News
GM to end sponsorship of Buick Open
By: usatoday.comPosted On: 07/28/2009 5:26 P
The Buick Open's 50-year sponsorship from General Motors Co. will end after this week's tournament as GM wants to focus scarce marketing dollars on its cars and trucks, a person briefed on the decision said on Tuesday.
GM and U.S. PGA Tour officials will make the announcement after the $5.1 million tournament ends on Sunday, said the person, who did not want to be identified.
The decision calls into question the fate of the other U.S. PGA Tour stop sponsored by GM, the Buick Invitational held in February in San Diego.
GM spokesman Pete Ternes said the company was discussing its future role with tour officials. The company's contract for the Open and the Invitational ends in 2010, he said.
"Both are under discussion and we haven't signed or agreed to any changes at this point," he said on Tuesday.
The troubled automaker, which emerged from bankruptcy protection on July 10, has been cutting back on professional sports sponsorships for the past year to conserve marketing dollars. This month the company placed longtime product development chief Bob Lutz in charge of marketing, and he has said the company will focus its advertising more on products.
GM, which has racked up more than $80 billion in losses in the past four years, is trying to spend more promoting its new vehicles, especially its cars, which it says are competitive or better than those made by its Japanese rivals.
The century-old automaker has been cutting back on everything from professional baseball to NASCAR in the past year. In 2008 GM ended a nine-year endorsement deal with Tiger Woods, (FSY) who will play in this week's Buick Open in Grand Blanc Township, north of Detroit.
Yet Ternes said GM will continue to sponsor professional sports.
"We will continue to be involved in the future, because they offer great platforms to get the word out about our new products," he said. "However, as we reduce from eight brands to four, we will be looking closely at all our marketing relationships."
U.S. PGA Tour executive vice president Ty Votaw would not comment on GM's decision.
The automaker used to sponsor five stops on the tour, but pulled out of the Buick Challenge in Georgia in 2002; the Buick Championship at Connecticut in 2006; and the Buick Classic in New York in 2004.
Loss of the Buick Open would be a big blow to the Flint area, which has seen wealth and people drained away by the decline of GM, once its largest employer.
"The Buick Open is the most prestigious thing we do in this community," said Jerry Preston, president of the Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. He estimated it has a $10 million to $12 million economic impact in the area.
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