First off, we'll start with the obvious one on the PGA Tour...
You know... the "Stanford- St. Jude" Classic...???
Stanford ((pictured, thanks Joe Skipper/Reuters)) took over title sponsorship two years ago. Company CFO James Davis lives in Baldwyn, Mississippi, about an hour southeast of town, and the company provided US$8-million in the last two years.
The tourney is only four months out and now has no title sponsor. The event will go on as scheduled, but now everything is in doubt.
ABC24/CW30's Darryl Hood has the fallout...
Here's how Stanford Financial explains their relationship with golf...
"Stanford is further expanding its presence in golf by becoming the new title sponsor of the LPGA’s Tour Championship. We are extremely proud to support this prestigious event on the LPGA Tour calendar and look forward to bringing the very best in women’s golf to Texas. The 2009 Stanford Financial Tour Championship will be held November 17-22.
The field for the inaugural Stanford Financial Tour Championship is incredibly strong with more than 120 LPGA professionals slated to compete in a 72-hole stroke play competition. The championship event will feature a $2,000,000 purse and will be televised live by the Golf Channel and NBC Sports.
Stanford’s support of the LPGA Tour Championship complements our existing golf sponsorship portfolio which includes the Stanford St. Jude Championship in Memphis and endorsements deals with FedExCup Champion Vijay Singh and FedExCup Runner-up Camilo Villegas, as well as rising LPGA Tour star Morgan Pressel. Stanford also has expanded its signature Eagles for St. Jude program to include the LPGA. With the program, Stanford makes a $1,000 donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® for every eagle made during the LPGA and PGA TOUR season."
No word yet on how, if at all, Singh, Pressel, David Toms, Henrik Stenson, and Villegas are affected.
The company also endorses "Antigua Sailing Week," a couple of polo leagues and events, a US$100-million cricket tournament that never got off the ground, and Champions and ATP Tour tennis.
This, folks, should get very interesting...
No, it's not Bernie Madoff and the Mets...
Yet...
Here's Antiguan reaction courtesy of Reuters...
Basmah Fahim reports...
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