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ASPEN — In a sluggish economy, thank goodness for Budweiser.
That’s not the consolation of the recently unemployed, but the company line from the Aspen Skiing Co., which inked one of its biggest event sponsors, beer giant Anheuser-Busch, to a contract extension earlier this year.
The Skico also signed extensions with other longtime partners and secured some new sponsors, according to John Rigney, Skico’s vice president of sales and events. With those contracts, the Skico’s events department remains in a “great spot” in a tough market.
“It’s clearly tight, but we have a lot of longtime partners that we’ve been with for several years,” Rigney said. “We’ve certainly tried our best to do a do great job for them and make them feel comfortable with the Aspen brand. Right now, all of our events have great support.”
The same can’t be said for others in the business of securing event sponsorship, both locally and nationally.
Earlier this month, the popular 24 Hours of Sunlight in Glenwood Springs nearly folded before a donation from the local branch of American National Bank saved this year’s endurance race. Also among the local headlines: the death of the Jeep King of the Mountain Series, which, after 16 years, couldn’t survive the blow of its title sponsor pulling its funding. This year’s series was supposed to kick off in Telluride next month.
World Cup racing fans also will notice that this year’s Winternational on Aspen Mountain bears no title sponsor. In recent years, German automaker Audi had titled the event, which is put on by the Skico and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA).
Ted Morris, USSA’s vice president of sales and marketing, stressed that the lack of a title sponsor isn’t a true indication of how well the event is doing. According to Morris, the Winternational still has strong support among sponsors — particularly European brands, since the Aspen races will be live on prime time European television.
Unlike Audi, a well-known brand in the U.S., the decision not to go with a different European title sponsor this year came down to staying away from a brand which U.S. fans wouldn’t recognize.
“What’s really important is that we’ve sold all the bib sponsors,” said Morris, referring to the racer’s bibs that bear sponsor’s names. “They’ve sold to European companies, like Generali and Rauch.”
The former is a global insurance and investment group based in Italy, the latter an Austrian-based fruit juice company.
“One, the European sponsorships are strong because the euro is kicking the dollar’s ass right now,” Morris said. “Two, because the visibility is huge in Europe. We get European companies who want to buy that exposure. What we try to stay away from is that we don’t want [the event] to be the Generali Winternational.”
While USSA, like the Skico, remains in a comfortable position — for now — Morris acknowledged that the global economic downturn has made it tough for other event organizers.
Johnson & Johnson recently announced it wouldn’t be renewing its top-tier sponsorship with the International Olympic Committee — a revenue loss estimated near $100 million. The nation’s top professional women’s golf circuit, the LPGA Tour, also announced that its 2009 schedule features three fewer tournaments compared to recent years — an estimated loss of $5 million.
There’s also the plight of NASCAR, which as ESPN reported in an “Outside the Lines” episode, has a $100 million contract with the most beleaguered of the big three U.S. car manufacturers, General Motors.
Chevy also recently walked away from a partnership with the U.S. Ski Team after 14 years.
“I think there’s a lot of similarities between this and 9/11,” Morris said. “One of those is that, even though companies have money and have budgets, getting the approval to pull the trigger on the deal seems much more laborious.
“We’re in a couple of negotiations right now where we’ve got verbal agreements, but we still don’t have a final deal,” he added. “Something’s got to get approved again, and budgets get cut again, and the people are like, ‘We’ll wait and see what happens.’”
Another trend that Morris has personal experience with is when a sponsor refuses to honor its signed contract.
In the case of USSA, Morris said it currently has 20 major partners and all but one of them has been loyal.
“I think other people are seeing more of it, when properties are selling,” Morris said. “Companies are saying, ‘We’ve got a contract, but we can’t honor it.”
And when it comes to that, the onus is on the event organizer to weigh the pros and cons of a lawsuit.
“Just to give you an example, this deal where this particular sponsor has told us they can’t honor the contract is an annual deal of about $200,000,” Morris said. “Our attorneys have told us, ‘You’re probably going to spend $100,000 on attorney’s fees fighting this.’ It also depends on when you’re suing. When it’s companies who are in bankruptcy or on the fringe of bankruptcy, if they owe you money, you just get in line behind everyone else. And then there’s nothing left.”
Rigney remains optimistic that the global economy will rebound and that even in a recession Aspen’s brand will hold strong.
While Budweiser titles Aspen’s three largest winter events — Spring Jam, the Hi-Fi Concert Series and Big Air Fridays — the Skico also maintains strong partnerships with the likes of American Express, Sprint, Coca Cola, Audi and Green Mountain Coffee, among others.
Rigney doesn’t see those business relationships souring any time soon.
“In general, yes, I think, inevitably, people are going to look under every rock to save any money they can,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough go until the economy turns. As far as it relates to Skico, we’re very lucky to be in a great spot with all our partners. This, like any other year, is our chance to over-deliver and make them never want to leave.”
npeterson@aspentimes.com
That’s not the consolation of the recently unemployed, but the company line from the Aspen Skiing Co., which inked one of its biggest event sponsors, beer giant Anheuser-Busch, to a contract extension earlier this year.
The Skico also signed extensions with other longtime partners and secured some new sponsors, according to John Rigney, Skico’s vice president of sales and events. With those contracts, the Skico’s events department remains in a “great spot” in a tough market.
“It’s clearly tight, but we have a lot of longtime partners that we’ve been with for several years,” Rigney said. “We’ve certainly tried our best to do a do great job for them and make them feel comfortable with the Aspen brand. Right now, all of our events have great support.”
The same can’t be said for others in the business of securing event sponsorship, both locally and nationally.
Earlier this month, the popular 24 Hours of Sunlight in Glenwood Springs nearly folded before a donation from the local branch of American National Bank saved this year’s endurance race. Also among the local headlines: the death of the Jeep King of the Mountain Series, which, after 16 years, couldn’t survive the blow of its title sponsor pulling its funding. This year’s series was supposed to kick off in Telluride next month.
World Cup racing fans also will notice that this year’s Winternational on Aspen Mountain bears no title sponsor. In recent years, German automaker Audi had titled the event, which is put on by the Skico and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA).
Ted Morris, USSA’s vice president of sales and marketing, stressed that the lack of a title sponsor isn’t a true indication of how well the event is doing. According to Morris, the Winternational still has strong support among sponsors — particularly European brands, since the Aspen races will be live on prime time European television.
Unlike Audi, a well-known brand in the U.S., the decision not to go with a different European title sponsor this year came down to staying away from a brand which U.S. fans wouldn’t recognize.
“What’s really important is that we’ve sold all the bib sponsors,” said Morris, referring to the racer’s bibs that bear sponsor’s names. “They’ve sold to European companies, like Generali and Rauch.”
The former is a global insurance and investment group based in Italy, the latter an Austrian-based fruit juice company.
“One, the European sponsorships are strong because the euro is kicking the dollar’s ass right now,” Morris said. “Two, because the visibility is huge in Europe. We get European companies who want to buy that exposure. What we try to stay away from is that we don’t want [the event] to be the Generali Winternational.”
While USSA, like the Skico, remains in a comfortable position — for now — Morris acknowledged that the global economic downturn has made it tough for other event organizers.
Johnson & Johnson recently announced it wouldn’t be renewing its top-tier sponsorship with the International Olympic Committee — a revenue loss estimated near $100 million. The nation’s top professional women’s golf circuit, the LPGA Tour, also announced that its 2009 schedule features three fewer tournaments compared to recent years — an estimated loss of $5 million.
There’s also the plight of NASCAR, which as ESPN reported in an “Outside the Lines” episode, has a $100 million contract with the most beleaguered of the big three U.S. car manufacturers, General Motors.
Chevy also recently walked away from a partnership with the U.S. Ski Team after 14 years.
“I think there’s a lot of similarities between this and 9/11,” Morris said. “One of those is that, even though companies have money and have budgets, getting the approval to pull the trigger on the deal seems much more laborious.
“We’re in a couple of negotiations right now where we’ve got verbal agreements, but we still don’t have a final deal,” he added. “Something’s got to get approved again, and budgets get cut again, and the people are like, ‘We’ll wait and see what happens.’”
Another trend that Morris has personal experience with is when a sponsor refuses to honor its signed contract.
In the case of USSA, Morris said it currently has 20 major partners and all but one of them has been loyal.
“I think other people are seeing more of it, when properties are selling,” Morris said. “Companies are saying, ‘We’ve got a contract, but we can’t honor it.”
And when it comes to that, the onus is on the event organizer to weigh the pros and cons of a lawsuit.
“Just to give you an example, this deal where this particular sponsor has told us they can’t honor the contract is an annual deal of about $200,000,” Morris said. “Our attorneys have told us, ‘You’re probably going to spend $100,000 on attorney’s fees fighting this.’ It also depends on when you’re suing. When it’s companies who are in bankruptcy or on the fringe of bankruptcy, if they owe you money, you just get in line behind everyone else. And then there’s nothing left.”
Rigney remains optimistic that the global economy will rebound and that even in a recession Aspen’s brand will hold strong.
While Budweiser titles Aspen’s three largest winter events — Spring Jam, the Hi-Fi Concert Series and Big Air Fridays — the Skico also maintains strong partnerships with the likes of American Express, Sprint, Coca Cola, Audi and Green Mountain Coffee, among others.
Rigney doesn’t see those business relationships souring any time soon.
“In general, yes, I think, inevitably, people are going to look under every rock to save any money they can,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough go until the economy turns. As far as it relates to Skico, we’re very lucky to be in a great spot with all our partners. This, like any other year, is our chance to over-deliver and make them never want to leave.”
npeterson@aspentimes.com
This article is a feature of Inside Business, published Tuesdays in The Aspen Times.
