Eighteen wind-swept holes into the 72-hole Lotte Championship it is way too early to tell who takes the title, but we already know who the winner will be this week.
When it comes to LPGA events here, Hawaii is the big winner.
Among the myriad of sports events the state hosts, the LPGA ranks among the best values in promotion.
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, LPGA events return, on average, $66.66 per dollar of the $250,000 invested by the state.
Or, about 10 times the return on investment of the Pro Bowl, the state’s biggest sports expenditure, a $5.2 million investment.
Even hugely productive PGA Tour events, for which the state lays out $1.99 million, have an ROI of half that of the LPGA.
Much of that comes in the form of television exposure, of which the Lotte draws 16 hours of coverage over the four days on the Golf Channel that amounts to a promotional postcard in key mainland prime time windows.
Citing figures from 2014 and ‘15, a spokesman for the Golf Channel said the Lotte Championship “is typically seen by about 2.5 million viewers across four rounds.”
This year, with six of the top seven points leaders in the Lotte field, that should portend well for interest. But the reach of the tournament is longer than that of Lexie Thompson’s tee shots.
LPGA officials said the tournament is shown in vast swaths of Asia, including the major markets of Japan and South Korea.
The dilemma now is the optimum avenue to both continue and expand not only what the association with the LPGA provides but other sports as well. That issue is at the heart of two bills still alive in the state legislature, house bills 1847 and 2229. The former would provide for a sports and entertainment authority to oversee keeping current events, such as the Lotte, and soliciting new ones. While 2229 would create a task force to oversee the sports ventures.
Meanwhile, the HTA, which books 19 sports events a year, argues that it should remain the point agency on sports events.
The debate comes at a critical time for the state’s sports industry as it tries to hold onto established events as well as create and attract new ones.
Already this year we have seen the Hyundai Motor Company of America drop its sponsorship of the Kapalua Tournament of Champions after a six-year run to take over another PGA event in California. No new title sponsor has yet been announced.
Then there is the looming question of the longest running PGA stop in the state, the Sony Open in Hawaii. The Sony Corporation’s sponsorship runs through 2018, its 20th anniversary of an event that faces major challenges. Under the current golf calendar complicated by the so-called “wrap-around” PGA schedule, the 2017 Sony Open is due to come the first week of January. Hardly the most advantageous time to attract golfers and viewers.
So while the state basks in the exposure of the Lotte Championship this week it would be wise also to cast an eye and thought toward the future of sports events in Hawaii.
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Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
