The Race to Dubai – the Dubai World Championship held as the final leg of the PGA European Tour – could be in doubt after a government takeover of the firm behind a $150 million sponsorship deal.
The Race was launched in Dubai as part of the five-year sponsorship deal between the European Tour and Leisurecorp, a company specialising in developments and investments in the sports and leisure sector.
According to UK newspaper the Times, concerns have been raised around the financial security of Leisurecorp, which has been restructured following its takeover by Nakheel, a state-owned company in Dubai. Many of the villas on the Jumeirah Golf Estate, which were to be sold to raise money for Leisurecorp, remain unsold due to the economic situation and a slump in the Dubai property market.
“This thing is, one, about marketing Dubai and, two, about marketing Jumeirah Golf Estates - and if you are not selling lots of houses there has got to be a possibly temporary issue,” said George O'Grady, the chief executive of the European Tour. “Our five-year contract with Leisurecorp is safe, as we speak today. It is unaffected. We are not renegotiating it. They might have moved it from Leisurecorp to Nakheel, but the bones of the contract remain the same. We are financially sound and secure.”
In November 2007, Leisurecorp announced it was putting up $10 million per year for the European Tour Order of Merit to be renamed The Race to Dubai, and also said that it would sponsor the Dubai World Championship, the world's richest tournament, for $20 million per year.
