U.S. Open to tweak corporate hospitality business

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Corporate hospitality was hit at the U.S. Open and the U.S. Golf Association (USGA) is to look at ways of protecting its revenue stream.

"Corporate hospitality has not been immune to the economic slowdown," USGA chief business officer Pete Bevacqua told Reuters at Bethpage Black.

"The great challenge will be predicting what corporate hospitality will look like in the future.

"I think coming out of this it will need to be tweaked, it will need to be adjusted. We'll need to show some great flexibility."

With spending down during the global economic downturn and companies sensitive over the appearance of frivolous entertaining, only 50 corporate tents were sold at the Open compared to more than 70 when it was last at Bethpage in 2002.

Last year 70 were sold when the season's second major was held at Torrey Pines outside San Diego.

The fee for a 40-foot-by-40-foot tent can approach a quarter of a million dollars for the USGA, which gets more than 75 percent of its total revenue from U.S. Open proceeds.

"I think we're at one of those critical junctures where corporate hospitality in all sports and in golf has to take a look at itself and say how will corporations respond to this," said Bevacqua.