PGA TOUR Announces Fortinet as Title Sponsor of Napa Tournament

Rhea-AI Summary

Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) is set to become the title sponsor of the Fortinet Championship, commencing September 13-19, 2021, at Silverado Resort and Spa, Napa. This partnership marks a significant six-year agreement as the kickoff event for the 2021-22 FedExCup Regular Season. Net proceeds from the tournament will support non-profit organizations focused on STEM, minorities in technology, and veterans' programs. The event will feature a $7 million purse and will be televised on Golf Channel.

Positive

• Title sponsorship of the Fortinet Championship enhances brand visibility and association with a major sporting event.
• Net proceeds will support various charitable causes, enhancing corporate social responsibility.
• The tournament's $7 million purse and significant media coverage could attract a large audience and increase customer engagement.

Negative

• None.

Fortinet Championship to kick off 2021-22 FedExCup Regular Season September 13-19 at Silverado Resort and Spa

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. and NAPA, Calif., March 31, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The PGA TOUR announced today that Fortinet^® (NASDAQ: FTNT), a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, will become the title sponsor of PGA TOUR’s Napa tournament, to be named the Fortinet Championship. The six-year agreement begins as the kickoff event of the 2021-22 FedExCup Regular Season at Silverado Resort and Spa, September 13-19, 2021.

The Fortinet Championship dates to 2007, with the event moving from CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin to Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa in 2014. With its present location, the event has been the TOUR’s season-opening event each season since 2014, with the exception of the 2019-20 season.

“We are thrilled to welcome Fortinet to the PGA TOUR family with the Fortinet Championship leading off the 2021-22 FedExCup Regular Season in September,” said Tyler Dennis, PGA TOUR President. “Napa is an extremely popular stop for our players, their families and our fans. We look forward to having Fortinet help grow the event to maximize charitable impact for the Napa Valley community.”

Net proceeds from the Fortinet Championship will benefit non-profit organizations in the areas of STEM, women and minorities in technology, as well as veterans reskilling programs.

“Fortinet is excited to partner with the PGA TOUR as both our organizations are committed to trust and creating exceptional experiences – ensuring players and customers are set up for success to overcome even the most trying conditions and challenges,” said John Maddison, EVP of Products and CMO at Fortinet. “This partnership will benefit our community, customers and local nonprofit organizations. We look forward to hosting the Fortinet Championship in Napa.”

Fortinet’s mission is to make possible a digital world that organizations can always trust by protecting edges, data and content, people, devices and systems. Fortinet delivers the most innovative, highest-performing network security fabric to secure and simplify organizations’ IT infrastructures. Fortinet is a leading global provider of network security and SD-WAN, switching and wireless access, network access control, authentication, public and private cloud security, endpoint security, and AI-driven advanced threat protection solutions for carriers, data centers, enterprises, and distributed offices.

Silverado Resort and Spa hosted the PGA TOUR from 1968-80 before returning in 2014. The venue has produced a prestigious list of winners including Jack Nicklaus (1969), Tom Watson (1978), Ben Crenshaw (1980) and Johnny Miller (1974-75). In addition, Silverado was a PGA TOUR Champions venue from 1989-2002.

All four rounds of the Fortinet Championship will be televised on Golf Channel, featuring a 156-player field, 500 FedExCup points and a $7 million purse. Stewart Cink, the winner of the 2009 Open Championship and a member of four U.S. Presidents Cup teams and five U.S. Ryder Cup teams, is expected to defend his 2020 title.

About Fortinet
Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) secures the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organizations around the world. Fortinet empowers our customers with complete visibility and control across the expanding attack surface and the power to take on ever-increasing performance requirements today and into the future. Only the Fortinet Security Fabric platform can address the most critical security challenges and protect data across the entire digital infrastructure, whether in networked, application, multi-cloud or edge environments. Fortinet ranks #1 in the most security appliances shipped worldwide and more than 500,000 customers trust Fortinet to protect their businesses. Both a technology company and a learning organization, the Fortinet Network Security Expert (NSE) Training Institute has one of the largest and broadest cybersecurity training programs in the industry. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, or FortiGuard Labs.

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About PGA TOUR
By showcasing golf’s greatest players, the PGA TOUR engages, inspires and positively impacts our fans, partners and communities worldwide.

The PGA TOUR, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, co-sanctions tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Series-China. Members on the PGA TOUR represent the world’s best players, hailing from 29 countries and territories (94 members are from outside the United States). Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to 216 countries and territories in 28 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations to maximize charitable giving, and to date, tournaments across all Tours have generated more than $3.2 billion.

Fans can follow the PGA TOUR on PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, on the PGA TOUR app and on social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram (in English, Spanish and Korean), LinkedIn, Twitter, WeChat, Weibo, Toutiao and Douyin.

CONTACT:			Mark Stevens, PGA TOUR, 904-861-5112, markstevens@pgatourhq.com
			Stephanie Lira, Fortinet, 408-235-7700, pr@fortinet.com

FAQ

What is the Fortinet Championship?

The Fortinet Championship is a PGA TOUR event that serves as the kickoff tournament for the 2021-22 FedExCup Regular Season.

When will the Fortinet Championship take place?

The Fortinet Championship is scheduled to take place from September 13-19, 2021.

What are the benefits of the Fortinet Championship?

Net proceeds from the championship will benefit non-profit organizations focusing on STEM, technology diversity, and veterans' reskilling programs.

How much is the purse for the Fortinet Championship?

The total purse for the Fortinet Championship is $7 million.

What media coverage will the Fortinet Championship receive?

All four rounds of the Fortinet Championship will be broadcast on the Golf Channel.

What is Fortinet's role in the Fortinet Championship?

Fortinet is the title sponsor of the championship, helping to promote engagement and charitable impact within the Napa Valley community.