Tiger Woods is the cover story of the current FORTUNE,
with a profile by Roy Johnson under the header, "Tiger! Now
The Sky's The Limit For Golf -- The Game And The Business."
NBA Commissioner David Stern: "You have a charismatic star
who redefines the way his sport is played, you've got hunger
for programming from an array of television networks, and
you have a marketing colossus like Nike involved. It's a
recipe for sports success and for the enormous growth of
golf." Nike Chair Phil Knight: "People often tell me that
Michael Jordan was the first superstar of the wired world.
Well, today's world is a lot more wired. There are so many
more ways for [Tiger] to touch people than there were for
Michael that he could easily be as widely known around the
world as any athlete today -- and in a fraction of the
time." One rep from one of golf's "major" corporate
sponsors, on Woods' entry onto the golf scene: "He's a guy
who's African-American, not the white, middle-class kids who
grew up in the country club. A lot of people in golf were
happy with that image, that elitism. It's what they sold.
Now, right before their eyes, he's redefining what the sport
of golf is, and they're not happy about it." The piece goes
on to examine the breakdown of revenue on the PGA Tour, the
upcoming TV rights negotiations, corporate sponsors
involvement and golfing demographics (FORTUNE, 5/12 issue).
TIGER TALK: In GOLFWEEK, Adam Barr examines Woods'
potential on the golf business' bottom line, but adds the
industry must address problems of course and facility access
to meet new demand. Barr: "If we don't, that sports car
Tiger is revving may just spin its wheels, plenty fast, but
going nowhere" (GOLFWEEK, 4/26)....Earl Woods is profiled in
the N.Y. TIMES under the header, "Tiger Woods Is Still Safe
In His Father's Arms" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/30).
