Brands Fail To Master Golf's 'Super Bowl,' Leave Millions On Media Table

When Tiger Woods and the rest of the professional golfers take to the greens today in pursuit of a green jacket, plenty of brand dollars will be coming along for a free ride on the Master's tournament, professional golf's equivalent of the Super Bowl. Brands will festoon the outfits of the pros' clothing, and gear, and will be omnipresent during commercial breaks, including one featuring Nike's controversial Woods "comeback" spot. But unlike most professional golf tournaments, there is one noticeable place where no brand will be present: as a title sponsor.

The Masters organizers apparently do not sell one, and according to sports marketing gurus, that has been a costly decision, leaving a Super Bowl equivalent of media impressions lying in the bunker.

"The amount of media exposure that will be generated from this year's Masters will be astonishing," notes Eric Smallwood, vice president-project management at Front Row Marketing Services, a unit of Comcast-Spectacor specializing in sports marketing. According to an analysis released by Front Row, a title sponsorship of this year's Masters would reap $78,398,286 in media value from coverage of the event.

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"This will be one tournament that is likely to attract even non-golf fans," Smallwood noted, alluding to the extra attention from non-traditional golf fans that likely will be generated by Tiger's return to the golf circuit. "The media value that could be gained through broadcast exposure, news coverage, international television, national promotions, and on-site exposure will be extraordinary, possibly the highest in the history of golf."

Nearly 70%, or $54,860,309 of the media value would be generated from broadcast exposure including on-screen bugs, tee box signage, on-site signage, etc., according to the Front Row analysis.

International television would be the second most profitable venture, with the potential to bring in $13,323,824 in media exposure. Domestic and International news coverage throughout the tournament would generate $5,663,210, which includes print media, Internet and television news coverage.

1 comment about "Brands Fail To Master Golf's 'Super Bowl,' Leave Millions On Media Table".
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  1. Carl LaFong, April 8, 2010 at 9:32 a.m.

    This really misses the point of what The Masters and the Augusta National Golf Club is all about.

    This is a bunch of rich white guys. They don't want or need the money an entitlement will bring.

    It's all about image, which would be cheapened by a title sponsorship and all the on-air clutter that would bring.

    The real benefit is to the three companies that support the telecast with limited commercial interruptions. They get increased attention in a pristine advertising environment that is found nowhere else on television, especially sports.

    What a pleasure it is to watch a sporting event that is not constantly barking at you with constant sponsor mentions, logos, useless graphics, vignettes, snipes, calls-to-go-to-a-web site, audio/visual billboards and network promos. I'll take the fake bird noises CBS mixes into The Masters telecast instead of the fake swishing and wooshing sounds that permeate sports telecasts these days.

    It's a shame other sporting events can't or won't follow The Masters' lead.

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