Augusta National says Masters will be without commercials - rather than invite women into club

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 8/30/02 | Glenn Sheeley

[GeneD]

Augusta National Golf Club is putting its money where its mouth is in its fight with a women's group pressuring the club to admit a female member.

Club chairman Hootie Johnson announced Friday that because corporate sponsors of the Masters' telecast are being pressured by the National Council of Women's Organizations, the 2003 tournament will be shown without sponsors or commercials.

At least golf fans will benefit from the fight. The 2003 telecast would have contained its normal four commerical minutes per hour. With 12 1/2 hours of live programming, that's 50 minutes of commericials that will not take golf fans away from the action.

"Augusta National is NCWO's true target," Johnson said in a statement. "It is therefore unfair to put the Masters media sponsors in the position of having to deal with this pressure. Accordingly, we have told our media sponsors that we will not request their participation for the 2003 Masters."

Rather than put its sponsors in a position where boycotts or their products or services would be threatened, Johnson said the Masters will absorb the advertising fees that would have been paid by IBM, Coca-Cola and Citigroup.

Johnson said, "We are sorry, but not surprised, to see those corporations drawn into this matter, but contunue to insist that our private club should not be 'managed' by an outside group. . . There may come a day when women will be invited to join our club, but that decision must be ours. We also believe that the Masters and the club are different, and that one should not affect the other."

[Guillermo]

What is it about the word "PRIVATE" that these FREAKS and WACKOS don't understand???

I always laugh when I hear a leftist say we're losing our freedoms in this country, then turn around and demand that private organizations (BSA, Country Clubs, Churches) change their membership rules.

[Bikers4Bush]

Awesome.

[dead]

Holy cow! Hootie's got cahones!

When's he running for office? He's got my vote.

[jdub]

One of the last holdouts for self determination left. When they give in, it will be a sad day for us all.

[mhking]

Club chairman Hootie Johnson announced Friday that because corporate sponsors of the Masters' telecast are being pressured by the National Council of Women's Organizations, the 2003 tournament will be shown without sponsors or commercials.

I love it!

You mess with us, and up yours!

The only folks they could go after now are CBS and USA!

[Diddle E. Squat]

Brilliant. I think their boycott just backfired on these gals. No commercials make for better TV viewing.

[Guillermo]

Anyways, which Network will air the Masters if they can't make any $$ off of it?

[Oldeconomybuyer]

    Bravo!

[No!]

It's great to be rich....

GOOD FOR THEM!

lol

[dakine]

Frickin' great!, Private means Private...

[frmrda]

You know what I'd like to see? I'd want to hear someone aske the sponsors whether or not the proposed boycott by the whackos would have caused them to pull the advertsing, as the Masters gets them huge exposure.

Cadillac just lost a big prize. Think about it, with every other sporting event the ads run together, but because the Masters limits its advertising, everyone remembers who the few sponsors are.

[Under the Radar]

Excellent news, thanks for posting!

[imawit]

LADY, there's the door!!!!!!!!!!!

[dead]

CBS will still air it. It's prestigous for their sports department, and their usual Saturday afternoon fare of A-Team reruns doesn't exactly pull in major bucks anyway.

[farmfriend]

Rather than put its sponsors in a position where boycotts or their products or services would be threatened, Johnson said the Masters will absorb the advertising fees that would have been paid by IBM, Coca-Cola and Citigroup.

Gentlemen, I salute your decision.

[Cousin Eddie]

The Masters has always been a bit different. Far fewer commercials (4 minutes per hour vs. the normal 12-16 on network TV), and the only commercials were done by the sponsors of the event (i.e. Wendy's couldn't buy a commercial since it wasn't a sponsor of The Masters).
God bless them for taking this stand. Frankly, I belong to a private club (non-golf) that has women and men as members, and I think that's fine. It's also fine if men or women want to have their own private club and restrict it to one sex.

[BikerNYC]

It's also fine if men or women want to have their own private club and restrict it to one sex.

I agree. But it's also fine to organize boycotts when you don't agree with something an organization does. We do it all the time with Home Depot, Disney, etc. It's a give and take; part of the process.