Tiger Woods' Sexploits Cost Him $50 Million, but Where Did the Money Go?

By Barry Janoff (Correspondent) 

As recently as 2008, Tiger Woods was pulling in $110 million in endorsements from companies that included Gatorade, AT&T, General Motors, Gillette and Accenture, far and away a green's distance from the money being earned by the likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning, David Beckham and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

But when his private life became a public scandal, marketers fled Woods as if he had a social disease to the tune of $50 million in deals, basically screwing him more than the laundry list of women who claimed a personal relationship with him.

Woods further damaged his value when he failed to win a single tournament in 2010.

Woods is playing his first tournament of 2011 this weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. But Gatorade, AT&T, General Motors, Gillette and Accenture are gone, and $50 million in deals is being spent elsewhere.

Jim Furyk, the PGA Tour Player of the Year, is now picking up the pace in endorsements among companies looking to connect with a lucrative golf consumer. Through the first three weeks of 2011 alone, Furyk has signed deals with Westin Hotels, RBC Bank and Sungard IT services, adding to a roster that includes Johnnie Walker and Marquis Jets.

Furyk takes in about $11-$13 million in endorsements, inching him a bit closer to Woods and veteran golfer Phil Mickelson, who makes about $52 million from marketing deals but whose value has peaked.

To be fair, GM ended its deal with Woods, about $10 million per year, in 2008 because of the automaker's own financial crisis, which also saw the company pull ads from the Super Bowl and Oscars.

After the scandal broke, GM put the brakes on Woods' final perk, free cars, and then used the advertising and endorsement dough it saved to help stabilize itself. On Feb. 6, for example, GM will be advertising during Super Bowl XLV for the first time in two years.

Gillette ended its deal with Woods in December, also valued at about $10 million a year, and immediately rebuilt its "Young Guns" marketing campaign, which this year will feature Matt Ryan, Evan Longoria, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Carlos Gonzalez and Ray Rice.

PepsiCo's Gatorade dropped its Woods signature line, Tiger Focus, in 2009 and then dumped the golfer altogether in early 2010. Not coincidentally, the sports drink completely redesigned its flagship brand into the three-product G Series, while enhancing alliances with such athletes as Manning, Sidney Crosby, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade and Serena Williams.

Among the companies that remained loyal to Woods, EA Sports has continued to release new products and marketing featuring the tainted golfer. But even here, with the Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game franchise, which has sold more than 27 million units worldwide since being introduced in 1999, the ties are more tenuous.

Last year, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 saw for the first time Woods reduced to sharing the game cover (with Rory McIlroy). This year, Woods' image was totally gone from Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, replaced by images touting EA's new deal with The Masters Tournament.

Woods has also screwed many of his fellow athletes. His situation was a catalyst for Madison Avenue to spend less ad money on active players and more on retired stars, whose images and reputations are not only ingrained with consumers but are much less likely to be tarnished. Among them, Andre Agassi, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone all have scored marketing deals over the past few months.

Will Tiger ever return to the good graces of marketing? Most likely, considering that Michael Vick, Ray Lewis and Kobe Bryant, each of whom has been associated with image-shattering personal situations, are again making money via endorsements.

For now, Woods probably could lose more deals before new companies sign on. He also gets to hang with Ben Roethlisberger, who could earn a third Super Bowl ring but whose dubious hands-on situations with women are causing marketers to keep their hands off him. 

You can contact Barry Janoff via [e-mail] or http://www.NYSportsJournalism.com