Years ago when I made my living organizing major sports events I was always working with sponsors whose main concern was whether they would get a great return for their investment.
RBC decided to invest a lot (not published) of money to secure the services of Dustin Johnson as the lead player in their golf team, and after his spectacular -23, 3 shot win at Glen Abbey this weekend, things could not be better in the sponsorship department at the bank this morning. He has certainly given them a real bang for their buck !
Getting a solid major sponsor for the Canadian Open hasn't always been easy. From 1904 - 1993 it was called the Canadian Open with various sponsors including cigarette and liquor giants before the government banned them from sponsoring sports. Bell took over from 1994 -2005, then RBC from 2008 - present. Trust me, from 2006 -2008 with no major sponsor, there were fears that the tournament would be lost. The staff at the RCGA managed to piece together a corporate group of 6 minority companies to keep things afloat before RBC came along.
Why then have RBC decided to invest so much money in the golf sponsorship (amongst others, tennis etc.) business. I don't want to turn this into a financial report but let me sum up the main reason in the words of their President and CEO, Dave McKay.
"We had a great year in 2017, with record earnings of $11.5 billion, driven by robust growth across our businesses and a disciplined approach to risk management. We also returned a record $8.2 billion of capital in dividends and share buybacks, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to shareholders while delivering on our growth strategies”
The purse this year was $6,200,000 with DJ taking home $1,116,000 (before taxes) of it. As world #1 he is always on TV featuring the RBC logo around the world. He of course married into the Gretzky family, part of the reason for his popularity up here this week with over 80,000 fans paying to get in. His life now, as arguably the world's best golfer, and a quiet family man make him the ideal investment for RBC as they expand their business internationally.
He is a threat to win every time he tees it up, and the fact he did win their RBC Canadian Open this weekend was just the icing on the cake for the bank, after what was a very successful week without him.
The tournament moves to Hamilton GC next year and 2023, with a new and in my opinion, better week in early June right before the US Open, and the consecutive run at Glen Abbey is over as the tournament will be hosted at various great courses, mainly across the GTA , a move that will be applauded by most of the top players.
All this is great news for RBC. Unless there is another world recession, their future looks bright, and with DJ healthy and in his prime at 35 with 19 championships and more to surely come, he is certainly giving them a real bang for their buck!
Bryan Angus
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