Shankai Sports signs agreement with PGA Tour-China



December 7, Beijing: The Chinese sports company Shankai Sports has formed a partnership with the PGA Tour, acquiring the rights to managing the PGA Tour’s China series, PGA Tour-China, for 20 years from 2018. Shankai Sports is the first Chinese sports marketing firm to be endorsed with the operation rights to PGA Tour’s events. 

Inaugurated in 2014, the PGA Tour-China has been consecutively staged for three years and will begin its new season in 2018. The 2018 season will start with qualifying tournaments taking place next January, while the formal events will be organized in March, 2018. The total prize fund for each tournament will reach RMB 1.5m, an increase of 25% on last season. 

As a development tournament of the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour-China will provide access for golfers to the Web.com Tour. Reportedly, the top 5 golfers on the PGA Tour-China’s order of merit will directly qualify for the next edition of Web.com Tour. In addition no less than 15 players will qualify for the final stages from the PGA Tour-China. Through the Web.com Tour, players have an opportunity to qualify for PGA Tour events.

At the same press conference, Shankai Sports also announced that they had received a  RMB 300m investment from Yao Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by the Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming and IDG Capital.

Source: Yutang Sports 

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick