RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. – The Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first "major" tournament of the year on the LPGA Tour, has signed a five-year agreement with CBS Sports to broadcast the final round of the golf tournament starting in 2006. The LPGA tournament will air on CBS Sports for three hours on Sunday, April 2, 2006, from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Representatives for the Kraft Nabisco Championship also said that the first two rounds of the golf tournament will be aired on Thursday and Friday, March 30 and 31, on ESPN2 from 3 to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The third round will air on Saturday, April 1, on ESPN2 from 5 to 7 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.
ABC Sports has carried the weekend broadcast of the tournament since 1991, with ESPN and ESPN2 airing the Thursday and Friday rounds leading into the weekend.
According to Terry Wilcox, tournament director for the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the change was triggered by the tournament’s move from the last weekend in March to the first weekend in April. ABC Sports has scheduling conflicts with other programming on the same weekend as the 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
"We have enjoyed our broadcast agreement with ABC over the past several years, but the move to CBS offers us the opportunity to expand our television audience," Wilcox said. "The final round of our tournament will be slotted between the NCAA Final Four basketball semi-finals on Saturday and the finals on Monday. The Final Four is one of the highest-rated sporting events on television. We believe that television ratings for the Kraft Nabisco Championship will improve on the strength of the network’s programming for that weekend."
He noted that the date change is also expected to improve the tournament’s ratings because it won’t have to compete with the men’s Players Championship, which airs the last weekend in March on NBC Sports. The BellSouth Classic in Duluth, Ga., is currently scheduled to air opposite the women’s major.
"We look forward to showcasing the final round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship on CBS Sports," said Tony Petitti, executive vice president and executive producer, CBS Sports. "As the first LPGA major tournament of the year, the Kraft Nabisco has a long history of providing some of the most exciting final rounds in women’s golf. This tournament is a great addition to CBS’s golf schedule."
Pettiti said that the on-air talent for CBS Sports for the Kraft Nabisco Championship has not been determined and will be announced at a later date. Wilcox added that the ESPN2 talent and crew are also still under discussion.
The Kraft Nabisco Championship will celebrate its 35th anniversary March 27 – April 2 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. This year’s tournament will feature the best players in women’s professional golf – including defending champion Annika Sorenstam – a Celebrity Pro-Am, Senior Appreciation Days and a junior golf clinic. Many of the tournament’s past champions will also be on hand for the 35th anniversary festivities. For more information, please call 760/324-4546 or visit the tournament Web site at www.KNCGOLF.com.
Contact:
Donna Hahn
Hahn Communications
(949) 458-3983
donna@hahnmarketing.com
Larry Baumann
Kraft Foods Global Inc.
973/503-3261
larry.baumann@kraft.com
