RYDER CUP Captains Corey Pavin (US) and Colin Montgomerie (Europe) - Getty Images Sport This claim is borne out by figures from Ryder Cup Wales (RCW), the public-private partnership which has driven the agenda in the run up to the Celtic Manor event. According to John Jermine, chairman of RCW, golfing tourism contributed around £34.7 million to the Welsh economy in 2009 - an impressive increase of £18 million on 2002 - and in 2009 Wales also enjoyed a 15 per cent increase in golf visitors - against the overall UK trend. This is exactly the kind of outcome that Hills, as a Ryder Cup director, is looking for: “Wales has done a very creative job of delivering long term benefits for the sport. They’ve even gone as far as using golf as a tool for the national curriculum for six-to-10-year-olds.” Raising interest at home Highlights of the pre-Ryder Cup period include a range of initiatives from Golf Development Wales which have introduced around 75,000 seven-to-17-year-olds to the sport. At the same time, the £2 million Ryder Cup Legacy Fund has funded 41 pay-and-play facilities that will include 200 holes and 32 greens across Wales. In terms of encouraging the widest possible fan engagement, there are also plans for a fanzone in Newport. Here, 2,000 spectators who can’t get tickets to the event will be able to watch it live on big screens. All for which makes for good golf-based headlines. But when public money is involved in bringing sports events to countries, how can stakeholders be sure there is a tangible benefit to be had? Well, to its credit, Europe’s Ryder Cup team has worked hard to try and deliver some hard facts regarding economic impact. After 2006’s edition at K Club in Ireland, for example, Ryder Cup Europe and Fáilte Ireland commissioned Deloitte & Touche to produce a report which claimed the event generated spending of around €240 million across the FACTS AND FIGURES Celtic Manor expects 45,000 spectators to watch the match on each day of the competition. A further 7,000 on each day will be made up of members of staff and course marshals, emergency services and the media. Similar numbers will attend official Practice Days. Around 1,200 representatives of the media are expected to attend in 2010. Four TV studios will be built, along with 30 outside broadcast vehicles and 30 scaffolding camera towers at strategic points on the course, all served by 80km of TV fibre cables. The 2010 event is likely to be covered by 50 TV stations, beaming pictures into 750 million homes in over 195 countries. On course infrastructure includes: 195 mobile offices/toilets, a 2,000-square-metre merchandise tent, 40,000 sqm of other tentage, 3,700 metres of perimeter fencing, 18 grandstands with over 15,000 seats, nine electronic screens on the course, practice ground and tented village displaying live coverage and scores, 13,000 chairs, 300 flag poles 90 BMW courtesy cars and 240 Club Car electric buggies. country - much higher than the pre-event prediction of €130 million. The fact that Sir Terry was the driving force in winning the event for Wales is to be applauded. But with the likes of France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and The Netherlands all now interested in hosting this prestigious event in 2018, it could be decades before Wales gets another look in (particularly as hosting is shared with the US (Medinah, Chicago, in 2012). So how will Celtic Manor justify its existence going forward? The answer, says Rees Jones, is the diversified structure of the business: “Our main revenue streams are the conference and leisure markets - with many companies and families using our facilities. But we also recently extended our contract with the European Tour for The Celtic Manor-sponsored Wales Open until 2014. That means highprofile golf will continue to play a part here for at least another three years.” Of course, one of the biggest innovations was the decision to go to Wales for the first time. If the event is a success, then the way is open for other non-traditional markets to present a new kind of blueprint to The Ryder Cup’s organisers. To cite an example, the 2018 Germany bid (see pp. 38-40) is based on plans for another custom-built course - to be financed by car giant Audi. Leaving aside the potential for commercial conflict between Audi and Ryder Cup partner BMW, the move towards purpose-built courses in a more diverse range of countries could reinforce the Ryder Cup’s profile as one of the great international events in the calendar. 36 SportBusiness <strong>International</strong> • No. 160 • 09.10
DELIVERING TOTAL EVENT SOLUTIONS FROM THE RYDER CUP TO THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES IN 2010 WWW.ARENAGROUP.COM TOTAL EVENT SOLUTIONS
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