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Honda Classic, settled in at PGA National, has grown into major draw
By Jeff Ostrowski
Published on
PALM BEACH GARDENS – For public officials keen on attracting big-time sports, the playbook is a simple one: Throw money at event organizers and team owners, then bask in the reflected glory.
Sometimes, though, a middling event comes to town without subsidies or fanfare, then morphs into a major draw. That's what happened when The Honda Classic arrived in Palm Beach Gardens in 2003.
"From a city perspective, it just showed up here one day," said Joe Russo, a Palm Beach Gardens councilman who's also treasurer of the non-profit organization that puts on the golf tournament. "We've embraced it and supported it, but it's not like we had to give $10 million to get it."
The Honda Classic was no coveted prize when it moved to Palm Beach Gardens. The PGA Tour event had bounced from course to course in Broward County, typically drawing about 60,000 fans, a count considered neither outstanding nor terrible.
Few would have guessed that The Honda Classic would balloon into an event drawing nearly 200,000 fans, one lauded by local boosters for the international attention it brings. Play begins Thursday on the Champion Course at PGA National Resort & Spa. Tiger Woods won't compete, but 16 of the PGA Tour's top 25 players will.
In its first year in Palm Beach Gardens, The Honda Classic still seemed far from a sure thing. It drew 40,000 fans over three days, raising fears that perhaps area fans would continue their tepid support of pro golf.
In 2006, a new management company took over The Honda Classic, and in 2007, the event moved across PGA Boulevard from Mirasol to PGA National. Since then, its trajectory has been nearly straight up. Attendance has risen every year, reaching 193,052 in 2014.
"It's more than just a golf tournament," Russo said. "It's like our Super Bowl. It's a party atmosphere."
The tournament's profile has gotten a lift in recent years from appearances by stars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, whose duel to the final hole in 2012 boosted TV ratings.
A four-man playoff last year cemented the event's reputation for stellar play. Indeed, the tourney has grown enough that Woods' announcement that he won't play this year seems anti-climactic. Tiger's decision to play in 2012 seemed a crucial cog in the event's success.
If The Honda Classic's attendance grows this year without Tiger, it'll underscore the reality that the event's success at drawing fans owes more to fireworks and face-painting off the course than elite play on the course. In recent years, The Honda Classic has added such festivities as four nights of concerts and two fireworks shows. Kids 15 and under get in for free, and the tournament offers face painting and video games.
"A lot of tournaments let kids in for free, but we try to extend the reach," said Tournament Director Ed McEnroe.
In a nod to modernity, The Honda Classic became the first PGA Tour event to allow cellphones and set up designated areas for making calls. The tournament's social scene centers on The Bear Trap, the hospitality area at the course's 17th hole that has ballooned to 60,000 square feet this year, up from 10,000 square feet eight years ago. This year's attractions include the Vic & Angelo's Wine Garden.
With attendance soaring, McEnroe's main challenges are finding parking for all the fans and staying true to the event's roots as a golf tournament.
"We're trying not to lose sight of birdies and bogeys," McEnroe said.
The Honda Classic has enjoyed unusual loyalty from its title sponsor. Honda's name has been on the event for 34 years, and the automaker is committed through next year, McEnroe said.
Underscoring The Honda Classic's rising profile, global sports management firm IMG in 2013 bought IGP Management, the North Palm Beach company that organizes The Honda Classic.
One key to its growth: The event became more aggressive about marketing in 2006, when IGP Management took over, said Vince Cerone, general manager of Braman Motorcars. Cerone agreed to sign on as a sponsor of The Honda Classic after IGP Management head Ken Kennerly pitched him.
Before that, Cerone said, "No one asked."
In addition to Braman Motorcars, Pratt & Whitney, Tire Kingdom, Florida Power & Light and a number of other sponsors have signed on.
The Honda Classic is run by the nonprofit Children's Healthcare Charity Inc., and the tournament's "profits" are doled out as donations to other charities. The amount of those donations hit $2.55 million last year.
The biggest recipient of donations is the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation, whose honorary chairman is golf legend Jack Nicklaus. The foundation received $426,000 from the Honda Classic in the year ended April 30, 2013.
Putting on a four-day tournament for nearly 200,000 means running up some big bills. In 2013, expenses included $615,667 for tent rental, $312,838 for catering and $218,680 for the buses that ferried fans to the course from offsite parking lots.
While the finances have headed straight up, TV ratings are another matter. They depend on Tiger – whether he plays, and how well. In 2012, when Woods played in The Honda Classic for the first time and dueled McIlroy to the final hole, the event's rating on NBC spiked to 3.2, meaning 3.2 percent of TV viewers in major markets tuned in.
The rating fell to 1.6 in 2013, then jumped last year to 2.6, when the Honda Classic winner was decided by a four-man playoff.
Conventional wisdom says Woods makes or breaks an event, Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports and head of Pilson Communications, said Tiger only brings the casual fans. The loyal fans – the ones Honda and other sponsors pay to reach – tune in with or without Woods.
"Sure, you get an increased rating when Tiger is playing," Pilson said. "But those people aren't regular fans, and they're not really part of the package that is sold to golf sponsors."
This article was written by Jeff Ostrowski from The Palm Beach Post and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
