The PGA Tour and the LPGA have partnered with Aon in a deal that sees the global professional services firm become the title sponsor of a new $1m competition.
Aon is backing the revolutionary, first-of-its-kind, season-long golf competition – the Aon Risk And Reward Challenge – with $1m (£751, 895) on offer in prize money.
Aon’s twin multi-year partnerships with the PGA Tour (Professional Golfers’ Association) and LPGA (Ladies Professional Golfers’ Association) and the deal with the main men’s and women’s golfing circuits of North America sees an annual leaderboard calculate player performance on the most strategically challenging holes throughout the regular season.
The Aon Risk Reward Challenge will be operated through a multi-platform strategy that blends broadcast integration with CBS and the Golf Channel, plus the PGA Tour and LPGA digital platforms, as well as brand engagement at events.
The competition will run through 28 PGA Tour and 30 LPGA regular-season tournaments – the final details on scoring and scheduling will be released later.
With a prize of US$1m for the player at the top of the Aon-led rankings on both the PGA and LPGA tours.
Aon plans to activate its rights by highlighting the lives and skills of the world’s best professional golfers as they take on what is being described as ‘the most strategically challenging holes across both the PGA and the LPGA.
The title sponsor is promoting its new rights via an integrated, multi-market campaign that was led by an explanatory spot promoted across its digital and social channels.
Together with the @PGATOUR and @LPGA we are excited to announce the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, a competition that will reward winners from both the PGA TOUR and LPGA with an equal $1M prize: https://t.co/Fr9OgINcsz pic.twitter.com/LqDy0YAYFj
— Aon (@Aon_plc) July 9, 2018
The deal sees the London-based professional services company become an official marketing partner of the PGA, plus the ‘official risk, retirement and health advisor’ of the PGA Tour.
Aon also takes on the title of ‘official professional services firm’ of the LPGA.
Greg Case, chief executive at Aon, said: “At Aon, we use proprietary data and analytics to advise our clients and provide the insights they need to stay a step ahead of the competition. The same is true in golf, where players must take calculated risks that improve their performance.”
Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA Tour, added: “The Aon Risk Reward Challenge is an authentic fit for our sport that will resonate with players and fans while providing Aon an intuitive way to reinforce how their firm creates value for its clients.”
Mike Whan, commissioner of the LPGA, stated: “The fact that Aon is providing equal prize money for the men and women has made a huge statement to our players, and we couldn’t be more appreciative.”
Comment:
This is an interested initiative and could be a clear sponsorship spanning the wider sport and adding a form of property clarity largely unheard in the golfing world.
Amateurs, professionals, organisers, marfketers, boradcasters and fans have all been wondering and working hard on how to save golf as its participation and viewing numbers fall steadily.
What will golf’s version of the millennial friendly T20 in cricket turn out to be?
While interesting, this deal is not that by any stretch of the imagination.
Links:
AON
https://www.facebook.com/Aonplc/
https://www.youtube.com/user/AonCorporation
PGA Tour
LPGA
