The Economy to Put Damper on FBR Open Festivities

The Valley's signature sporting event - the rowdy FBR Open - takes center stage here this week, but there are signs that the gloomy economic backdrop will produce a less exuberant and free-spending show than has been the tradition.

Corporate cutbacks on the party tab at the TPC Scottsdale, the death of a performer during a Tuesday event, and lower-than-usual attendance during the first three days of preliminaries have conspired to put a damper on the start of the tournament, but promoters nonetheless expect a strong turnout of a half-million high-spirited golf fans.

The Open tees off today and runs through Sunday.

Corporate sponsors say they will be spending less on their tourney festivities, and that, in turn, is likely to reduce the number of partying guests attending at corporate expense.

The FBR isn't the only victim of this trend.

Golf tournaments, college bowl games and other sporting events are all feeling the economic pinch, said Robert Canton, a director of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

The firm's sports and tourism division anticipates a 20 percent dip in spending - fan and corporate - in Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII with the Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers.

"Sports are not immune to these challenges we're experiencing," Canton said. Yet the events still provide an economic boost to their host cities, even if they are scaled back, he added.

A 2007 study by Arizona State University's Sports Business Programs estimated that out-of-town visitors spent a combined $62 million during their trips to attend the FBR Open.

Champagne to beer

This year will see a decline in visitors at the Open. The numbers already tell the tale: Estimated attendance during preliminary events Monday through Wednesday was 62,500, down by nearly a third from the 91,201 who attended during the same period last year.

Spending also is diminishing as sponsors host fewer clients, pay for fewer spots in the pro-am events and generally operate on a beer - instead of a champagne - entertainment budget. It could all add up to less revenue for the hosting Thunderbirds and their charities, which received a PGA Tour record $8.6 million last year.

Spending restraint starts with the title sponsor, FBR Capital Markets Corp., and filters down to other sponsors, including US Airways and Avnet Inc.

FBR, based in Arlington, Va., and its parent company, the Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc., have been rocked by heavy losses. The FBR Group's stock price has fallen as low as 6 cents per share from a high of $3.68 in the past year. Its third-quarter losses totaled $169 million. Still, FBR executives have assured the Thunderbirds that the financial company intends to honor its sponsorship contract through 2012.

But FBR executives said they would be doing less entertaining at this year's event.

Fewer Open invites

Tempe-based US Airways slashed its sponsorship of the Open about five years ago and is scaling back a little more this year, said Kathi Overkamp, company manager of special events and client hospitality.

US Airways has invited about 1,500 people to its hospitality tent, including corporate travel managers, travel agents and some of its most-frequent fliers.

In the past, attendees often had a choice of VIP tents to attend at the Open. This year, with fewer corporations hosting parties, far more clients are taking the airline up on its invitation, Overkamp said.

"I'm out of passes," she said. "People laugh when I tell them I can put them on a stand-by list."

Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds say that new sponsors have stepped in to replace companies that had to cut back or eliminate their sponsorships.

"We're sympathetic to what's going on out there," tournament chairman John Felix said.

The Open, which is the best-attended tournament on the PGA Tour, will be pressed to reach last year's record attendance, estimated at more than 538,000. That number got a boost from the Valley hosting the Super Bowl.

The Thunderbirds hope to capitalize on the upbeat mood the Cardinals have sparked in Arizona with their first Super Bowl appearance on Sunday.

"I just feel we will really benefit from that," he said. "Everyone could use something to celebrate."

The chilly weather early in the week is expected to give way to temperatures in the low 70s at the Scottsdale golf course.

"From what I can tell, people are still planning on coming out," Felix said. "This is our community's signature event. It's our Kentucky Derby, our Indy 500."

Via AZcentral