Report: PGA Tour closing in on monster sponsorship deal

The PGA Tour is close to agreeing their biggest sponsorship deal ever, according a report. 

Per Sports Business Journal, the North American circuit is close to striking a massive deal with Visa in what is expected to be one of the company's largest investments in sport. 

It is claimed the agreement is expected to be worth a high eight-figure sum annually over several years. 

The exact financial terms are not known, but the deal could be comparable in value to Visa's sponsorships of the FIFA World Cup and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

It would be the biggest commercial agreement of Brian Rolapp's tenure at the PGA Tour and comes as the organisation prepares to introduce a new competition structure in 2028.

Rolapp, a former NFL executive, was named as the PGA Tour's chief executive last June. 

The 54-year-old will also replace Jay Monahan as commissioner at the end of the year when his contract expires.

A key part of the proposed deal would see Visa sponsor the revamped Tour Championship, which is set to adopt a match-play format across multiple venues from 2028.

The PGA Tour is moving to a new, two-tiered structure in two years' time, with the introduction of a Championship and Challenger Series. Players will switch levels based on performance. 

Visa is also expected to become an official marketing partner of the tour and secure title sponsorship rights for three Challenger Series events from 2028.

The tour plans to stage 20 Challenger Series events. 

Thirteen will take place alongside Championship Series tournaments and be shown on television. 

The remaining seven will have standalone weeks and be broadcast on network television.

It is not yet clear which category Visa’s events would fall into.

The Challenger Series sponsorship is a significant part of the proposed agreement. 

Industry figures have questioned whether the tour will be able to attract sponsors for those events, with the leading 120 players expected to compete in the Championship Series.

SBC report the tour is seeking several sponsorship agreements of a similar scale as it prepares for the new structure.

The revamped Tour Championship is expected to have multiple sponsors, following a model similar to the Players Championship, which has three official partners.

Matt Manning and MKTG are understood to have led negotiations for Visa. Rolapp's previous connections with the company from his time in the NFL also played a role.

Visa's senior vice-president of global sponsorship strategy, Andrea Fairchild, reportedly led the negotiations for the company.

The official marketing partnership is expected to begin in 2027, with other elements of the agreement starting in 2028.

Visa's rival Mastercard has been a PGA Tour partner since the mid-1990s. It is an official marketing partner and the presenting sponsor of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.

The tournament sponsorship runs into 2028, when the Championship Series is due to begin. However, Mastercard's wider marketing partnership expires at the end of 2026.

The proposed Visa deal comes as the PGA Tour prepares for a significant change to its competition structure in 2028. That is also the year FedEx's 20-year sponsorship agreement is due to expire.

There has been uncertainty over whether FedEx will renew its deal.

Visa's agreement with the PGA Tour would follow the end of its long-standing NFL sponsorship in March 2026, although the company retains several partnerships with individual teams.

Visa reported record annual revenue of almost $46bn for 2026 this week. 

Chief executive Ryan McInerney described it as a "milestone year".

Elsewhere, Golfweek have reported that the PGA Tour have found a new sponsor for their Texas-based tournament over 12-15 November. 

The Austin Championship was initially scheduled to debut under the Good Good Golf banner, but those plans unraveled in August following backlash over a promotional advertisement for a Callaway driver.

Compliance Solutions has been tabbed to become the presenting sponsor.