Visa nears a high-eight-figure PGA Tour sponsorship that would take over Mastercard's category

Visa is close to signing one of the biggest sponsorship deals in PGA Tour history, Sports Business Journal reported Thursday. SBJ's Josh Carpenter, citing sources, said the multiyear agreement is expected to be worth something in the high eight figures per year. That could put it level with or above what Visa spends on FIFA and the International Olympic Committee.

The deal has not been announced. The tour and Visa both declined to comment to SBJ.

What Visa would get

According to SBJ, the package has three parts. Visa would become an official marketing partner of the tour. It would be one of the sponsors of the revamped Tour Championship, which moves to a match-play format across multiple venues in 2028. It would also take title rights to three Challenger Series events starting in 2028. The tour plans 20 Challenger Series events under its new model. Thirteen will run opposite Championship Series stops on cable, and seven will get their own weeks on network TV. SBJ said it isn't yet clear which kind of events Visa would get.

Golf Channel reported that the tour is trying to sign a handful of deals at about the same level and wants several sponsors around the new Tour Championship, the way the Players Championship works now.

Mastercard's category

David Rumsey reported that the marketing-partner status Visa is taking is the tour's official payment partner category. Mastercard has held it since 1995, and Visa would take over in January.

SBJ said Mastercard's official marketing partner deal expires after 2026. Its presenting sponsorship of the Arnold Palmer Invitational continues into 2028.

Why now

This would be the largest commercial deal since Brian Rolapp became PGA Tour CEO last year. SBJ reported that Rolapp's connections to Visa from his NFL days helped. Visa's long-running league deal with the NFL ended in March, which Carpenter noted freed up money.

According to SBJ, people in the industry had doubted the tour could sell title sponsors for events that won't have the top players, so three Visa titles would answer some of that. Golfweek also pointed out that FedEx's sponsorship of the season-long points race and the Tour Championship trophy expires at the end of 2027, right before the new model starts.

Golfweek reported that the tour expects to release its Championship Series schedule in February, with the Challenger Series schedule coming later in 2027. Watch for an official announcement from the tour and Visa, and for which three Challenger events get the Visa name.