Nike "acknowledged yesterday after being sued" in
Federal Court in S.F. by the nonprofit group Public Remedies
that Tiger Woods "plays with custom-made balls unavailable"
to consumers, according to the AP's David Kravets. The suit
claims Nike is "engaging in unfair business practices" and
asks that the company's "'ill-gotten gains' be restored to
the public." Nike said that the balls used by Woods have a
"slightly harder inner and outer core than the balls sold to
the public." Nike Golf Marketing Dir Mike Kelly added that
"it's common practice in the golfing world to sell the
public different products than what the pros really use."
Kelly: "It's an industry practice to make minor
specification changes to golf products: irons, putters and
golf balls for tour players." But "other leading names in
golf say their customers get exactly what their pros
endorse." Titleist spokesperson Joe Gomes said that if a
player uses a "tweaked" version of a club, a consumer can
"special order it." Callaway spokesperson Larry Dorman
added that if one of the company's pros "uses a certain
club, that identical club is available [at] retail."
Neither Woods' IMG agent Mark Steinberg, nor Public
Remedies, returned phone calls (AP, 8/23).
TIGER SPEAKS OUT: At a press conference this morning at
the WGC NEC Invitational, when asked about his Nike ball,
Woods said that many PGA Tour players use equipment not
available to consumers. Woods: "There are a lot of players
with balls that aren't on the market, a lot of [club] shafts
especially, and club heads that we use are tinkered around
with. ... There's a lot of different things we tinker around
with that the general public can't have access to. I guess
that's just the way it is." Woods added he "really can't
see an appreciable difference" in distance between the Nike
ball and the Titleist ball he used to play (ESPNews, 8/23).
IMAGE HIT? In his "WinStar Radio Minute," Keith
Olbermann said of the suit: "Between this and the actors
strike disaster, Tige, you might just want to sit out the
rest of the advertising season" (WinStar Radio, 8/23).
Meanwhile, GM yesterday "refused to rule out producing more"
TV ads "without striking union actors," as it is "pressured
by its high-stakes" Olympics investment (AP, 8/22).
