Sponsors Stand To Gain From Woods' High-Profile Masters Return

Nike, Gillette And EA Sports Have Expressed Their Support Of Woods' Return At Augusta

Tiger Woods by returning to golf at The Masters is "guaranteeing an enormously bright spotlight from the start," and Nike, Gillette and EA Sports all "expressed support" for Woods' decision to play in the tournament, according to Jeremy Mullman of AD AGE. However, only EA Sports has "indicated if or when Mr. Woods will return to a front-and-center role in their marketing messages." Neither Nike or Gillette "addressed whether they would resume airing creative featuring Mr. Woods, who has been bumped in favor of other endorser athletes by both companies" (ADAGE.com, 3/16). The AP's Fredrix & Skidmore wrote Woods' "return to the golf course is a long-awaited boon to sponsors that stood by him and marketers who stand to get big exposure from the big Masters audience." Syracuse Univ. sports management professor and former USOC CMO Rick Burton: "This is going to be a heavily photographed, heavily videotaped, heavily Youtubed appearance. Tiger's Nike hat, Nike shirt and Nike ball all are going to get a lot of visibility." Fredrix & Skidmore wrote Woods' return is "especially timely for EA, whose next edition of the video game 'Tiger Woods PGA Tour' is in testing and scheduled for release in June" (AP, 3/16).

WAIT AND SEE: In Boston, Goodison & Grillo report Gillette "has no immediate plans to incorporate Woods back into its advertising" despite his return to golf. Gillette spokesperson Damon Jones said that the brand "looks forward to seeing its former brand ambassador back on the course, but will continue the current on-air campaign for its men's Fusion shaving line for the next several months." Jones: "Nobody's speculating on what's going to happen in the future. We just haven't decided exactly what we're going to do in the second half of the year." However, Goodison & Grillo report Woods' appearance at The Masters "could score him new deals." Smith College sports economist Andrew Zimbalist: "Tiger's going to be a good way to sell (products), because everyone's eyes will be on him, especially during this repentance phase where he says he's working on himself" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/17).

Writers, Pundits Have Differing Views On Woods' Marketability Going Forward

CATALYST FOR NEW DEALS? S.F. Chronicle's Scott Ostler, on Tiger Woods: "This is going to be a huge marketing thing for Tiger because he is losing sponsors, lost Gatorade and all this stuff. People are jumping ship. He is going to come back and people are going to say, 'Tiger, just by showing up, has quadrupled our ratings and everything. He has still got that drawing power.'" But Comcast SportsNet’s Ann Killion said, "I think you're wrong about that. … I think those days are over. No one is going to link their corporate name to him for a while” ("Chronicle Live," Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 3/16). Bloomberg’s Scott Soshnick doubted some of the non-sports brands that dropped Woods as a sponsor, such as Accenture, would return, as they are “about trust.” Soshnick: “You don't want to co-mingle your brand with a tarnished superstar. I doubt if they're going back and saying, 'Well, maybe we should not have done this,' because it still is a tarnished brand" (Bloomberg TV, 3/16). But Deutsch Inc. Chair & CEO Donny Deutsch said Woods "absolutely" see his endorsements come back. Deutsch: "He'll get new advertisers. They may not be female-oriented products, but not one man is buying one less golf shirt because of what Tiger Woods has done" ("Today," NBC, 3/17).

EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON RETURN: Sports Business Group President David Carter said unless Woods wins the The Masters, he is "not going to return to the high level of media exposure he's accustomed to and that's something sponsors will have to take a good look at." Meanwhile, New York Univ. sports management professor Robert Boland said the reason Woods is returning at The Masters is "to appease his current sponsors." Boland: "This was very calculated. ... A prolonged absence would have been a breach of contract on his part and that's absolutely why he's playing" (REUTERS, 3/16). Boland added, "If I were the CEO of a company paying $10[M] or $6[M] I'd want him to be golfing" (NEWSDAY, 3/17). Fox News contributor Monica Crowley said of Woods, "He's doing this for commercial reasons. He has to get back on the golf course because his sponsors were leaving in droves. He has to show he's still got game and he can still win tournaments to try to stop the commercial bleeding" ("America's Nightly Scoreboard," Fox Business, 3/16).