Welcome to the Sportsrisq Golf Newsletter. We aim to provide fresh insight on the golf industry for sponsors, agents and players. Please drop us a line at golf@sportsrisq.com to let us know what you think or if you would like us to discuss particular topics. Enjoy.
Tour Update: November
Barclays Singapore Open - 10th - 13th November
The Barclays Singapore Open has become a permanent fixture on the schedule due to its ability to offer large appearance fees. Most first time Major winners will more than double their appearance fees following their win. With 4 new major winners in 2011, the cost of appearance fees has risen considerably. Interestingly none of this year's Major winners will play in Singapore. Previous Major Winners Mickelson, Els, Goosen, McDowell, Oosthuizen, Y.E. Yang and Harrington have been confirmed in a 204 player strong field starting on Thursday.
Appearance fees linked to performance bonuses are becoming more common in the industry and there are some creative ways to attract the world’s big players to tournaments. Although Rory McIlroy has decided not to play in the Barclay’s Singapore Open a structure like this could have tempted him;
“$1,000,000 bonus payable to Rory McIlroy if he finishes in the Top 5 of the WGC HSBC Champions and Wins the Barclays Singapore Open.”
The cost of this bonus to Barclays could have been covered by Sportsrisq Capital for 6.8% = $68,000 net.
This is a better way to attract top golfers to tournaments rather than just paying a flat appearance fee. It's cost effective for sponsors and more attractive to many of the top players too. Larger incentive payments also serves to further motivate players and discourage a culture of turning up simply to collect their appearance fee.
Presidents Cup – 17th - 20th November
The USA will take on the Rest of the World in the President’s Cup in Australia. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are both priced at 9% to be the cup’s leading point scorers.
Rest of the World Captain Greg Norman said that Robert Allenby was an automatic pick due to his long time success at Royal Melbourne. He plays his best golf down under having won 4 Australian PGA Championships and 2 Australian Opens. If Robert Allenby had a $100,000 bonus clause in his Srixon contract to be leading point scorer this could be covered with Sportsrisq Capital at 5.1% for $5,100.
Introducing the Sportsrisq Sponsorship Index (SSI)
The SSI provides ranks the top golfers in related to future expected earnings on and off the course. The main components of the index are future expected on-course performance weighted over 5 years, current marketability and global exposure.
Tiger Woods currently has the strongest individual brand in golf which has been confirmed by his recent sponsorship deal with Rolex. However, Rory McIlroy’s future sponsorship index looks brighter. He has been voted to star alongside Tiger Woods on the front of the 2013 Tiger Woods game for EA Sports and has reached a career high World Number 2. It further illustrates a changing of the guard in global golf.
| Rank | Player | SSI |
| 1 | Rory McIlroy | 539 |
| 2 | Tiger Woods | 458 |
| 3 | Luke Donald | 442 |
| 4 | Martin Kaymer | 271 |
| 5 | Webb Simpson | 269 |
| 6 | Jason Day | 253 |
| 7 | Dustin Johnson | 252 |
| 8 | Charl Schwartzel | 230 |
| 9 | Nick Watney | 190 |
| 10 | Keegan Bradley | 171 |
| 11 | Phil Mickelson | 162 |
| 12 | Sergio Garcia | 160 |
| 13 | Adam Scott | 158 |
| 14 | Rickie Fowler | 141 |
| 15 | Lee Westwood | 139 |
| 16 | Tom Lewis | 136 |
| 17 | K.J. Choi | 133 |
| 18 | Matt Kuchar | 127 |
| 19 | Justin Rose | 117 |
| 20 | Y.E. Yang | 117 |
Greater brand exposure will also be created by the changes to the Ryder Cup selection process for 2012. The bottom line is that players ranked on the PGA Money List are more likely to qualify than those on the European Tour. Although the changes have gone relatively unnoticed it could lead to more European players participating in the US as they look to fight for the last 5 automatic spots.
Brands that want a global exposure should be aware of this to maximise their global impact. Luke Donald, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia (player profile below) are 3 players that are exempt on both the PGA Tour and European Tour next year and between them they offer excellent global sponsorship opportunities.
Player Focus
Sergio Garcia
He has become only the second player to win back to back on either the European or PGA Tours this year. He is 2nd on the European Ryder Cup Points List and 5th in the World Ryder Cup Points List.
His improvement in form has been excellent exposure for Adidas and TaylorMade. However, they have had to make bonus payments for his wins and now future cover for his bonuses will prove a lot more expensive.
Sergio Garcia’s Cost of Cover for 2011 and 2012 – Million Dollar Bonus for each Major Win
Sportsrisq Capital’s ability to actively manage portfolios and lock in long term prices could have covered Sergio Garcia’s prices when they were lower and offered Adidas and Taylormade steady cash flows for the long term.
Tom Lewis
Tom Lewis announced himself on the world stage this year at the Open Championship and with his win in Portugal has earned his European Tour Card for the next 2 years. He is expected to play a lot of tournaments in 2012 and should give great brand exposure to Ping and Hugo Boss. He is becoming much more marketable and his future prospects are constantly improving as shown in Sportsrisq’s Sponsorship Index.
