benefitted from about $9 million in economic returns.

CSTA founding president Bob Graham, former Tourism London sports manager, was instrumental in developing the Sport Tourism Economic Assessment Model (STEAM). CSTA CEO Rick Traer said the model can be used “at all levels, from grassroots to Olympics.” STEAM includes entry of estimated figures including capital expenditures, and number of spectators who reside more than 80 kilometres one-way from the event location, and produces estimated economic spinoffs.

Traer thinks London will sparkle during the golf tournament. “It’s very sufficient in all aspects – the whole package. There’s a strong volunteer base – a key element to success.”

Volunteers register online at the tournament website, and are directed to the Hunt Club which is also responsible for areas such as marshals and hospitality. The RCGA will operate the tournament, in conjunction with the LPGA, and is in charge of gathering all revenue. Sales of tickets, corporate hospitality products and sponsorship all fall on the RCGA’s lap.

A host sales committee, chaired by Hunt Club member Wayne Dunn of County Heritage Forest Products, and including RCGA representation hosted two buyers’s nights in mid-November. One night was staged for club members only, a second by invitation only for interested local businesses.

Despite the late start explained by Pino, RCGA sales manager of professional championships James Laidlaw said sales of corporate hospitality products are “ahead of schedule,” as is interest amongst potential sponsors. Laidlaw explained, “Corporate golf has transcended the gap between sport and spectacle.” 

Corporate hospitality products available at the CN Canadian Women’s Open include: eight furnished skyboxes with 30 daily passes,18th green, $20,000 each (sold out); six furnished skyboxes with 30 daily passes, 16th green, $19,000 (two remaining); nine furnished marquee suites for 60 people, 15th fairway, $19,500 (four remaining); reserved clubhouse table for 10 with food and beverage, $9,500, and for five at $5,000 (six remaining). Also added due to strong consumer response: clubhouse lounge passes from $50 to $700 providing access to grounds, plus Hunt Club menu and bar items, and a patio overlooking the 9th green.

Two pro-am golf tournaments allow three amateurs to tee it up with the pros: Monday pro-am, $4,000 per team (sold out); and Wednesday championship pro-am, $9,500 (six remaining). Both include weekly clubhouse badges.

Dunn is no stranger to fundraising. For 13 years he was a key player with the annual Sunshine Dreams for Kids golf tournament. It raised $282,000 in 2005 – its final year – and established a $1.2-million endowment fund. Now helping the Hunt Club sell its tournament, he’ll rely on “collecting leads through networking.”

Dunn called buyers’s night response “exceptional, beyond our expectations.” Local groups purchasing products describe the partnerships as “win-win.”

RBC Dominion Securities purchased a marquee suite along the 15th fairway in order to “entertain clients, and to support golf, and our community,” explained vice president and branch manager, Bryan Vickers. “We’ll watch the golf from the patio exterior, and it’s up to our investor advisors to invite their clients.”

RBC vice president and director, private client division Vito Finucci is a long-time friendly rival and supporter of Dunn. Finucci has been instrumental in raising more than $1 million over 16 years through the Children’s Golf Classic for the Children’s Health Foundation.

Jeff Page, regional director of Investors Group Financial Services, said his firm also purchased a marquee suite for clients and employees, and “will spend three or four months planning how to make this accessible to family, friends, clients, etc. It’s a special event that we don’t want to miss. We’ll share it with our Sarnia, Windsor, Kitchener and Hamilton offices.” Investors Group is a Golf Association of Ontario sponsor.

Ernst & Young, meanwhile, entered into a draw at the buyers’s night and was awarded a 16th hole skybox. Said core tax partner John Sliskovic, “It’s a reward for our 90 London employees and our clients. It’s always good for company morale.” Ernst & Young shares a suite at the John Labatt Centre, and has purchased spectator hospitality products at the Bell Canadian Open PGA Tour event. Ernst & Young is also a strong community sponsor, supporting groups like the United Way. 

While Laidlaw explained the “public sales campaign” hasn’t begun, the RCGA advertises daily tickets online at $25 each at the gate, plus parking.

Like the RCGA, the LPGA is a not-for-profit organization, and also contributes thousands to charity. According to LPGA Tour senior vice-president and COO Chris Higgs, “We have a revenue stream on a global basis – an official airline (American Airlines) for example, and official time piece (Rolex).” Prize money, according to Higgs, is “taken in and sent right back out to our members – the players.”

Higgs believes the sky’s the limit for London next August. “When our road show comes to town, it opens up opportunities for commerce. There will be 150 golfers, 150 caddies, family, friends, television crews, 15 to 20 LPGA staff, plus media.”

Tourism London general manager John Winston goes as far as to say, “The city in general will be at an all-time high in terms of awareness. Estimated visitations will range anywhere from 50,000 to 60,000, and if we’re able to secure (teenage golf sensation) Michelle Wie, it could possibly double that number.”

Winston said the City is also considering staging other promotional events, possibly downtown, in conjunction with the golf tournament. He said, “We’ll make this an event hosted by London, not just the Hunt Club.”

With $1.7 million US up for grabs on the course, and millions more within the community, organizers have one other task: praying to the golf gods for a warm, dry week. It’s the only piece of the puzzle out of their hands.