Ginn lawsuit could be first of many for PGA Tour

Anyone caught by surprise with the news that PGA Tour is suing Ginn Resorts for breach of contact hasn’t been paying attention.

Get used to it. In the coming months, the PGA Tour lawyers could be spending an awful lot of time in court.

Prior to this week’s bombshell that Ginn was yanking all golf sponsorship immediately, there had been hope there would be enough in the kitty to cover this year’s Ginn Championship, a Champions Tour event to be held in the first week of April. Turns out that was nothing more than wishful thinking.

That sound you hear is the cash register slamming shut.

Just as you can’t fault the PGA Tour for dropping a lawsuit in their lap, it’s tough to point the finger at Ginn for rolling the dice and trying to get out of their agreement early. It’s what is known as survival.

One need look no further than this past weekend’s FBR Open to see just how close the tour is getting to the ledge when it comes to sponsors bailing out. Although official numbers are not available as of yet, attendance in Scottsdale was expected to have plummeted compared to recent years. Around the 18th green, there was far too much empty space where, at one time, hospitality tents once stood.

The PGA Tour’s pact with FBR is slated to expire in 2012. No longer is the concern whether or not sponsors will re-up come renewal time. Getting there could be the largest hurdle of all.

Just five years ago, their stocks were at $28 a pop. On Friday, FBR closed at 18 cents a share. One doesn’t need to be a math professor to know that isn’t good news.

Of course, the PGA Tour is not the only sports entity feeling this current sledgehammer blow delivered by the economy. Far from it. But if you’re Finchem, you’ve got to be hoping there is something strong enough behind the bar to erase the memory of a very painful week.

First, U.S. Bank announces they will not renewing for the Milwaukee event. Then Ginn drops their bad news on both the Champions and LPGA tours. And in Arizona, one of the PGA Tour’s most popular events showed signs of the tanking economy.

To top it off, the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, the biggest event of the year on the North American golf retail calendar, saw a significant drop in attendance – some forecasters predicted a downturn at the turnstiles as high seven percent.

Like everything else these days, in business, it’s all about keeping your head above water until the economy takes a turn for the better. Right now, that day looks a long way away.

Shelling out millions for a golf tournament is an expense that many can no longer afford.

It’s a sign-of-the-times reality check.

“We did the best we could, but the economy got the best of us,” Ginn CEO Robert Gidel said this week.

The betting line is they won’t be the last to sing that tune in the near future.