Lauderdale: RBC Heritage sponsorships set record

Bill Wagner has seen the best of times and the worst of times at the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

As he retires this year after 12 years as the tournament sales director, he sees the best of times.

Ticket sales are up 5 percent over last year’s record year, when fan visits hit 110,000.

Non-title sponsor sales are up 11 percent over last year’s record. That includes the booked-up skyboxes, hospitality tents, the Calibogue Club venue at the 18th tee, and expo tents in three locations around Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island.

The retention rate for sponsors was 93 percent this year, compared to a PGA Tour average closer to 60 percent, Wagner said.

“Sixteen of our sponsors collectively total more than 315 years of sponsoring this tournament,” he said.

Wagner said 37 percent of the non-title sponsorship dollars come from Hilton Head Island and Beaufort County. Another 35 percent comes from across South Carolina.

That reservoir of local support helped during the tournament’s darkest hours in the recession of 2008 and 2009. After a record year in they 2007, the bottom fell out instantly. Suddenly, fewer businesses could afford a $50,000 skybox or $30,000 hospitality tent. But in 2011, when the tournament had no title sponsor, the local sponsorship and ticket sales set at record.

“I really feel that RBC saw that,” Wagner said. “They had to see that the community and state of South Carolina were behind the tournament. I have to believe that may have helped tip the scales.”

Influences

Wagner can point to Chesty Puller and a horrendous plane crash as building blocks for a sales career.

Puller is the most decorated Marine in American history. Wagner’s father was his communications officer in World War II.

“I was a Marine Corps brat,” Wagner said.

His father joined the Marines when he was 18, got off the train in Yemassee and was bused to Parris Island. He retired a major. In between, his family moved every four years.

“You had to build relationships,” Wagner said. “My career has all boiled down to relationships.”

Wagner was in the class of 1975 at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va.

“The plane crash happened my freshman year,” he said.

The whole football team and many local leaders were killed. It’s the subject of the movie, “We Are Marshall.”

“My wife’s first cousin was with the 75 souls who perished,” Wagner said, holding up his ’75 class ring.

“It made me look at things a lot differently,” he said. “It changed a lot of people’s lives. You’re not guaranteed a tomorrow.”

The Heritage has been near death more than once.

“We’re a small market, so you have to go out there and turn over every stone possible and hopefully turn over one that’s a home run,” Wagner said.

Growth

More sponsorship opportunities have been added in recent years.

More skyboxes and more expo tents are in place. The Calibogue Club was added at the 18th tee box, offering seating, food and beverage to invitees of a number of sponsors. Twelve hospitality tents were added in the same area, now called the Heritage Lawn.

A Savannah Club skybox at the 18th green was added to boost sponsors from Savannah.

The revenue goes to the Heritage Classic Foundation’s donations to charity.

Anheuser-Busch, starting with Pearlstine Distributors, is the longest-running sponsor with 47 years, Wagner said.

Coca-Cola has been there for more than 30 years. Martin-Marietta, a supplier of aggregates and heavy building materials based in Raleigh, N.C., has been a sponsor for 28 years; the Flour Corp. of Greenville, 26 years; and the Westin and Sonesta oceanfront resorts on Hilton Head hit 25 years this year.

Palmetto Electric Cooperative and TidePointe sponsor the volunteer tent. Berkeley Capital Management and Coastal States Bank sponsor the Patriots Outpost skybox on the 16th hole, which hosted 700 active-duty military and family members last year.

Wagner said when the recession hit, the tournament worked with longtime sponsors who wanted to stay involved but needed a lower cost.

“That gets back to relationship building,” he said.

Wagner does not plan to move. He lives in Sun City Hilton Head, where his mother was among the early residents. He plays softball, and has a 7 handicap in golf.

He came to the Heritage after more than a decade in group sales and marketing at two Hilton Head resort hotels. He said he sees tournament sponsorships from both sides.

“We’re selling Southern hospitality,” he said.

His advice to future sales leaders at the Heritage is to listen to the customer.

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This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Lauderdale: RBC Heritage sponsorships set record."