As a member, I might be biased, however I think the fact that we tried to negotiate for a increase in the contract was the least of the factors that ended this deal.
1. The PGA tour went to Dell to try and get more money out of them for sponsorship. Dell balked and wanted to share the load with Intel, it was reported that the initial discussions with Intel did not go well.
2. Jim Crane now owns the Houston Open and has openly expressed his willingness to financially contribute to getting his spot back in the PGA tour rotation before the Masters (currently the spot occupied by the Dell Match Play).
3. The WGC events are dying. They rely exclusively on the OWGR to determine the field and this hands a microphone to Greg Norman to bash the PGA tour for not including his LIV players that occupy some of those spots. He also gets a platform to lobby OWGR to change their formulas.
4. We were on the last year of our host contract. The first contract was approved by the members with 92% in favor. The second contract with approved with roughly 55% approval. On that trajectory do you think it was going to pass another vote unless the PGA tour stepped up to make it worth our while? How would the PGA tour look if the membership didn't vote to extend another contract? Our board negotiates with the Tour, but the members have to approve the contract. Keeping things status quo was not going to fly. What type of PR hit would it be for the PGA Tour if it didn't pass?
We are 7 years into this deal and the wear and tear on our facilities is starting to show. We lose access to our golf course for 6-7 weeks a year and access to our other facilities for 3-4 weeks a year. During those times I can't use my golf course and facilities I am STILL REQUIRED TO PAY DUES, so our membership is paying $1500-$2000 to the subsidize this event. The tour then charges us $750 a ticket to access the course for the tournament so we get double dipped. FYI...The club nets between $1.5-$2M for hosting. We have a 10 year waiting list, we don't need the notoriety any longer we just want our club back.
I am sorry that Austin is losing this event, but it was inevitable in it's current form. I am pretty sick of the membership getting blamed for it ending. We stepped up when Austin needed us and have made it an amazing event. It has run it's course. The membership share of the blame for it ending is only a small factor.