A portrait of Tiger Woods of America throughout the pro-am as a preview for the Hero World Problem at Albany Golf Course on November 29, 2023 in Nassau.
David Cannon | Getty Pictures
Tiger Woods’ 27-year partnership with Nike has come to an finish. The famous person golfer introduced the information in a press release Monday on social media platform X.
“Phil Knight’s ardour and imaginative and prescient introduced this Nike and Nike Golf partnership collectively and I need to personally thank him, together with the Nike workers and unimaginable athletes I’ve had the pleasure of working with alongside the best way,” Woods wrote.
Mark Steinberg, Woods’ longtime agent, instructed CNBC that the golfer made a enterprise choice to not renew with Nike.
The announcement got here after months of hypothesis that the 2 would break up. Nike confirmed the information on Instagram with an image of Woods in his iconic purple polo, saying: “It was a hell of a run.”
In a press release, the corporate mentioned: “For over 27 years, we’ve got had the distinction to accomplice with Tiger Woods, one of many best athletes the world has ever seen. All through the course of our partnership, we’ve got witnessed together with the remainder of the world, how Tiger not solely redefined the game of golf, however broke limitations for all of sport. We watched him set data, problem typical considering and encourage generations of individuals across the globe. We’re grateful to have been part of it. We want him one of the best sooner or later.”
There is not any phrase but on Woods’ plans for a future endorsement deal. However he mentioned on social media: “There will definitely be one other chapter.”
Some current hypothesis about Woods’ subsequent chapter have pointed to On Working, the Swiss model which tennis nice Roger Federer joined in 2019 after he left Nike.
Marc Maurer, co-CEO of On Working, addressed the hypothesis on Monday on the ICR Retail Convention in Orlando. “We additionally heard the rumors, so it is at all times attention-grabbing what’s on the market we hope that Tiger finds an awesome new accomplice and it isn’t going to be us,” he mentioned.
Golf tools maker TaylorMade, with which Woods, 48, has had a relationship with since 2017, may very well be one other potential touchdown spot for the 15-time main winner.
Analysts aren’t anticipating a huge impact with the information because the rumors have been circulating about Woods’ departure for months.
“We proceed to imagine the corporate has endorsements with a few of the greatest identify athletes on this planet and we’d anticipate that development to proceed for the foreseeable future,” mentioned Brian Yarbrough, a Nike analyst for Edward Jones.
Nike has been quietly ramping down on golf for years because it wasn’t an enormous cash maker for the model. In 2016, the Oregon sports activities attire maker introduced it will cease making golf tools altogether.
But Woods introduced important publicity to the Nike model. And, over the course of his profession, Woods made a reported $500 million from “the swoosh.”
Eric Smallwood, founding father of Apex Advertising, estimates that when Woods goes 4 rounds, he is offering Nike with $2 million to $4 million of publicity.
Likewise, when Woods swapped his Nikes for FootJoy sneakers on the 2023 Masters, he gave the model $3.2 million of publicity.
Woods gives much more publicity for Nike than even a LeBron James because of the tempo of play of golf in comparison with basketball, he mentioned. “Golfers have longer longevity,” Smallwood mentioned.
–CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this report.
It is a growing story. Test again for updates.
