Going for gold on the sporting sidelines

By IRENE CHAPPLE

As summer kicks in and sporting superstars swing by, it's a fine time to be a corporate.

Many returned from holidays to calendars full of hot sporting dates. Anna Kournikova, Tiger Woods and Goran Ivanisevic have supplied New Zealand's corporate fraternity the perfect excuse to schmooze.

But, say the executives, hosting is not just about supplying extravagant amounts of chardonnay and hors-d'oeuvres, it is hard work.

Graham Seatter, corporate affairs and sponsorship director of Lion Breweries, checked in with the Herald after a day of golf-watching.

Steinlager is a second-tier sponsor of the New Zealand Golf Open, and Mr Seatter has been busy helping host around 100 people a day.

Media, retailers, customers and even politicians have received invitations from Lion to attend the golf. With it comes free food and, of course, plenty of beer. And for those non-Wellingtonians in a "key relationship" with Lion, there are free flights and overnight accommodation.

It could leave the petty-cash coffers looking lean. Mr Seatter estimates each guest of Lion costs between $50 and $100 in food and beverages. This is after the initial sponsorship outlay of around $500,000, although an exact figure is confidential.

The most important thing, says Mr Seatter, is to have the Steinlager brand associated with the Open. "It's a theme of New Zealanders taking on the world," says Mr Seatter. While bottom-line benefits for the company cannot be quantified, "there wasn't too much analysis. Tiger Woods was coming to play in New Zealand, the question was did we want to get involved, the answer was yes." Mr Seatter came straight from a two-week holiday in the South Island to Wellington. He hasn't yet set foot in his Auckland office, but says being at the Open is part of his job.

"It's work - but it's great work. Hosts don't end up seeing much golf. If you were just here to see the golf you would see a lot more," he says.

Hosts for the naming-rights sponsors, Telstra and Hyundai, which are understood to be paying around $1 million for the honour, are tricky to track down.

After two days of chasing Rosemary Howard, chief executive of TelstraClear, she's finally available for comment as print deadline looms. It has been a busy few days - she has hosted politicians, media and corporate clients for lunch and dinner every day.

As 1000 guests are tallied up, surely it is becoming exhausting? "No," says Ms Howard. "It's a great opportunity to meet people in a very relaxed atmosphere."

Hyundai NZ general manager Philip Eustace is sternly mum on the cash outlay for naming rights to the Open, but says it's more than the local organisation could swallow. Hyundai sponsorship of golf is an international decision, which comes from its principal company, Hyundai Motors, based in Korea.

Mr Eustace has hosted guests popping down from their break to catch some sporting action - then going back on holiday. "It's absolutely a good time to be a corporate," he says. "The atmosphere at the golf is just tremendous. It's a huge buzz."

One of Lion's guests due at the golf tomorrow, Wellington bar and restaurant owner Stewart Thwaites, is enjoying a pampered week. He is fresh from an all-expenses paid trip to Auckland to watch the Heineken Open, as a guest of DB Breweries.

After working over New Year, the owner of JJ Murphy's and The Grand is loving the "total relaxation."

But it is not just about freebies, he says. Favours are reciprocated: "We'd make sure they get free dinner if they're in Wellington," he says. Plus, the occasions are important for networking.

Rene van der Graaf, DB Breweries' sales and marketing manager, won't disclose any exact figures, but says naming rights for the tennis cost between $500,000 and $1 million. Advertising and hospitality doubles the cost.

DB has hosted around 800 people for the men's tennis, taking them to the "best seat in the house", an extended corporate box which takes 30 people at a time. Mr van der Graaf has been at the tennis every day - one of 35 DB staffers who have chugged, under the sunshine, through their workload.

"It's hard work, it really is," chuckles Mr van der Graaf. "We have to entertain people, make sure the right issues are raised, not the wrong ones ... quite frankly, we don't get to see much of the tennis."

Naming rights for the women's tennis, the ASB Bank Classic, was a natural investment, says ASB's sponsorship manager Mark Graham - the bank has sponsored the sport for around a century. It cost less than $1 million, but then they hosted "a number" of people in their "handful of corporate boxes".

Auckland Tennis confirms 90 per cent of the 108 six-person corporate boxes were full during the two tennis events. The cost for a premium box, on a fixed three-year term, breaks down to $140 for each person per tennis session.

A top corporate contact is surely Montana, which has financial fingers in the golf, tennis and Volvo Ocean Race Auckland stopover.

The golf and tennis arrangements are long-term and with the associations rather than single events, but still offer hosting responsibilities.

More than 300 people have been entertained by Montana representatives for the tennis and golf.

Spokesman Peter Anderson says it has been an enjoyable couple of weeks.

But he hasn't yet taken a break - holidays are next on the agenda.

Fairway fare

Corporate Host's provisions for the New Zealand Golf Open:

- 1 tonne of chicken

- 3/4 tonne of eye fillets

- 700 whole salmon

- 7000 sandwiches

- 100,000 beers

- 5000 bottles of wine

- 150,000 soft drinks

- 161 Superloos (with enough toilet paper to stretch from the golf course to the Bombay Hills)

- 70 chefs

- 200 wait staff catering for 1000 people a day

* Auckland-based Corporate Host is 50 per cent owned by Lion Breweries.