4 - FIFA/CIES International University Network

RYDER CUP
to host the event, as will a high-performance
training-centre, a German hall of fame for golf
and a high-class hotel. The new venue will
accommodate more than 50,000 spectators
per day. The bid team says German efficiency
and reliability will serve as an engine to drive a
smooth-running 2018 Ryder Cup.
“Spectators arriving by air, rail or car can
expect smooth passage into Germany,” the
bid team told SportBusiness International.
“International airports in Munich, Nuremberg
and Frankfurt will speed visitors on their way,
as will modern rail stations all over the country
and high-speed ICE trains will make travelling a
pleasure. The iconic German autobahns need no
introduction for drivers.
“Hotel accommodation comes in all
categories, from five-star deluxe palaces to the
typical Bavarian Gasthaus - something for every
possible taste and budget. The Land of Bavaria
will also offer visitors a beautiful surrounding
with a lot of historical cities, the alps, the lakes
and castles, including nice weather in fall, to be
compared with the Indian summer. And due to
fortuitous timing…the world-famed Oktoberfest
beer festival takes place in Munich at the same
time as the Ryder Cup.”
HOLLAND
Holland’s bid proposes hosting the
2018 Ryder Cup at the
Colin Montgomerie-designed
course, The Dutch, currently under construction
45 minutes from both Rotterdam and
Amsterdam. The bid team emphasises that
the course-design concept, which will provide
spectators with clear views of multiple holes, will
increase viewer satisfaction of the Ryder Cup and
allow for a higher number of spectators on site.
Smart ticketing will allow spectators to prebook
seating locations and upgrade to other
tickets on-site. This way, says Niek Molenaar,
Director of the 2018 Dutch Ryder Cup bid,
Holland will get more revenues out of ticketing,
which represents around the 35 per cent of the
bid team’s total budget. The majority of revenues
(40 per cent) will come from the support of
long-term business partners with 25 per cent of
funding from the Dutch government.
Molenaar says “bonding corporate Holland”
is the key factor that puts the Dutch bid on a
different level from the four other territories
vying for 2018: “We have developed a sponsor
programme that attracted a diversified and solid
portfolio of our many business partners for
Ryder Cup 2018 and in the process realised longterm
sponsor commitments for future Dutch
European Tour events.”
Molenaar adds: “The Ryder Cup will give
a huge boost for golf in the Netherlands. It
has already grown fast to become the third
participant sport but is still underdeveloped in
attention from the media and the government.
AN EXPERT’S VIEW
A study commissioned by the European
Tour and the Irish Tourism Development
Authority estimated that the 2006 Ryder
Cup, staged at the K Club, generated
€143 million of direct expenditure for
the Irish economy.
“The Ryder Cup has proven to generate
significant economic benefits to its host
nation,” says Andrea Sartori, head of
KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice in Europe,
Middle East and Africa - whose latest
study about the professional tournament
golf sector will be launched during the
2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. “Besides
the organisers’ expenditure, the event is
known to attract a considerable number
of international visitors, whose spending
before, during and after the event
contributes to the national economy.”
“In addition to these tangible economic
benefits,” adds Sartori, “the event enables
the host nation to position the country as a
golf tourism destination and showcase its
tourism offering to a worldwide audience
through the extensive media coverage,
available to approximately 500 million
homes across 180 countries.
“The Ryder Cup also has a significant
legacy effect and may help to grow golf
locally by introducing new players to the
game. This in turn may facilitate further
investment in the supply of golf courses.
Furthermore, the 2018 event will see the
Ryder Cup return to continental Europe
for only the second time in history,
adding an additional prestige factor to
securing the bid.”
The Ryder Cup will motivate more juniors
to play golf which eventually will lead to
Dutch Ryder Cup stars of the future. From an
economic perspective we see the direct positive
impact of a large-scale sporting event for the
Rotterdam area, but also in the longer term it
will help to develop golf tourism.”
PORTUGAL
Portugal’s 2018 bid promises to
host the event at a venue in “one
of the last unspoiled pieces of
land in continental Europe”. Comporta is a
12,500-hectare area that incorporates two tourist
areas of approximately 365 hectares each. The
proposed golf course, the Comporta Dunes,
designed by specialist architect Tom Fazio
and European Golf Design, will be built over
140 hectares.
“From a sporting perspective the 2018
Ryder Cup would serve as catalyst to develop
the number of golf players in our country
and turn golf into a popular game, such as
football or athletics,” says Miguel Franco de
Sousa, Technical Director of the Portuguese
Golf Federation. “Portugal has great natural
conditions to play golf and many golf courses,
if we have a tool like a Ryder Cup to develop the
game of golf in our country we believe we can
grow from 15,000 players exponentially.
“Golf has a tremendous impact in Portugal’s
economy and currently represents 20 per cent
of tourism revenue and is growing. Golf is
a strategic tourism product which has been
marketed over the last 15 years in Portugal. Now
is the opportunity to promote a new concept of
golf tourism where sustainability and quality will
play major roles.”
Portugal’s bid costs are being financed
through the Portuguese State through Turismo
de Portugal, the promoter Herdade da Comporta
and the Portuguese Golf Federation.
SPAIN (MADRID)
The strongest asset of Madrid’s
2018 Ryder Cup bid is the purposebuilt
course at Tres Cantos, situated
26 kilometres from the centre of Madrid. The
course’s pinnacle hole, the 16th known as the
‘Bullring’, will be able to accommodate up to
25,000 people around the green.
“Celtic Manor has rebuilt the course in order
to meet all of the requirements for a Ryder
Cup so in this sense there are similarities with
our proposed purpose-built course at Tres
Cantos,” says Gonzaga Escauriaza Barreiro,
President of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation.
“We will be visiting Celtic Manor to watch the
Ryder Cup this year and will be looking at all
of the organisational and logistical elements
closely to hopefully learn some important facts
for our own bid.”
Barreiro adds: “Our infrastructure is as
good as any city in the world, as shown when
we presented a strong bid to host the [2016]
Games in Madrid - the public will be able to
travel from the centre of Madrid to our course
in the space of 28 minutes. We also have a
range of support across all major institutions
including the Royal Family, Government of
Madrid, National Sports Council, the media
and the Spanish players.”
Madrid has 10 former European players
supporting its bid, including Severiano Ballesteros
as its bid patron. The golf industry already
generates €2.375 billion per year for the Spanish
economy and, says Barreiro, “hosting the 2018
Ryder Cup would provide the focus and attention
necessary to continue attracting investment at
all levels of the game and support our existing
calendar of events on the European Tour.”
Despite announcing an intention to bid for the
2018 Ryder Cup, Sweden withdrew its application
in March this year.
40 SportBusiness International • No. 160 • 09.10