Venue:
A few images showing a typical venue at a large open tournament (the first of which is Australia's own Doeberl Cup).
Original Image: http://www.doeberlcup.com.au/images/venue/playinghall.jpg
Essential features: Good lighting, row of tables with space to walk between rows/aisles, ropes to separate players from spectators for elite events.
Sponsorship opportunities:
These are the type of sponsorship opportunities that might be available for an event such as an Australian Open (some of which come from areas other than chess).
Original Image: http://external.ak.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=AQDm9PTnCbC1AuGi&url=http%3A%2F%2Fi4.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FCZl0OLO58ss%2Fhqdefault.jpg
Typical chess press conference setup, with players at a table with sponsor logos on backdrop or tables.
The commentary room itself can vary from fairly flashy (above in London), to simple (below at Gibraltar in 2009), though both can provide opportunities for sposors logos & products to be displayed.
Original Image: http://www.carsguide.com.au/images/uploads/ford_castrol_5.jpg
Another sponsorship opportunity exists in borrowing from poker or motorsport, with players wearing sponsor patches at events. This is something that has rarely been used in chess & post-event photos of players wearing patches allow sponsors to get an ongoing exposure of their name or brand.
Bulletins provide another opportunity for sporsors to promote their name or products. Although these are becoming less popular in recent times, with the trend of putting all information online, I think they provide a useful function, particularly to participants, as well as a practical souvenir from a tournament.
The recent Australian Junior Championships had bulletins with a summary of the previous day's play, as well as news, puzzles, profiles & anecdotes from the event. They are available online.
Another example of bulletins, with many tournament games included (which is something I prefer) can be seen on Chris Bird's website.
