AT&T ends Tiger Woods sponsorship Tiger Woods tees off in 2007 during the AT&T Earl Woods Memorial Pro-Am golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. AT&T Inc. Picture: AP Source: AP TELCO giant AT & T is the latest company to decide to end its sponsorship of Tiger woods due to his troubled personal life. Woods is taking a long break from golf to get his life back together after revelations of multiple affairs, the break cited as a reason by other sponsors including Accenture to drop him. Woods has also been the host of the AT&T National PGA Tour event since it started in 2007. The company was able to soften its announcement by explaining that since Woods is on indefinite leave from professional golf, he will not serve as host for the 2010 event. But AP reports that the Tiger Woods Foundation will continue to be the beneficiary of the AT&T National, under a contract that runs through 2014, Votaw said. AT&T said it would continue to sponsor the event.
Trading card company Upper Deck says it stands by Tiger By Michael McCarthy, USA TODAY Trading card company Upper Deck said it "Stands by Tiger Woods" in a statement released Tuesday. Woods has served as an exclusive spokesman and autograph signer for Upper Deck since 2001. "We look forward to his eventual return to the PGA Tour," McWilliam said in a statement. After admitting to marital "infidelity" in a statement on his website Friday, Woods said he's taking an "indefinite" leave from pro golf to try to salvage his marriage to wife Elin Nordegren. The world's richest athlete makes most of his estimated $100 million-a-year income by endorsing companies such as Upper Deck, Nike, AT&T, Gatorade and Gillette. Now that a few weeks have elapsed, Woods' corporate sponsors are dividing into different camps. •Out (1): Accenture cut ties with Woods on Sunday, marking the first sponsor to drop him since the scandal erupted. Accenture had previously touted Woods as the ultimate symbol of high performance.
Did Nike Really Gain From Tiger Woods' Scandal, as the Numbers Suggest? Last Updated Dec 14, 2010 8:38 PM EST From a financial point of view, Nike (NKE) was right to stick by Tiger Woods despite the scandal that enveloped him in 2009, but the fascinating new study that makes this case also suggests that when brands encounter controversy they ought to destroy the village in order to save it, so to speak. That can't be right. Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business looked at Nike golf ball sales from the pre- and post-Woods scandal periods, in which most brands chose to sever their ties with Woods. However, Woods' endorsement -- which cost $200 million -- was so lucrative to Nike that despite that decline the company still saved money* it would have lost had it abandoned the golfer: ... from November 2009 to April 2010, we find that Nike made an extra revenue of $2.0 million from Tiger Woods' endorsement effect which we estimate as additional $1.6 million in profit. That's $10.2 million in sales down the drain and 441,000 customers turned off.
Gillette benches Tiger Woods - Local News Updates AP Photo/Gillette, Phelan M. Ebenhack, File Tiger Woods helped to launch the Gillette Fusion Power Gamer razor during the Gillette-EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming Finals in Orlando, Fla. In February 2009. By Johnny Diaz, Globe Staff Looking to preserve its clean-cut image, Boston shaving company Gillette became the first major sponsor to bench Tiger Woods as its pitchman, a day after the golfing icon publicly acknowledged that he's had extramarital affairs. The company, which has featured Woods as the centerpiece of its ad campaign "Gillette Champions" since 2007, said today that it would immediately limit the golfer's presence in its print, television, and online ads. Gillette spokesman Mike Norton said that while the company's decision to reduce Woods's role in its marketing was a direct result of Woods's announcement, Gillette, a unit of Procter & Gamble Co., is not severing all ties with Woods. Woods' image has been tarnished, advertising observers say.
Gatorade Drops Tiger Woods Drink Tiger Woods' auto accident at his Florida mansion in the wee hours of the morning after Thanksgiving touched off touched off a media frenzy around the superstar golfer's carefully guarded private life, with numerous women coming forward claiming to have had a sexual relationship with him. Before that, the married father of two young children had a pristine image and raked in hundreds of millions of dollars in endorsements. And, while most of Woods' sponsors continue to stand by him, a major one is pulling the plug on a Woods-related product. The decision was made public before his recent troubles but, observes CBS News Correspondent Kelly Cobiella , the timing couldn't be worse for Woods. "The more women that come out and the more mistresses we learn about," says so-called reputation doctor Mike Paul of MGP & Associates Public Relations, "the sponsors certainly have more of an evaluation going on, and there's increased pressure for them to at least consider dropping him."
Tiger Woods' Cheating Scandal: How Will It Affect His Endorsements? Tiger Woods has never shanked a drive this badly in his life. First, Tiger was challenged by the outlandish accusations of the National Enquirer, then came the suspicious single-car accident early on Friday morning, and now reports in US Weekly of another affair have put Tiger in some of the deepest rough he has ever stumbled upon. The last encounter proved to be the tipping point for Woods, who released another statement this afternoon. In light of his most recent comments, in which he apologized to his family for any wrongdoings, one must begin to wonder if the lucrative sponsorship deals that made him the world's first athlete to amass $1 billion will be affected by the drama of this situation. We saw Nike drop Kobe Bryant for being unfaithful and Michael Vick for going Cujo on on some dogs. We saw Michael Phelps lose his deal with Kellogg's after going one toke over the line. But there was hard evidence in each of those cases. So much for that whole "scandal-free" thing.