|
14 May 2012 by admin • » Edit « Golfer earns an estimated $100 mln a year from sponsors The first athlete to earn over $1 billion -Forbes NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Companies like Nike Inc(NKE.N) are not expected to sever their ties with golfer TigerWoods, who has sponsorship deals worth an estimated $100million a year, after his weekend car accident, analysts andconsultants said on Monday. Early returns showed companies are standing by the populargolfer. “Tiger Woods is one of the premier athletes in the worldand we are proud to have him involved with NetJets,” DavidSokol, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s (BRKa.N)NetJets private jet unit, said in an e-mail statement. Nike Golf global public relations manager Beth Gast echoedthat sentiment: “Tiger and his family have Nike’s fullsupport.” Woods, whom Forbes magazine recently said had become thefirst athlete to earn more than $1 billion in his career,crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and treeoutside his mansion in Florida early Friday morning. On Sunday, the 33-year-old golfer said in a statement thathe was embarrassed by the accident. Woods, considered the best golfer of his generation, hashad numerous sponsorship deals through the years for everythingfrom Nike to automobiles to shave creams to sports drinks. Officials with PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N) brand Gatorade “lookforward to seeing him back on the course soon. Our partnershipwith Tiger continues,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. MAJOR PLAYER ON AND OFF THE GREENS Consultants said Woods’ popularity and long record ofdominance on the professional golf tour, as well as hischaritable activities, make any sponsor defections unlikely. “It doesn’t matter as things stand today,” said Marc Ganis,president of consulting firm Sportscorp Ltd. “We’ll see whatthe future brings, (but) he is the reason golf is still on themap. He’s got a heck of a lot of chits in his ledger.” It is not clear what led up to Woods’ early morningaccident, but there has been speculation he and his wife werearguing shortly before the crash. However, any new reports arenot likely to shake sponsors’ faith in Woods. “Unless something comes up that would be completely out ofleft field, I don’t see any sponsor getting out of a currentdeal with Tiger because of this situation,” said Robert Boland,professor of sports management at New York University. Doug Shabelman, president of Burns Entertainment, whichmatches celebrities with corporate sponsors, agreed. “It’s going to have very little impact on Tiger’s currentand future earnings potential unless something extraordinary isuncovered,” he said. “He’s built up enough goodwill that peoplewill give him the benefit of the doubt.” Procter & Gamble Co’s (PG.N) Gillette declined to commenton its deal with Woods. Other sponsors, including AT&T Inc(T.N), Electronic Arts Inc ERTS.O, TLC Vision Corp TLC.TO,Upper Deck, Tag Heuer and Accenture could not be reached. One area where analysts said Woods’ usually well-honedpublic relations skills slipped was his delayed and limitedresponse on Sunday. More of the same could still be damaging tohim, they said. He canceled a Tuesday press conference after saying hewould not play in the Chevron World Challenge that he hostsnear Los Angeles and which benefits his charitable foundation.[ID:nGEE5AT2LG] “He missed an opportunity right away to take control of thestory,” said Paul Argenti, professor at the Tuck School ofBusiness at Dartmouth. “The longer he lets this go, the lowerthe reservoir (of goodwill) is getting.” ((benjamin.klayman@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 312 408 8787;Reuters Messaging: ben.klayman.reuters.com@reuters.net) 910 d3 g20 mp600 This article is from http://www.golfflying.com/ More Golf Flying at http://www.golfflying.com/
Related Articles -
910 d3, g20, mp600,
| 
