European Tour Extends Official Retail Partnership with Fanatics
Manchester, UK. (May 20 2016) – The European Tour and multi-channel retail partner Fanatics, have today announced an extensive long-term deal which extends Fanatics’ position as Official Retail Partner for the European Tour and Ryder Cup Europe for the next seven years.
Fanatics will operate as the exclusive on-course retailer at selected European Tour events, with the first of its wholly managed event retail sites now open at this week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation at The K Club, County Kildare.
It will also operate the on-course merchandise stores at the BMW PGA Championship, Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open and British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
On-course and online stores will continue to offer own-brand products for both European Tour and Ryder Cup events with other retail brands incorporated on an appropriate and event-by event basis.
Fanatics already operates as an e-commerce and retail partner for a series of globally recognized sports brands, including F1, The Wimbledon Championships, RFU, Tour de France, NBA and NFL and today’s announcement follows the success of on-course and e-commerce facilities provided at The 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and at last year’s Solheim Cup in Germany.
The deal extends exclusivity to Fanatics for the supply and distribution of the European Tour and Ryder Cup Europe’s own-label products and as Official Online Retailer for both brands in the UK and Europe. As part of the deal, a new European Tour online store was launched last week with mobile stores to follow. Fanatics, who will operate as Exclusive Retailer at the 2018 and 2022 Ryder Cups, will also deliver a French-language Ryder Cup site for launch in 2017.
Tim Hunt, European Tour Head of Marketing, said: “Fanatics have proven themselves to be an extremely valuable partner on The Ryder Cup and I am delighted that we have been able to extend our agreement, to now include our European Tour retail activity and The 2018 and 2022 Ryder Cups. Aligning ourselves with world class partners is a key aspect of our commercial growth and I look forward to developing what is already a successful partnership.”
Fanatics’ international President, Andy Anson said: “We already enjoy a strong and productive relationship with the European Tour and Ryder Cup Europe but the extension to our partnership endorses our commitment to offering best-practice retail solutions to major international brands. As a licensed partner, our aim is to provide a world-class experience for international golf fans, either at the events themselves or online. This relationship is particularly exciting for us because it is complimented by a similar association for us in the USA with the PGA of America.”
About the European Tour
The European Tour celebrates men’s professional golf on a global stage. In 2016, the European Tour International Schedule features 47 tournaments in 27 countries, all part of the Race to Dubai, the year-long competition which crowns the European Tour Number One at the end of the season, a title claimed in 2015 by Rory McIlroy for the third time.
Since its formation in 1972, the European Tour has witnessed 24 Members celebrate a total of 50 Major Championship titles between them, enjoyed ten Members attaining the pinnacle of World Number One and has celebrated its diversity as players from 36 different countries have won on Tour.
The European Tour also manages the Challenge Tour, which features 28 tournaments in 22 countries in 2016, and the Senior Tour, which features 13 tournaments in nine countries in 2016. It is also the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe, the body which, alongside the PGA of America, administers golf’s greatest team contest, The Ryder Cup.
The European Tour broadcasts live coverage of its tournaments to over 490 million homes in more than 150 countries every week, generating in excess of 2200 global broadcast hours for each event. It also enjoys the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with Rolex, BMW, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Emirates and Titleist as Official Partners.