It is the end of an empire. Tiger Woods confirmed this Monday that he has ended his historic sponsorship agreement with Nike, a pact that united the two parties for 27 years and that has meant more than 500 million euros in income for the American golfer, winner of 15 majors. . “27 years ago I was lucky enough to begin a relationship with one of the most iconic brands in the world. The time since then has been filled with mind-blowing moments and great memories that I could spend an eternity recounting. The passion and vision of Phil Knight [el fundador la compañía] created this relationship between Nike and golf and I want to thank him personally, as well as the employees and other sports figures I have had the pleasure of working with along this path. People will wonder if there will be another episode. Yes, there certainly will be. See you in Los Angeles! ”Tiger explained in a statement, from which it is clear that he will play the Genesis Invitational from February 15 to 18.
August 25, 1996. A young Tiger Woods takes the last shots of his life as an amateur. It is a goodbye for everything great. That Sunday he wins his third consecutive amateur US Open, something never seen before. Two days later he confirms the jump to the professional world. Also in a big way, of course. Nike bathes him in gold without even having pocketed a putt in the elite: 40 million euros for five seasons. An iconic television advertisement accompanies the signing. “Hello World. They say I'm not ready for you. Are you ready for me?” says Tiger on the screen. Phil Knight, founder of the sports company, says: “The world has not seen anything like what he will do for sports.” He was right. Two days later, on August 29, Woods makes his senior debut at the Greater Milwaukee Open. In April of the following year he conquered the first major he competed in as a professional, the 1997 Augusta Masters, the beginning of the revolution. Indeed, nothing would be the same.
Those first 40 million for joining Nike were just the beginning of a source of money for both parties. Tiger broke off his previous relationship with Ping and Reebok, and became a billing machine. Nike multiplied his income by 10, from 30 million annually before the Woods era to 300 just two seasons after his signing. To put it in perspective, in 1984, when he roped in Michael Jordan, the company gave him a check for $250,000 plus a percentage of Air Jordan sneaker sales to convince him not to go with Adidas. In 1996, the best sponsorship deal in golf was enjoyed by Greg Norman. Reebok paid the new idol two million, 20 times less than Nike. Tiger broke all the schemes.
His game was already an advertisement in itself. Like that chip on the 16th hole of the 2005 Augusta Masters, when the ball rolls gently until it falls at the last moment into the hole showing the Nike logo. It was real life but it looked like a movie. So Nike successively renewed and increased its star's contract: in 2001, another 100 million for five more years; in 2006, eight courses for an agreement that ranged between 160 and 320; in 2013, a renewal for 10 seasons and 200 million more in the account. To date, there have been 27 years of marriage for which Tiger has earned between 500 and 660 million dollars. The impact for the company is almost incalculable. Only the 2019 Masters, the one in which he was resurrected, gave the entity a profit of 22.5 million.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJEysanOT7w
Nike remained faithful to Tiger even in the worst moments, his long history of injuries and especially the scandal of his infidelity, when many companies abandoned him (AT&T, Accenture, Gatorade, Gillette, Tag Heuer…). The company has continued to dress the Tiger for battle even though it stopped manufacturing golf equipment in 2016. Woods today uses TaylorMade brand clubs, a Bridgestone ball and FootJoy sports shoes, a special design that he has used since his terrible traffic accident in 2021. His next destination may be the Greyson Clothiers firm, which already has agreements with his son Charlie , 14 years old, and with his great friend on the circuit, Justin Thomas.
The mountain of money that Tiger and Nike raised looks even more when comparing those more than 500 million with the 120 that the American player has amassed in prizes in his long career, which includes 15 majors (after Jack Nicklaus's record of 18) and 82 titles on the PGA Tour (best all-time mark equaled by Sam Snead). According to Forbes magazine, Woods, Michael Jordan (94 million in NBA salaries) and LeBron James are the only three athletes in history who have exceeded 1 billion dollars in net income between their sports payrolls, their businesses and their sponsorships. (Tiger reaches 1,700).
At a time when golf is fractured by the arrival of the Saudi league and record hiring like that of Jon Rahm, Tiger continues to act as the multinational it has always been. Greg Norman, CEO of LIV, admitted that the Tiger rejected a check of between 700 and 800 million to change sides. It's been more than a quarter of a century since Nike began paying him like a legend before he was even one.
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