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Luxury Suites Coming To The PGA Tour

JB

JB

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Sure are. Will this pave the way for every tournament to start being able to rake in the local business dollar?

We have seen them in some capacity at the 16th in Scottsdale and now the 17th will get the luxury treatment. Sold out already and with a waiting list the suites will range in price from just over $50k to about $100k. The new area of the 17th hole will be called the Bay Club and will go along with the transformation of the 16th as well.

“We will have 250 skyboxes on the 16th hole this year,” Mahoney told Phoenix Business Journal. “That includes a count of 20 new upper-level boxes on the green and five new loge boxes. Those numbers will include a total of 16 log suites, including the Golf Channel studio, which range in price from $150,000 to $200,000 for 80 badges.”
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Cool. 17 is a fun hole to watch.
 
Have seen these at a few tournaments over the last few years. Barclays here in NJ (plainfield and liberty national has them on a few holes.
 
Very nice! Closest I have come to this is seeing 2 Wachovia Championships (now Wells Fargo) in Charlotte,NC from a Coca-Cola hospitality tent across the water from the 18th green.
 
It makes sense, I would expect to see them at most tournaments in the next few years. They rake in so much money in sports, and it makes even more sense in golf.
 
I volunteer to review one of these boxes for THP.

I promise photos :)
 
are they permanent fixtures? I can't see how that's profitable for a 1/year PGA event. At least in stadiums with pro sports they have multiple games, and then can offer other venues like concerts.
 
Martsy said:
are they permanent fixtures? I can't see how that's profitable for a 1/year PGA event. At least in stadiums with pro sports they have multiple games, and then can offer other venues like concerts.
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No. All of the stands and structures for the Waste Management are taken down right after the event and they begin putting them back up in September/October.
 
Dang that's a lot of coin. They make a ton off of these I'm sure. Gotta be good for the tournaments.
 
fupresti said:
No. All of the stands and structures for the Waste Management are taken down right after the event and they begin putting them back up in September/October.
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Yup and its one of the most profitable tournaments each year. This will be the wave of the future, to still allow the same number of consumers via ticket, and also block off a couple of luxury areas for businesses. The money will flow like crazy.
 
JB said:
Yup and its one of the most profitable tournaments each year. This will be the wave of the future, to still allow the same number of consumers via ticket, and also block off a couple of luxury areas for businesses. The money will flow like crazy.
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Until the PGA Tour comes looking for the city to pay for more upgrades and hold the tournament hostage again.
 
I was in one during the Barclays last year - they are pretty sweet but I cant imagine the cost....
 
Remains to be seen. May work at select high profile events like WM

But the average Tour Stop struggles to sell all the hospitality tents.

So this could be a little too much to ask for.

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fupresti said:
No. All of the stands and structures for the Waste Management are taken down right after the event and they begin putting them back up in September/October.
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ah ok, that makes a lot more sense. I haven't been to a PGA event in years and haven't seen anything like it before.
 
CAA_Beat said:
Remains to be seen. May work at select high profile events like WM

But the average Tour Stop struggles to sell all the hospitality tents.

So this could be a little too much to ask for.

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Perceived bang for buck. Many companies want nothing to do with a hospitality tent, becuase its not what they are looking for to entertain. The suite is a different animal and I think you will see it be the wave of hte future. I remember when they said they would never really take off in other sports either, because people wanted to be "part of the action". Now they are the biggest cash cow an owner has and were even carved out of the revenue sharing system of the NFL. People think new stadiums were built for the fans or more tickets in football, but the entire reason is more suites, since its the money kept in house.
 
From a PGA tour point of view can get more big name clients in at more money. Sponsors can host guests in a more exclusive environment and it doesn't affect the regular folk.
 
JB said:
Yup and its one of the most profitable tournaments each year. This will be the wave of the future, to still allow the same number of consumers via ticket, and also block off a couple of luxury areas for businesses. The money will flow like crazy.
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I'm not the smartest business mind out there, but how is this different from what is going on right now at tournaments? For example, at the Deutsche Bank Championship that was played around here a couple of weeks ago, there are a number of corporate hospitality options listed on their website that sound very similar to what is being done in Phoenix: http://www.tigerwoodsfoundation.org/events/championship/hospitality
 
arydolphin said:
I'm not the smartest business mind out there, but how is this different from what is going on right now at tournaments? For example, at the Deutsche Bank Championship that was played around here a couple of weeks ago, there are a number of corporate hospitality options listed on their website that sound very similar to what is being done in Phoenix: http://www.tigerwoodsfoundation.org/events/championship/hospitality
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Nobody is doing anything like what is happening in Phoenix. Where there will be hundreds of suites and luxury only areas lining two specific holes. While other large scale tournaments have certain options on a smaller scale, nothing is being done quite like this as of yet and in my opinion will be the wave of the future, like it has been at every other sport.
 
JB said:
Perceived bang for buck. Many companies want nothing to do with a hospitality tent, becuase its not what they are looking for to entertain. The suite is a different animal and I think you will see it be the wave of hte future. I remember when they said they would never really take off in other sports either, because people wanted to be "part of the action". Now they are the biggest cash cow an owner has and were even carved out of the revenue sharing system of the NFL. People think new stadiums were built for the fans or more tickets in football, but the entire reason is more suites, since its the money kept in house.
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Exactly, the NFL owners have basically held some cities hostage to get more luxury suites, sure they make the new stadiums pretty and include some big upgrades but the real reason they are built is to increase the number of suites they can sell to the corporate cash cows.
 
JB said:
Nobody is doing anything like what is happening in Phoenix. Where there will be hundreds of suites and luxury only areas lining two specific holes. While other large scale tournaments have certain options on a smaller scale, nothing is being done quite like this as of yet and in my opinion will be the wave of the future, like it has been at every other sport.
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I think it's going to be very hard for most tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule to replicate anything that happens in Phoenix. Most tournaments can't even dream of the type of attendance numbers that Phoenix gets every year, and from the luxury aspect of things, Phoenix is one of the largest markets in the country so the corporate support is probably higher than in many other cities that stage tournaments.

There are some tournaments that will be able to do this either becuase of the prestige of the tournament or being in a larger market. Berckman's Place in Augusta is a prime example of it, and most fans will never even know it's at Augusta National: http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/berckmans-place-augusta-nationals-ultimate-masters-vip-room
 
Its funny, while I dont agree or disagree, they said the same thing about every other sport before boxes became the biggest money maker.
 
I think it's a fun idea and I believe it will work if the box has the right position on a hole.

I was at the BMW last week and the stands of all the sponsored box seats were filled. People were there to watch golf a bit and then socialize. I like being out on the course and walking along and seeing everything that is going on. But there's a lot of folks that would rather relax in one spot and enjoy the event that way. Golf is certainly a different animal than most sports as the action is going on all over, but I'm sure that these boxes will be a popular item, especially for the bigger events. It might actually make attending golf events more desirable for those that don't usually watch or attend the sport.....
 
Doesn't mean a thing to me, this is once again appealing to the rich and famous and does not apply to me. I hope they will at least give the additional proceeds to the local charities and not line some one else's pockets. They certainly don't need to raise the purse in the tournaments 1 to 1.5 mil for the winner is enough already.
 
I thought I heard somewhere that they were looking to make this a permanent structure and when you walk thru the tunnel you could pick your own music if desired. Maybe I dreamt that though I'm not sure. Either way it's a brilliant idea.
 
Can the average fan still follow a particular golfer or are they not allowed on the hole?


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