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Article by Stan Awtrey
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/10/08
For Atlanta golf fans, it's out with the old and in with the older.
Because of an inability to find a sponsor in this challenging economy, the city Monday lost the AT&T Classic, a fixture on the PGA Tour since 1967. However, it will get a replacement -- a Champions Tour event that will be played at TPC Sugarloaf in 2009.
The PGA Tour said it is completing the final details with a "U.S.-based global company" to host the age 50-plus event.
Dave Kaplan, the AT&T Classic's tournament director, said the Atlanta Classic Foundation will meet Thursday to consider hosting the senior event.
"I wouldn't think there would be any reason not to, but that decision is way above my pay grade," Kaplan said.
It costs a title sponsor from $7 million to $8 million to obtain a PGA Tour event. Sponsorship of a Champions Tour event is $2 million to $3 million.
The main concern is the flow of charitable contributions to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, the primary beneficiary of the AT&T Classic. The tournament has raised more than $18 million for several charities.
PGA Tour player Stewart Cink, who lives at TPC Sugarloaf, learned about the AT&T's demise Monday shortly after he landed in San Diego for this week's U.S. Open.
"It's disappointing for a lot of reasons," Cink said. "I think Sugarloaf benefited from having a PGA Tour event, and it's disappointing for me because I had some good finishes there. But most of all, it's disappointing for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, which will have to come up with a different way to raise the money they need."
That void in charitable donations would theoretically be filled by the Champions Tour event, as well as a financial commitment from AT&T through 2010.
Scott Hodoval, the vice president for development of the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation, said the tournament brought about $500,000 annually.
"We have done a lot of things with the money," he said, mentioning expanding medical facilities as an example.
No date has been set for the Champions Tour event, but the current senior schedule has an unfilled week in early May and two other open dates in early June. Atlanta hasn't hosted a Champions Tour event since the Nationwide Championship went belly-up in 2000.
The instability with the AT&T Classic began in the spring of 2007, when AT&T joined forces with Tiger Woods to create the AT&T National in Washington. Ironically, the tournament replaced The International, which folded because of the inability to get Woods -- along with his TV ratings and general interest -- in its field.
The new tournament gave AT&T three PGA Tour events, so officials decided the Atlanta event was expendable. In December, AT&T invoked an escape clause, making the 2008 tournament its last.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said at a news conference in San Diego in February and again during The Players Championship in May that he was confident a sponsor would be found for the two tournaments that needed one: Atlanta and Tampa. Transitions Optical, a Florida-based eyewear and lens company, recently signed a four-year contract to host the Tampa event. Atlanta was not as fortunate.
"We were never given a date [to complete a deal], but we knew it would be sometime not too long after our tournament," Kaplan said. "Tampa found a sponsor, and the Tour had to go on and fill our slot."
The tour hasn't announced the 2009 schedule.
The AT&T Classic began in 1967 as the Atlanta Classic and was held at Atlanta Country Club. Georgia-Pacific signed on as the title sponsor in 1982, and BellSouth took over in 1989. AT&T became the title sponsor in 2007 after it bought out BellSouth.
Kaplan said the Classic Foundation approached 150 businesses about sponsorships but found no takers among international, regional or state-based companies.
In a prepared announcement, Finchem said, "We regret having to notify the Atlanta Classic Foundation of this decision, but the absence of a title sponsor at this point has necessitated the move in order to solidify the schedule for the future."
Most companies, such as Columbus-based Aflac, Inc., said the tournament was too expensive. Al Johnson, Aflac's vice president of marketing services, said his company had considered sponsoring the tournament but said Aflac prefers events that are held in multiple locations, rather than something that is tied to one city or region.
Several Atlanta-based companies are already partnered with sporting events in the area. Coca-Cola sponsors the PGA's Tour Championship, Chick-fil-A is tied to the SEC's championship football game, and UPS and Home Depot are affiliated with NASCAR.
"We just ran out of time," Kaplan said. "Given the economic climate, it was difficult. I believe we would have found a new sponsor if the economy had been better."
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