04-04-2025
PGA Tour Champions California event needs a new sponsor
PGA Tour Champions California event needs a new sponsor
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History of the Galleri Classic golf tournament on PGA Tour Champions schedule
The Galleri Classic is a spring event on the PGA Tour Champions golf schedule
The PGA Tour Champions tournament in the Coachella Valley is searching for a new title sponsor after Grail opted out of its contract.
Grail, a healthcare company, ended its sponsorship after three years of an eight-year deal with an opt-out clause.
Tournament organizers are actively seeking a new sponsor, with a goal of securing one before July 1 to allow for ample planning time.
The tournament is considered a valuable opportunity for sponsors due to its strong field of players, attractive pro-am events, and location in a popular destination.
Players have expressed their desire for the tournament to continue in the Coachella Valley, praising the course and the tournament's overall experience.
(This story has been updated with new information)
The PGA Tour Champions tournament in the Coachella Valley seems to have almost everything a tournament needs for success: A popular destination, the support of the players on the senior golf tour and a course that those golfers love.
What the tournament doesn't have, at least as of this week, is a title sponsor.
Just days after the Galleri Classic presented by Spotlight 29 Casino completed its third year at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, tour and tournament officials say they are looking for a new sponsor to replace Grail, the healthcare company that is opting out of its contract with the tournament.
'We are very hopeful,' said Michelle DeLancy, the tournament director of the desert PGA Tour Champions event, which is operated by media and sports company Wasserman. 'The tour, the players and the current sponsors that we have really would love to see us be able to continue in the area, so we are hopeful that we land that right sponsorship to be able to do that."
The departure of Grail, which developed the multicancer detection blood test called Galleri, was announced to the players in a meeting last week with Miller Brady, the president of the PGA Tour Champions. Both DeLancy and Brady thanked Grail for the sponsorship that brought the PGA Tour Champions back to the Coachella Valley after a 30-year absence.
More: At long last: Steve Allan earns first pro golf win in more than two decades at Galleri Classic
'When we announced this tournament three years ago, we were ecstatic to have the Champions Tour return to the Coachella Valley, a region that carries a rich golf tradition,' Brady said in a statement. 'Over the past three seasons, this tournament has seen legends of the game competing at the historic Mission Hills Country Club, all while making an impact in the community. As we look towards the future, it's our goal to remain in this region, as we are actively in the process of identifying and securing a new title sponsor for 2026 and beyond.'
Grail originally signed an eight-year deal with the event, but the contract had opt-out clauses that Grail activated to depart after three years. Grail began trading on the NASDAQ last June after issuing an initial public offering.
'The Galleri Classic also provided an important platform to educate and inspire players, fans, and residents of this community about the importance of early cancer detection, while supporting six local organizations that do important work for cancer patients and their families,' said Bob Ragusa, the chief executive officer of Grail, in a separate statement. 'We look forward to seeing the Champions Tour return to this community for many years to come.'
Finding that new sponsor willing to spend millions of dollars for the event is now the focus of tournament organizers, with DeLancy saying the event would like to have a new sponsor in place before July 1.
'That gives the sponsor time to get their company ready and start to put the pieces of the puzzle together,' DeLancy said. 'With a new title comes a lot of planning for their company as well as us being able to set up new marketing and on-course signage and that kind of thing to prepare in the next 10 months or so to get it ready for late March or early April of 2026.'
Talking to potential sponsors
DeLancy said the PGA Tour and Wasserman are already talking to potential sponsors, knowing that the right sponsor might be outside of the Coachella Valley. The desert doesn't have the corporate base that larger cities have, and sponsors of large sports events in the desert like The American Express PGA Tour event or the BNP Paribas Open tennis event are from outside the area.
Unlike the PGA Tour event in the desert, which played for three years starting in 2009 without a title sponsor after Chrysler left the event in 2008, the desert's senior PGA Tour event must have a title sponsor to make a 2026 event possible. After five decades in the desert, the PGA Tour event known as the Bob Hope Classic had millions of dollars in reserve to make up for lost sponsorship money, but needed sponsorship from Humana to make the 2012 event possible.
'Working with the business development team at the PGA Tour and the relationships they have and the same with Wasserman and the business relationship that we have as well as reaching out to companies that we think could be a good fit or we want to see if they have an interest in it,' DeLancy said. 'I'm also connected with a lot of players that have relationships with top companies or top people in those companies that have reached out to see the interest level there.'
One of the top selling points for the desert's senior PGA Tour event is the traditionally strong field that shows up annually. Seven World Golf Hall of Famers competed last week for a $2.2 million purse with $330,000 going to winner Steven Allan. Two of the tour's top players were missing last week, including Steve Stricker with a bad back and Padraig Harrington.
The tournament also features two one-day pro-ams that can be attractive for a corporation, although DeLancy admits the tournament has struggled selling the opportunity to individual golfers in the desert rather that corporate buyers.
'The pro-am is a big selling point. The pro-am and the entertainment feature, hosting here in this beautiful area we live in, playing golf with these legends of the game, them being able to do events like AmEx does,' DeLancy said. 'They come in and host a bunch of people and have them play in the pro-am and have dinners and client dinners and that kind of thing. I think that's definitely the opportunity we have here.'
The Galleri Classic was first played at Mission Hills Country Club in March of 2023, just one year after the LPGA left Rancho Mirage after a 51-year run with its first major championship of the season. It also marked the return of an official PGA Tour Champions event to the desert for the first time since the Gulfstream Aerospace Invitational, played at The Vintage Club in Indian Wells from 1984-92 and at the Indian Wells Golf Resort in 1993. The Legends of Golf team event was played at PGA West in La Quinta from 1995 through 1997, but was an unofficial event.
Since the seniors returned to the desert, players have been generous with their comments on the desert and the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills. Some of those players, like long-time desert resident Fred Couples, clearly had some idea that the sponsorship issue was looming.
'We're lucky to be here and I'm hoping we can continue,' Couples said before last week's event. 'I don't know what I'm hearing, but I'm hoping we can continue to play here a few more years, or at least for me. I'm getting old.'
'In terms of the golf course, it's right up there. It's a shame it's not a little bit later in the year just preparing for some majors because it's that type of golf course,' said Steven Alker, the 2022 and 2024 Charles Schwab Cup champion on the tour. 'That aspect, they look after us great this week, nice venue facilities, everyone here has always been great. It's nice to come back. Definitely top five or six for sure.'
DeLancy said she knows everyone connected to the tour and the players definitely want to return for a fourth year in the desert, with the tournament asking for a five-year commitment from a new sponsor.
'We are very hopeful and I think talking to the right people and continuing to have conversations will get us there,' she said.
