PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is standing behind the value of title sponsorships on tour -- even with dizzying prices as high as $25M per year -- as evidenced by a new deal for Truist to take over sponsorship of the tour’s Signature event in Charlotte.
The tour on Tuesday is officially unveiling the new Truist Championship, with the Charlotte-based bank taking over for longtime sponsor Wells Fargo for the next seven years.
Wells Fargo decided not to renew its deal late last year when negotiations took the bank as high as $22M per year, sources said, so one of its market rivals is now taking over.
“There has been turnover (among title sponsors), and that's something that happens every year,” Monahan said. “We experience some of that. I'm just really proud of the model that we have.”
The tour was able to find Wells Fargo’s replacement in relatively short order; SBJ reported in early May that Truist would be taking over. The tour also recently found a replacement for its Napa Valley event, and last year Cognizant -- which was already a tour partner -- replaced Honda on the Palm Beach event. Excel Sports Management advised Truist throughout the negotiations and also has been named the bank's agency of record.
With title sponsor pricing climbing, both Monahan and Truist CEO Bill Rogers pointed to the sponsorship as a 52-week deal instead of just one.
“The dimensionality of the offer or the opportunity to be a title sponsor ... it's very unique to be able to put your brand on an asset, a community asset that has a presence over 52 weeks,” Monahan said.
“This sponsorship is unique on several fronts, and the big part is what Jay talked about, that it's a 52-week event,” Rogers added.
Truist’s deal is for seven years starting in 2025, though next year’s tournament won’t actually be in Charlotte. With the PGA Championship in the Queen City in May, the Truist Championship will relocate for one year to the Philadelphia Cricket Club. The tournament similarly moved out of market in the past when Quail Hollow Club hosted the PGA Championship (2017) and Presidents Cup (2021).
Rogers said there wasn’t concern about coming in as a new local title sponsor and having the bank’s first tournament in another city.
“We actually saw it as sort of a unique opportunity here,” Rogers said. “The fact that it's not here the first year is because (the city is) hosting the PGA Championship. So, the reason is sort of a pretty significant reason, so it's another chance to demonstrate the success and the prowess of Quail Hollow and the ability to run really great tournaments.”
There has been talk that Signature events may rotate to different tournaments occasionally. In fact, the RBC Heritage hasn’t been confirmed as a Signature event in 2025 despite having that status the last two years.
But that won’t be the case in Charlotte, as Monahan confirmed the Truist Championship would remain a Signature event for the duration of the contract.
Another wrinkle with Truist coming in is that the tour’s Championship Management arm will be assuming operation of the tournament. That group already runs tour events including The Sentry, Presidents Cup and Tour Championship, among others.
Florida-based Pro Link Sports had been running the Wells Fargo Championship in recent years.
Monahan pointed to the group’s relationship with the Harris family and Quail Hollow dating back to the 2021 Presidents Cup.
“We not only got to know each other; we worked extremely, I think, effectively together,” Monahan said. “It made sense for the three of us to partner on a go-forward basis, and for us to have that presence in market.”
In the coming days, the tour is expected to announce an executive director for the Philadelphia tournament and post the same role for the Charlotte event. The tour’s goal is to have the Charlotte event fully staffed within the next 2-3 months.
From a title sponsorship standpoint, the next key for the tour is RBC. The bank has long sponsored both the RBC Canadian Open and RBC Heritage, but both deals expired following this year's tournaments. The bank signed one-year extensions for 2024 for both and now has said it wants to see how the divide in pro golf pans out before committing on a longer-term basis.
