By Greg Stutchbury
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The New Zealand PGA Championship tournament is seeking a new title sponsor after HSBC decided not to renew its agreement, tournament organisers said on Friday.
Europe's biggest bank had been the title sponsor of the tournament for the past three years, but decided against renewing the agreement after a review of its sponsorship portfolio.
"The sponsorship term was for three years and we had been in discussion with them with the knowledge that the contract term was coming up," Mike Godinet, the sales and marketing manager for tournament organisers Tuohy Associates told Reuters.
"What was suitable for their brand and business three or four years ago when they signed, they're in a different situation now and they have decided not to uptake the option to re-sign."
Godinet said discussions with the banking giant had revealed it had been reviewing its global sponsorship portfolio, which was confirmed by the company in a statement.
"We have had an excellent relationship with the NZ PGA Championship over the last three years, but following a strategic review of our sponsorship portfolio, we have decided not to renew," HSBC New Zealand chief executive David Griffiths said.
Godient added it was likely the bank was now concentrating on two major golf tournaments in Asia, the $7 million (4.4 million pound) HSBC Champions in Shanghai and the $2 million Women's Champions in Singapore.
"It would appear the global strategy is to concentrate on bigger events where they have consolidated revenues," he added.
"They have two massive events ... both have massive amounts of prize money and are huge events."
The NZPGA tournament has been co-sanctioned by the U.S. PGA Tour's secondary Nationwide Tour, but Godient said there was the danger it may have to be downgraded.
"Finding somebody at that title sponsor level is not an easy task. That's not to say they're not out there. We don't have anyone suitably at that level yet to take over.
"The level of the sponsorship comes from the co-sanctioning of the Nationwide Tour where you have to have at least a $600,000 prize pool. That puts a bit of a burden of any tournament with prize money like that, especially at this end of the world."
Godinet, however, said organisers were committed to keeping the tournament going and ensuring it remained part of the Australasian tour.
"We are determined that the tournament will live," he said. "It's still a national title. It still has history around it.
"It may become a slightly smaller event. It could just be a New Zealand or Australasian event. In what sort of form we're not sure at this stage, but we will have it at Clearwater next March."
(Editing by Nick Mulvenney)