Game's biggest sponsor smoked out

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 12. For Indian sport, which at times hardly needed to look beyond Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) for sponsorship, the Union Cabinet's decision to implement the Tobacco Products Bill 2000 has come at a stage when the trend of mega events in the country is on the upsurge.

With the ban on advertising and sponsorship for tobacco brands, the setback seems to be huge. And for a sport like golf, which has been flourishing both in terms of events and standard of play, the consequences are bound to be grave at least in the near future.

``According to me, the government's step is towards the demotion of sports. Though, golf is managed professionally now, there is no guarantee about the sponsorship given to us by ITC'', said veteran pro Rohtas Singh.

The Delhi golfer also pointed out that support from the organisation has been on the rise since its maiden foray into golf in 1970 with the Wills Open which offered a total prize money of Rs. 15,000.

The current Indian PGA Tour, which has the title sponsor in Wills Sports since 1997, offers prize money worth Rs. 4.6 crores. The upcoming events include the Asian PGA events - the $ 3,00,000 Wills Indian Open and $ 2,00,000 Hero Honda Masters.

According to Tiger Sports Marketing (TSM), which has the commercial rights for the Indian PGA Tour and the Hero Honda Masters, ITC contributes around Rs. 1.8 crores (out of Rs. 4.6 crores). The total expenditure for ITC, including rights of the Tour, promotion and advertising, course utilization, capitation fees to PGAI and APGA, apart from other expenses would be in the region of Rs 4.5 crores.

``Wills Sport pulling out of golf will be a body blow to Indian golf. Both the professional golf and TSM are likely to be affected,'' said TSM Director, Sales and Marketing, Mr. Digraj Singh. About the future, Mr. Digraj Singh said, ``it would be nice to have Wills Sport but new sponsors have already shown interest, so the situation may not turn out to be that bad.''

On the Indian PGA Tour, ITC conducts four zonal events, each offering a Rs. one million in prize money. These four events have been regularly conducted since the 1991-92 season.

Despite the ITC pull-out, the International Management Group (IMG) is going ahead with the preparations for this year's Indian Open.``We are very confident of a new sponsor as it is the premier championship of the country. But there is no question of the setback if Wills is not going to be around. '' said IMG's senior manager, golf operations, Asia, Mr. Rishi Narain.

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