“Hints of a Comeback as Tiger Woods Secure Deals”

“Hints of a Comeback as Tiger Woods Secure Deals”

According to the New York Times, on November 24, 2011 author Ken Belson stated that in spite of Tiger Woods recent negative media exposure concerning his “marital infidelities” in 2009 that caused him to lose millions of dollars in endorsement deals that were snatched away because of his negative image, the once #1 golfer is now ranked somewhere in the top 100 place.  But because he is gradually improving his game, and he helped the United States win the Presidents Cup in Australia last year, is showing signs that Woods is working hard to repair his image.  Belson stated that “Rolex the watchmaker, and Fuse Science, which is a sports nutrition start-up company" is confident that Woods is ready to represent their brands with honor and respect; they signed him to sponsorship deals.  These deals are only a small fraction of what Woods lose when he was representing brands like Accenture, AT&T, Gatorade, Gillette, and other well-known brands names.  As part of the deal, Wood was required to put “Fuse Science” name on his golf bag during the Chevron World Challenge, and they would give him stock in the company.  Because Woods is in the rebuilding stage of his career, and his multi-million dollar salary status, which is improving everyday, by gaining new sponsorship along with the ones that stuck with him during his fall, like Nike, EA Sports and a few others, today his salary is nothing in comparison to a few years ago.  But he is still considered the highest paid athlete in the world.  And to show that he is still on top, Rolex resigned him for the second time, and after he left them in 2002 to represent another watchmaker “Tag Heuer” until last summer when their contract ended.  According to experts on sponsorship strategy, when a athlete or celeb signs a sponsorship deal, and take “stake” in the company by obtaining stock, they stand to profit more in the long run when or if the start-up company is sold to a bigger, more popular company for example, when Vitamin Water was sold to Coca-Cola and David Wright, the third baseman for the Mets already had a deal in place, this could very well happen to Woods by getting in at ground floor with Fuse Science, he stands to profit more in the long run.  To secure Wood’s deal even more, Fuse Science signed a few more athletes like Arian Foster, Ronde Barber, and David Ortiz to sponsorship deals, which will “insulate” Woods success within the company’s brand marketing.  It stated that Wood was very excited about his new deal, because after consulting with his team of experts, the product is sure to grow in the environment of sports/health, and he wants to focus on promoting it from the start.  It also stated that he wasn’t going to hurry and sign another deal to be able to focus on Fuse Science, which can generate more money if he starts to win again in golf, or if /when the company is sold to a bigger company.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/sports/golf/woods-begins-comeback-with-new-sponsorship-deals.html?scp=6&sq=rticles%20on%20sports%20marketing%20&%20sponsorships%20sales&st=cse