Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Timmy Goes Golfing-

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 00:07:02 -0500

Timmy Goes Golfing- How golf opens corporate doors
By Thomas Heath
Washington Post

PHOENIX -- As Phil Mickelson strode toward the 18th green at the
conclusion of a PGA Tour event here recently, he was greeted by
thousands of screaming fans and by something new to the golf tour -- the
name of an obscure, Northern Virginia-based investment bank emblazoned
across a white, corporate suite-tent.

Inside the 500-seat corporate tent, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group
Inc.  was hosting a schmoozefest with clients, friends, attorneys and
anyone else who might bring them business.

While guests munched poached prawns and Brule cheesecake and drank
Johnnie Walker Red and Crown Royal whisky or FBR Open water, a Bloomberg
machine flashed the latest financial data while a bank of flat TV
screens behind the bar was tuned to CNBC. To remind guests who was
hosting the spread, plates and napkins were monogrammed. There were even
FBR sugar cookies. FBR-labeled sunscreen protected their skin.  Entrance
to FBR's own suite was the hottest ticket at the FBR Open.

The story of how FBR fixed its name to what used to be known as the
Phoenix Open -- one of the richest, more lively events on the tour -- is
the tale of how an unknown company that sells mostly to other businesses
leveraged a  PGA event 2,000 miles from its headquarters as a way to
help establish its name in corporate boardrooms. FBR is part of a
growing trend of financial service companies, such as Deutsche Bank,
Wachovia and Morgan Stanley, who are playing major roles on the PGA
Tour, previously dominated by AT&T, Buick, Chrysler and BellSouth.

"This (type of sponsorship) would have surprised me a few years ago,"
said PGA Tour chief marketing officer Tom Wade, referring to the
entrance of a relatively unknown such as FBR. Thanks largely to Tiger
Woods and the tour's upscale, 50ish, executive demographic, PGA Tour
title sponsorships sell for $5 million to $6 million a year for new
sponsors, nearly double what they were in the mid-1990s.

FBR's mission of turning last month's FBR Open into a vehicle for
advancing its business was choreographed with precision targeting of
business and financial executives and offers a tutorial on how corporate
America extracts value from PGA Tour sponsorships. Each FBR department
identified current and potential clients months in advance and rated
them for impact before invitations sailed out to several thousand VIPs
-- from Gannett Corp. Chairman Douglas H. McCorkindale (who golfed with
FBR co-chief executive Eric Billings and PGA Tour pro Fred Couples) to
Nextel chief executive Tim Donahue (who golfed with former NBA great
George Gervin).

"We are trying to get a select target" of chief executive officers and
chief financial officers, Billings said. "Because we have such little
exposure, it could help us do an enormous amount of business ... to make
many times our money in this investment."
Located 250 miles from Wall Street, FBR is a 15-year-old upstart
compared with century-old, New York-based investment banking giants such
as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. But with its $4
billion market capitalization, 500 employees and some impressive
financial successes over the last decade (it was the No. 3 underwriter
of initial public offerings in 2003 after Goldman and Credit Suisse
First Boston), Billings believes they are ready for the big time.
"We are in a business where most of our competitors are 50, 100 or 150
years old, and people are just not aware of us," Billings said.

FBR had determined that the PGA Tour was the way to go after taking over
the former Kemper Open in Potomac, Md., with a month to go last year.
Billings liked the reach and demographics of the PGA Tour and decided to
associate with a more prominent golf event to propel the brand to
national prominence. FBR was shooting for a strong field of players, a
large purse ($5.2 million) and an event that threw off millions to
charity.  (FBR entertains its guests and provides access to the golf
event, but because of securities law, it does not pay for plane tickets
and accommodations.)

The Phoenix Open was just the ticket. Best of all, the seven-decade-old
Phoenix tournament had one of the top five player fields on the tour,
which meant it would be a tough invitation for any executive to decline.

"You've got to have the top players," said Bill Stephens, head of FBR
marketing.

PGA Tour events such as the FBR Open and the upcoming Booz Allen Classic
at TPC at Avenel in Maryland this June provide the opportunity to get
hours of one-on-one quality time with business executives whose doors
might otherwise be closed. At the FBR, executives could golf with pros
such as Justin Leonard and Vijay Singh or hobnob with names such as
Nomar Garciaparra, Rollie Fingers or Mia Hamm -- accessibility they
would otherwise not have.

"If I can sit down with somebody, and can discuss issues of mutual
interest, I'm confident that quite frequently business will result from
that," said Ralph W. Shrader, chief executive officer of McLean,
Va.-based Booz Allen Hamilton, which has 14,000 employees worldwide.
"But how do you get up to bat? A golf tournament is a natural."

http://www.cincypost.com/2004/02/24/pga02-24-2004.html
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