Golf Sponsorships Down 3.7 Percent

Golf Sponsorships in North America are down 3.7 percent according to IEG, a company works to partner companies and brands with sports, arts, events, entertainment, nonprofits, and causes.

In dollar terms, companies and brands spent $1.31 billion to sponsor golf related events in ’09, down 3.7 percent from $1.36 billion in 2008.
IEG says that only auto racing has taken a bigger hit.

By now everyone knows the tale: The LPGA is bleeding badly, and the PGA Tour has lost some high profile sponsors such as Stanford Financial Corp., U.S. Bancorp and FBR Capital Markets Corp., as well as General Motors. Ford bailed a couple of years ago.

Interestingly, the 2009 total, while lower than 2008 still is higher than the $1.25 billion spent in 2007.

So maybe things aren’t so bad after all.