The International Federation of PGA Tours and Dell today announced a four-year agreement making Dell the title sponsor of the World Golf Championships-Match Play from 2016.
Dell’s involvement with the World Golf Championships begins this year as an Official Sponsor, including a significant activation at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park, in San Francisco, from April 29-May 3. In 2016, the tournament will move to the Greater Austin Area in Texas, home to Dell, and be renamed the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play. It will be held the week of March 21-27. An announcement on the host course will be made in the near future.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Dell as a sponsor of the World Golf Championships and, beginning in 2016, as the new title sponsor of the Match Play,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, on behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours. “The Match Play has a tremendous future with Dell as the incoming title sponsor, the event’s move to Austin and the new round-robin format that is being introduced this year.”
“We’re excited to sponsor the Match Play Championship, to showcase Dell technology to golf fans and to bring the world’s greatest golfers to our hometown, Austin, Texas,” said Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO. “We’re also proud to support the championship’s tradition of philanthropy that has raised millions of dollars for charitable causes.”
“In addition to the visibility of becoming title sponsor, we’re confident that Dell will find the World Golf Championships to be an extremely effective and valuable global marketing and business-to-business platform,” Finchem added.
“We very much look forward to working with Dell this year as it becomes integrated with the World Golf Championships and then moves to the Dell Match Play sponsorship in 2016. At the same time, we extend our sincere appreciation to a great World Golf Championships partner in Cadillac for taking on the Match Play sponsorship this year while continuing its strong commitment to the Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral.”
Dell, which has major sports sponsorship experience with Formula 1 and America’s Cup, is making its first foray into a major golf sponsorship. The company initially plans to have a presence during the Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park with a customer engagement program, a fan-facing Dell technology experience and a digital media campaign across the 2015 World Golf Championships.
As the event moves to Austin, Dell plans to integrate its various technology solutions into the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play.
Austin, the nation’s 11th-largest city by population, last hosted a sanctioned Tour event from 2003-2009 on the Champions Tour. Austin also was the original site of the Legends of Golf from 1978-1994.
