This Sunday, May 24th, Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning will tee it up against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady in Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity. The match will take place at Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida at 3 p.m. ET on TNT. This is the second time that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will face off. The last time was in 2018 at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada where Mickelson defeated Woods and won $9 million. Warner Media and the four golfers will make a charitable donation of $10 million dollars to benefit COVID-19 relief. Donations will be made to Direct Relief, American Red Cross, Save Small Business, and the ALL IN Challenge.
WarnerMedia and Turner Sports have multiple marketing sponsors to help host the event. Capital One, who sponsored the original match, is returning as the title sponsor and is planning a number of social, digital, and broadcast integrations leading up to the event and live during it. Chief Brand Officer, Marc Mentry, said that “At Capital One, we’re committed to supporting our customers, communities, and partners through this difficult time, and that is why we are proud to be the returning title sponsor of Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity. This wonderful event will bring four of the world’s best athletes together for a tremendous cause.”
Other presenting partners of the event include Audi of America, Michelob ULTRA, and Progressive Insurance. Content integration partners include Cisco and DraftKings, with AT&T, HBO Max, Callaway, Wheels Up, and E-Z-GO serving as associate sponsors.
Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson have an Instagram following of more than 10.5 million people. With all of the uncertainty going on in our country right now, companies are lining up to help make a difference and support COVID-19 relief. For Capital One, Warner Media, and the other presenting partners this is a great opportunity for them to raise awareness and donate to help with COVID-19 relief.
This won’t be the first time that professional golfers tee it up since the sports world was halted on March 13th. On Sunday, May 17th, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, and Matthew Wolff raised $5.5 million for COVID-19 relief during the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins match. The event was a huge success as 2.35 million viewers tuned in to watch the match. Fans have been craving live sports and getting the chance to view golf in a candid fun spirit, and raising a lot of money for COVID-19 relief was a huge success.
The first match between Mickelson and Woods was extremely exciting. This re-match comes at a great time, with fans hungry for live sporting events. The match will display a fun twist having football superstars and legends in Manning and Brady. It gives companies a great opportunity to show support for COVID-19 relief and get a chance for some national TV spotlight as fans from all over will get the chance to tune in.
So far, we have seen sponsors like Cisco featured in a pre-match conversation between all of the golfers displaying their technology and services that they offer for video chatting during this time when live and in-person interviews have been halted due to the times. Also, TaylorMade was extremely successful in their own version of a golf match displaying all of their new products from the light blue bags the players carried to their newest clubs that each pro was sporting. The same opportunity will be seen on Sunday with Callaway and the partnership that they have with Phil Mickelson. Other brands and companies will take advantage of the spotlight with many sponsored opportunities throughout the match.
With minimal live sports, and the uncertainty going on in the world, companies are eager to do some good and spotlight their brand. The Match will be an exciting, fun, and friendly opportunity to watch athletes tee it up and raise awareness and money for great causes.