Sports

Humana Challenge Tees Off Amid End of Sponsorship Deal

The event is set to run through Sunday.

By ALDRIN BROWN, City News Service:

The PGA Tour’s stop in the Coachella Valley begins Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Private and Jack Nicklaus Private courses at PGA West and the La Quinta Country Club, with Humana serving as the sponsor for the final time.

The Kentucky health insurance provider announced in September that it would end its sponsorship with this edition of the tournament, four years ahead of what had been expected to be an eight-year deal.

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“Humana’s business is changing rapidly,” Tom Noland, Humana’s senior vice president of corporate communications, said in September.

“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.”

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Desert Classic Charities, the nonprofit organization that operates the $5.7 million Humana Challenge, has been in discussions with a number of prospects, as has the tournament’s other sponsor, the Clinton Foundation.

Tournament officials expect to have a new sponsor in place in time for the 2016 tournament.

“There’s no one sitting around in a pity party,” said Bob Marra, the tournament’s executive director and chief executive officer. “We’re in a great position. I’m confident it’s going to happen in the near future.”

The PGA Tour will back the event for a few years in the unlikely event a sponsor isn’t signed soon, Marra said.

For big companies, allocating sponsorship dollars in the sports world is more art than science, said Darren Rovell, sports business reporter for ESPN.

“Figuring out the exact return on investment at the top-tier level is always difficult,” Rovell told City News Service.

When buying naming rights to a professional sports stadium, companies can at least be assured of which team will be playing there. Not so in golf, where players are private contractors and can choose when and where they’ll show up.

“You hope that Tiger (Woods) and Phil (Mickelson) are going to show up,” Rovell said. “But with golf, you don’t really know if it’s going to turn into an odd week and players aren’t going to show.

“Sometimes you don’t know what you’re buying.”

This year’s field includes Mickelson, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame who was winless on the PGA Tour last season for the first time since 2003; reigning FedExCup champion Billy Horschel; and such past major championship winners as Zach Johnson, Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner.

Matt Kuchar, 11th in the Official World Golf Ranking, is the highest- ranked player in the field.

“The one thing that always seems to drive tournaments is to get the big names to play,” said Curt Byrum, an analyst with Golf Channel, which will be airing the tournament. “I think the field is pretty darn good.”


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