THE PGA TOUR and Valero Energy Corporation have signed a six-year extension of Valero's sponsorship commitment to the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, Texas for between $6m and $8m per year.
With prize money of some $6.2m this year, the Valero Texas Open is one of the lesser lights on the PGA Tour, however the title sponsorship price tag can be justified by the media buy associated with the sponsorship.
US-based sources report that around half the title sponsorship revenue generated by PGA Tour events covered on CBS or NBC under the current nine- year broadcast deal goes into a media buy, with the other half going to the tournament organisers.
Since Valero became title sponsor in 2002, the Valero Texas Open has also become a leader in charitable donations on the PGA Tour.
Last year's event generated a Tour-record $9m for charity, bringing the tournament's all-time contributions to $67m, $62.5m of which has come since Valero became title sponsor.
The PGA Tour, which moved the event to the spring and into its FedEx Cup points chase in 2009, spearheaded the discussions for a renewed deal with Valero, according to the San Antonio Express.
The new deal takes effect in 2013 and runs through 2018.
By Matthew Glendinning
matthewg@sportbusiness.com