Wednesday, July 25, 2007: Balsillie among those being courted for Canadian Open sponsorship
MARKHAM, Ont. – The people in charge of running the Canadian Open hope to give a new meaning to the Group of Seven.
After spending more than a year searching for a title sponsor, the focus has shifted to attracting a conglomerate of second-tier sponsors to prop up the 103-year-old event.
A group of 12 to 15 "senior" business leaders, including Research In Motion CEO Jim Balsillie and Tim Hortons co-founder Ron Joyce, attended a luncheon at Angus Glen on Wednesday to hear the pitch.
The meeting was the brainchild of Pengrowth CEO Jim Kinnear, whose company is currently serving as a second-tier sponsor of the event.
"Our goal would be to have seven (sponsors)," said Kinnear. ``Let's call it the Group of Seven. That would be our goal if we are successful.
"But we could do it with less."
He figures they could get by with as few as five companies covering the roughly $6 million (U.S.) needed to hold the event. With Pengrowth and Bell Canada already in a sponsorship role, they only need to attract three more companies.
Kinnear was absolutely glowing at the prospect on Wednesday. Before speaking at the luncheon, he played a pro-am round with Balsillie, co-creator of the Blackberry. The duo also played with defending champion Jim Furyk and RCGA president Garry West.
Furyk, Billy Andrade, Olin Browne and young Canadian pro Andrew Parr all spoke to the potential sponsors about the tournament during a two-hour meeting. Kinnear later pronounced it a success.
"We're significantly closer," he said.
That was certainly the kind of news the RCGA was hoping to hear.
The association has been searching for an answer to its problem since Bell Canada moved to a reduced role in April 2006 after 12 years as title sponsor.
No one has stepped up to take over title sponsorship in the interim.
"We've knocked on a tremendous number of doors relative to the number of people who have the ability financially and who have interest in the U.S. market," said Rick Desrochers, the RCGA's COO.
The RCGA expects to lose about $2.5 million on this year's tournament. That's an unfamiliar position to be in.
"This event has always returned a black number," said new executive director Scott Simmons.
If the vision held by Kinnear and West comes to fruition, it could quickly get back to that position.
Ideally, they'd like to have the CEOs of the five to seven sponsors to form an advisory board for the tournament.
"(We could) start taking advantage of the brainpower in the room," said West. "I mean they can help us out. The solution to our sponsorship problem is going to be solved by a team. It's not going to be solved by any one individual."
Kinnear wants to see the Canadian Open restored to a premier event and is already happy with some of the initiatives on display this week. Players were flown on a private first-class charter from the British Open in Scotland for the event and are all driving courtesy cars provided by BMW.
It's a tournament Kinnear believes should be better supported by corporations in Canada.
"This is really Canada's only international event," he said. ``It's something that we believe strongly that should be supported by all Canadians."
Kinnear even talked of trying to raise the purse above its current level of US$5 million – something that has seemed unimaginable.
"Shouldn't we be moving more in that direction?" he asked.
