The DP World Tour has agreed it first ‘Official Marketing Partner’ (OMP) sponsorship deal with whiskey brand Buffalo Trace, mirroring the long-held OMP category on the PGA Tour.
Although the deal does not include equivalent rights on the US tour – the PGA Tour already has a whiskey OMP in Bushmills – the move to share the same nomenclature is part of a wider strategy to provide brands with integrated sponsorships across both tours.
The DP World Tour rejigged its sponsorship structure this year to match the PGA Tour’s so that OMPs became the top-tier rank. In the case of Buffalo Trace, the Kentucky-based company is now placed alongside the tour’s most high-spending sponsors – Rolex, BMW and Emirates in the portfolio.
The brand has signed as an OMP and ‘Official Whiskey Partner’ until 2027 in a deal that extends the rights acquired as part of the brand’s DP World Tour agreement in 2023. Last season, the distillery was an ‘Official Partner’ of the BetfFred British Masters, and ‘Official Sponsor’ of two Rolex Series events – the Genesis Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship. Starting this season, Buffalo Trace Distillery’s activations will focus on four markets spanning four continents – the UK, South Africa, Australia and South Korea.
Speaking to SportBusiness, Max Hamilton, group commercial director, DP World Tour and Ryder Cup, explained that the new deal includes enhanced rights across all tournaments. “Buffalo Trace Distillery achieved strong results with us in 2023 and wanted to explore how this could be elevated further for 2024 and beyond,” he said.
“The main difference with this new agreement is that whereas they had Official Partner status at one tournament in 2023, they will now have this at four tournaments and will become an Official Marketing Partner of the tour itself – with the uplifted packages that entails, including on course signage at all of these events.“
Hamilton said the brand will also receive additional hospitality inventory and pro-am teams “to uplift their client and customer hosting opportunities on-site”, along with a series of features in the communications the DP World tour sends to more one million fans in its newsletter subscriber database.
“We will also be working together on a bespoke creative content stream that fans will see across our broadcast and social media. Finally, Buffalo Trace Distillery will also have the scope to grow their activations into additional markets in line with their increased investment each year.”
In terms of the common features within the OMP designation, Hamilton said these include “always on” branding across the DP World Tour website and app, and the tournament sites in markets of high priority for the OMP’s business.
“These partners also benefit from access to our premium hospitality packages at a greater number of tournaments, and targeted introductions to other partners without our extensive partner ecosystem. Finally, we also work on original branded content campaigns for these partners, utilising our award-winning digital content team,” he said.
The OMP status is just one part of the strategic alliance with the PGA Tour, where both parties have created a new global sponsorship proposition that “gives brands more choice in the marketplace,” he said. “A brand can now have rights and benefits that span both tours in one marketing campaign, if they wish. By both having an Official Marketing Partner category, this option is further simplified for brands looking to make the most of this opportunity.”
Andrew Duncan, global director of American Whiskey at Buffalo Trace Distillery, said the brand would set up tastings and activations alongside the DP World Tour events. Various whiskeys from the distillery’s line-up will also be available in hospitality and food and beverage concessions at DP World Tour events, including the flagship Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Eagle Rare 10-year-old Bourbon, Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey, and Bourbon Cream