Valspar Championship Presented By BB&T Ends Exceptional Year With $1.8 Million In Generated Charitable Contributions

For Immediate Release: August 20, 2015

Study by University of South Florida shows $51 million economic impact

Not only was the 2015 Valspar Championship presented by BB&T an exceptional sporting event, it has proven to be a tremendous success benefitting the Tampa Bay community and its charities.

The tournament was won in a three-hole playoff on March 15 by Jordan Spieth, who has since added triumphs at The Masters and the U.S. Open. Now ranked first in the Official World Golf Ranking, he has joined Vijay Singh (2004) and Luke Donald (2012) as players who achieved status as the world’s top-ranked golfer in the year they won the tournament on Copperhead Course at Innisbrook.

The Valspar Championship also was extremely successful as a community event, with record attendance of more than 85,000 for the week. Thanks to a special study by Michelle Gacio Harrolle, Ph.D. at the University of South Florida, Muma College of Business Sport and Entertainment Management Program and Daniel A. Rascher, Ph.D., CVA President, SportsEconomics, LLC, we now know that tournament activities translated to an economic impact for the Tampa Bay community of more than $51 million.

With record ticket sales and improved tournament corporate sponsorships and hospitality events, the Copperheads, the locally-based nonprofit that organizes the tournament for the PGA TOUR, generated nearly $1.8 million in charitable contributions this year. As the group enters its 40th year of sponsoring professional golf in the Tampa Bay area, the total for such charitable contributions now exceeds $34 million.

“This is great news,” says Les Muma, who is taking over as general chairman for the Copperheads for a two-year term. “My predecessor Larry Morgan did a fantastic job shepherding our event through an existential challenge. We now have an outstanding title sponsor in Valspar, a great presenting sponsor in BB&T and one of the best tournament management companies, Pro Links Sports, working together for future growth. We all cannot wait for Jordan Spieth to defend his title next March.”

The 2016 Valspar Championship presented by BB&T will take place at Innisbrook from March 7-13. Tickets go on-sale in October 2015. To learn more about the tournament, visit www.valsparchampionship.com.