Despite the media maelstrom swirling furiously about Tiger
Woods’ secluded home, he will not lose endorsement dollars from most of the
Fortune 500 corporations he’s had long-term relationships with, like Nike,
Procter & Gamble and Gatorade.
TLC Vision, NetJets and EA Sports joined Gatorade, P&G and
Nike in issuing statements confirming that they will not terminate their fruitful
relationships with the golf megastar and arguably the world’s most famous athletic
figure. The combined endorsement contracts help swell Woods’ already colossal coffers by more than $100 million annually.
Speculation grew quicly about Woods endorsement status with some of the nation’s largest conglomerates when he appeared to evade police questions and issued vague statements regarding the slow-speed crash into his neighbor’s
tree and a fire hydrant. Since then, tabloids have identified at least two women Woods allegedly had affairs with. One, Rachel Uchitel, had repeatedly denied the affair, while Los Angeles cocktail waitress has sold convincing evidence to US Weekly stating that she had a 31-month affair with Woods.
Tiger has received three separate statements of support from Nike, something it did
not do in the case of Kobe Bryant or Michael Vick. Despite that, Jason Maloni,
the vice president and head of the sports and entertainment subpractice with
Levick Strategic Communications, says Woods should be worried. Several sponsors’
endorsement contracts contain a “moral clause”, Maloni told the Washington Post. That would give the
sponsor the right to cancel or alter the terms of the agreement if Woods is
deemed to have violated the clause. –terry shropshire
