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Lack of sports event sponsors costs state

James Paton, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 8, 2007 at midnight

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First the Denver Grand Prix said it wouldn't return this year or the next. Now The International golf tournament is set to experience the same fate.

At the center of both departures is the issue of sponsorship.

Neither the race nor the golf event has been able to keep a major sponsor willing to write a big multimillion-dollar check in return for recognition.

One problem: The Denver region is a competitive and crowded sports market with a host of teams and competitions all vying for limited corporate dollars.

Those sponsorships would appeal to large Colorado-based corporations with a national reach, Fortune 500 caliber players. But there are not enough of them.

Steve Sander, a Denver sports marketing maven, said the inability to sign primary sponsors is partly an event-related problem.

"This is certainly not a sign Colorado" has faded as a successful market for marquee sports events, said the president of Sander Kenney Marketing.

The Grand Prix from the outset struggled to gain a foothold. Then, news hit that the Castle Pines golf tournament was done, at least for now. One of the issues was doubt about being able to draw Tiger Woods. Another was the date. Those matters likely needed to be resolved before a big sponsor signed up.

Denver is regarded as a top sports town, and Dean Bonham, another local sports marketing expert, said he's surprised at the loss of two events.

"I don't know if we've reached the saturation point, but it is fair to say there's a very broad base of sports and entertainment offerings in Denver," he said. "It's a constant struggle to get a share" of the available dollars.

Title sponsorships on the PGA Tour range from about $6 million to $11 million a year, and that's too steep for many businesses.

Ciber Inc., based in Greenwood Village, has been a secondary sponsor of The International, but a title deal is out of its reach, according to Mac Slingerlend, the company's CEO.

"As proud as we are of the tournament and the people involved, it wouldn't be responsible of us to step up to that level of commitment," he said.

Observers cringed at the thought of the economic impact.

"It could hurt tourism and the greatness of the Colorado message we want to convey," said Dave Smrek, of Adrenalin in Denver. "It's the kind of event that puts you on the national stage."

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