Ray Stosik, the director of the Sony Open in Hawaii tournament, has been leading the largest sports charity fundraising event on the Hawaiian Islands since 1997. Seeing the impact this tournament makes in the local community is never old.
He said, “It is a labor for love.” “I tell my staff that when we visit the community we can see the fruits from our labor in the work we have done for charities over the past 20 years. We’ve operated this event for 26 years, and Sony has been the title sponsor since day one. “They’re signed through 2026, I believe. I’ll do two more.”
Friends of Hawaii Charities is the organization that hosts the Sony Open on Hawaii. They have committed to a minimum of $1.2million per year in charitable donations and have donated $24million over the last 24 years.
The Tour will implement a new formula in 2025 for determining the tournament fees and revenue-sharing. As reported first by the Sports Business Daily in December, events were informed that they would have to pay an extra:
- $125,000 (FedEx Cup fall)
- $250,000 (full-field)
- $500,000 (signature events)
In 2026, those numbers will rise to:
- The FedEx Cup has fallen to the tune of $250,000
- $500,000 (full-field)
- $1 million (signature events)
In 2027, tournaments will be required to pay the same fee. Hosting a Tour event to raise funds for a local community is now even more difficult.
Stosik told Golfweek that the initial reaction from many tournaments was a concern about how to proceed. He spoke at the Sony Open on Saturday. “I hope and pray that Friends of Hawaii Charities, the PGA Tour and other tournaments can reach an agreement on how to work together as revenue models change. The last thing that we want is for the charity to suffer because of new financial restrictions.
Stosik responded, “We plan to make this work between the Tour and Friends of Hawaii Charities as well as the State of Hawaii.”
When pressed on how he sees it, he is a little more realistic.
Lanto Griffin on the 16th green at Waialae Country Club during a practice session prior to the Sony Open Hawaii in Honolulu Hawaii, January 9, 2024. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images).
If all charitable giving is left to the host organizations in the future, without PGA Tour subsidy in certain areas, this could have a negative impact on charities.
Stosik stated that most of his brethren were concerned about the increased payments, and if the new commercial entity known as PGA Tour Enterprises would absorb tournaments to the for-profit business side. What will this shift from non-profit to for profit mean?
Stosik stated that this could affect how much money is raised by charities at each event.
He admits that the throwback event he organizes faces unique challenges, such as higher shipping costs to and from the mainland. It also has a harder time attracting fans in neighboring states than other markets. Stosik relies on a small team of seven employees to run the Sony Open. He also has 1,400 volunteers, 52 chairpeople and 1,400 day-to-day staff. According to its most recent filing, the 501 C-3 Form 990 shows that the tournament had a $178,000 loss in 2022. The host organization used reserves, as it did previously when COVID was not allowed to be attended. Why did the event lose money? Sponsorship dollars are down.
Stosik explained that there were a few different reasons. One is that the COVID may have not felt comfortable with inviting guests to be so close. This makes sense. One of the interesting ones, and I’m not sure if this has been said at other tournaments, is that we’ve had sponsors in the past who, if the economy was bad, didn’t want hospitality or to sponsor events when many businesses were struggling. In the past three years, we had sponsors who said that it was just not right. “It’s not the best time to entertain when others are struggling.”
Stosik suggested that the tournament might return to profitability this year.
“If we can break even this coming year, that would be great as we leave the COVID era behind us,” he said.
Stosik, along with his fellow tournament directors, took note of the way the Tour assumed control of the former Honda Classic when the longtime hosts struggled to find sponsors. The Tour hasn’t said this directly, but there’s a growing feeling among host organizations who are worried that they might be next if they can’t meet the Tour’s high revenue distribution levels.
Keegan Brad putsts on eighth green at Waialae Country Club during the third round 2023 Sony Open Hawaii in Honolulu. (Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images).
Stosik stated, “We are all aware of Championship Management’s link with the Tour.” This all stems from when they announced the signature events. To a certain degree, any event that is not a Signature Event, I guess everyone’s just waiting to see what’s in store for the future.
He said: “We see the Tour as a partner who will work with us in order to reach these new goals and requests, which can be done in many different ways.
“I’ve told the Tour that they have OEMs and official marketing partners. They attend a lot of events associated with the PGA Tour. A number of these companies invest in perhaps some of the bigger markets or PGA Tour stops located on the mainland. It would be great if they could find us some official marketing partners. Even though Honolulu isn’t the biggest market, I hope the Tour can think of creative ways to help us. I hope the Tour’s leadership and they take a closer look at those things to make it fair.”
