This year’s PGA Tour event at the historic Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles will feature a couple of Orange County entities at the top.
The Irvine-based Tiger Woods Foundation will produce the event, with the Genesis brand of Hyundai Motor America in Fountain Valley in the role of title sponsor for the Feb. 13-19 run.
The newly renamed Genesis Open will offer $7 million in prize money and some sizzle as it marks the 25th anniversary of Woods’ debut as a teen phenomenon on the professional golf tour.
The former world-beater—who’s now 41 and has been closer to average at mid-career but can still draw fans to the gallery—has given his foundation’s marketing efforts a boost with a commitment to once again tee off at the 91-year-old tournament. It’s his first appearance for a tour event on the course in the toney Pacific Palisades district since 2006.
The tournament had been managed for the past several years by PGA Tour Inc. of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., which took control after prior manager, the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce, struggled financially.
One of the event’s hurdles came as a result of a decline in revenue due to the absence of Woods, who first played in the tournament as a 16-year-old amateur in 1992 and has never won at Riviera. The event took an additional hit when Nissan Motor Co. Inc., a 21-year title sponsor, pulled out after moving its North American headquarters from Los Angeles to Nashville, Tenn., in 2006.
The PGA Tour signed a deal in 2007 with Chicago-based Northern Trust Co. as the new sponsor of the tournament. Then it hired former Los Angeles Lakers General Manager Jerry West as executive director, and he made efforts to bring on more corporate partners, increase the prize purse, and boost its prestige within the local community.
West didn’t lure Woods back to the course before stepping down from the job in 2013.
The PGA Tour, meanwhile, didn’t want to manage the event long term and sought out a new operator.
The golf association, which prefers to have local partners manage its events, reached a deal with the Woods Foundation in mid-2016 to assume control. The nonprofit, which manages four other pro golf events annually from its offices in University Research Park, agreed to relinquish its control role of the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston as part of the arrangement.
Management companies generate revenue primarily through ticket sales and corporate sponsorships, with profits donated to designated charities. The Woods Foundation, which also is the charitable beneficiary of events it manages, raises money to support learning labs focused on a science and math curriculum, as well as a college scholarship program named for Earl Woods, the golfer’s late father.
Vision
“(The Woods Foundation) needs to have a vision for the tournament to drive more value to the event with more fans, higher ratings, and better hospitality experiences,” said Jeff Marks, president of L.A.-based sports marketing firm Premier Ventures. “The low-hanging fruit is to work closely with existing partners and ask them to make an investment for at least two more years and in return provide more value than the previous partnership.”
Strong community ties are the best bet to make the difference, according to Dave Klewan, who oversees the event as general manager of the Woods Foundation.
“This tournament needs direct, local day-to-day management and a team that understands the market,” Klewan said. “Tiger’s connections to Riviera and our base in Irvine made it a good fit to take it to the next level.”
Some changes in the sponsorship lineup came before the Woods Foundation took over management, and there’s been some progress since then.
Northern Trust, whose title sponsorship lasted nine years, ended its affiliation last year. It agreed to a five-year deal to sponsor a PGA Tour event in the New York area.
Hyundai Motor America signed a 10-year deal with the PGA Tour to become title sponsor on undisclosed terms before the Woods Foundation got involved.
The foundation began its management tenure with few other corporate partners besides Genesis in place.
“Many of the prior partnerships had expired—we had a lot of work ahead of us renewing some of the long-term partners and bringing on new ones,” Klewan said.
Several existing partners—including Coca-Cola Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Bank of America—opted to renew their contracts. The Woods Foundation also has managed to land a new slate for this year, with AT&T Inc., DraftKings, and Manhattan Beach-based Skechers USA Inc. in the mix.
Changes
The new management team looked at previous hospitality experiences and made some changes when it came to selling corporate seating, with a new reserved option on the green at the 14th hole, which sold out in two weeks. That prompted Klewan to add even more seats there, which also sold out. All of the corporate hospitality suites along the course have been booked, as well, according to Klewan.
More tickets also have been made available to the public. A $79 clubhouse ticket was introduced, meaning views from the building’s expansive patio will no longer be reserved primarily for corporate guests.
Then there’s a new single-day general admission ticket option, with prices starting at $39.
The Woods Foundation’s Klewan declined to disclose how much revenue has been generated thus far, but he said ticket sales are ahead of where they were at the same point a year ago.
Sales could increase even more now that Woods has agreed to play, especially if he performs well at tournaments leading up to the Genesis Open after a long injury layoff.
But Premier Ventures’ Marks cautioned about focusing only on Woods.
“Tiger always brings the nonendemic golfer and average fan to the course,” he said. “His presence is good as long as he makes the cut. If not, it may be a distraction and could negatively impact the other top golfers attending the event.” n
Nusbaum covers the business of sports for the Los Angeles Business Journal, a sister publication of the Orange County Business Journal.
