AUSTIN, TEXAS/PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA (March 3, 2015) – The International Federation of PGA Tours and Dell today announced a multi-year agreement making Dell the title sponsor of the World Golf Championships-Match Play beginning in 2016 and running through 2019.
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 (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.
About Dell
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About the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play
Introduced in 1999, the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play features the top 64 players from the Official World Golf Ranking in a unique match-play format. The Dell Match Play is the third of four World Golf Championships events sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours on the PGA TOUR schedule. The other World Golf Championships include the Cadillac Championship (Doral, Fla.), the Bridgestone Invitational (Akron, Ohio) and the HSBC Champions (Shanghai, China). The Dell Match Play is broadcast to more than 1 billion households in 225 countries and territories in 32 languages. The Dell Match Play has generated more than $15 million for charity since its inception, part of the more than $50 million raised for global charities since the advent of the World Golf Championships in 1999.
Previously, the Dell Match Play had been held in Marana, Ariz., since 2007. It was held at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., from 1999-2000 and 2002-2006; in 2001 it was held at The Metropolitan Club in Victoria, Australia.