HSBC considering dropping WGC Shanghai event

HSBC is considering ending its sponsorship of its flagship golf tournament, the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, as the contract expires this year, a senior official told AFP.

HSBC global head of sponsorship Giles Morgan said the British bank was currently evaluating its association with the $8.5 million (Dh31.2m) event, one of four World Golf Championships (WGC) held worldwide.

Morgan added that sponsorship of the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore, one of the US LPGA tournaments played in Asia, was also under review.

“This is our last year of our golf portfolio, so we are in discussions with everybody,” Morgan said on the sidelines of the Sports Matters industry conference in Singapore.

“We’ll make announcements when we’ve decided and figured out. Contracts come to an end. So you then have to go through a process of doing quite a lot of analysis about has it worked, are we getting what we want, are they getting what they want? Is the partnership working?

“And then we sit down in a room and make decisions. We’re in the middle of that process right now.”

The HSBC Champions has been a highlight of the Asian golfing calendar since it debuted in 2005, before joining the four-stop World Golf Championships series in 2009.

The next WGC-HSBC Champions in November will be the 10th edition at Shanghai’s Sheshan golf club. It has also been held at Mission Hills in Guangdong, southern China.

Taken from TheNational