04/26/24
December 31, 2009
AT&T Takes Name Off Tiger Woods' Bag: AT&T announced today that it would no longer sponsor Tiger Woods, joining Accenture in dropping support for the golfer after widespread reports of his infidelity. The communications company also sponsors the AT&T National PGA Tour event which has Woods as a host and the annual Tiger Jam concert in Vegas. The only sponsors to stand by their pitchman have been Nike, Upper Deck and EA Sports.
Don't worry about Tiger's sponsorships. He picked up two new deals this week.
One is with the NCAA. He will appear in one of those TV spots on college athletics that state: "Most of us are turning pro at something other than sports".
The other gig is with a cellular service provider that evidently has just launched a great new unlimited roaming plan.
posted by beaverboard at 12:46 PM on December 31, 2009
"AT&T is proud to offer it's new Tiger Package. Five phone options and services including unlimited roaming, customizable automatic text message deletion, and incoming/outgoing number encryption. For the discerning customer. $129.95 a month."
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:14 PM on December 31, 2009
So the only sponsors that have stood by Tiger have been the ones actually having to do with sports, themselves.
That seems right. The rest were just fair-weather sponsors.
posted by grum@work at 03:16 PM on December 31, 2009
That seems right. The rest were just fair-weather sponsors.
A lot of coin in that fair-weather sponsorship, though.
posted by dfleming at 03:22 PM on December 31, 2009
Tiger doesn't need the coin. I'll be interested to see who replaces those sponsors if/when Tiger returns to form. AT&T and Accenture may feel that they've done what's best for right now, but when the smoke clears and they are replaced, it'll be their loss.
posted by MW12 at 03:39 PM on December 31, 2009
The announcement should have been made: "Beep-beep-beep, We're sorry, the golfer that we have sponsored has been disconnected. Please consult your sports pages and try again."
posted by Howard_T at 03:53 PM on December 31, 2009
I'll be interested to see who replaces those sponsors if/when Tiger returns to form.
How would he return to form? Even if Woods saves his marriage and quits horndogging, it's not like he'll ever get his sterling reputation back. I think his days as a figure whose popularity transcends sport are over.
I talked to some family members about him over the holidays -- folks who do not follow much sports. Their opinion of him couldn't be worse. He's a joke, and to the women he's a dirtbag. What company wants to be associated with that, outside of the world of sports where Woods' golf prowess matters?
That seems right. The rest were just fair-weather sponsors.
Is this a joke I'm not getting? You make it sound as if giant corporations owe him loyalty. These are business deals in which both sides were in it for the money. Woods became a money loser for them, so they dropped him.
posted by rcade at 04:07 PM on December 31, 2009
Well said, rcade. Sponsors owe him no loyalty. And to what extent Woods ever truly "comes back" is all speculation at this point. He may return as a dominant golfer, but a reputation as badly messed up as his will never be repaired.
posted by dyams at 05:07 PM on December 31, 2009
Just love the hypocrisy of all this. I don't give a flying fuck about Woods, but I'd be willing to bet there are higher ups at his sponsor companies with much more disturbing predilections than Woods'.
Of course what amazes me is Woods has a few women on the go, it's the end of the world.
Yet Michael Schumacher who has repeatedly cheated in F1, been DQ'ed from entire seasons for cheating, been caught race fixing etc... and forever tarnished the sport... His return is being elevated to that of the return of the messiah.
Fuck sport. I give up.
posted by Drood at 05:46 PM on December 31, 2009
Just love the hypocrisy of all this. I don't give a flying fuck about Woods, but I'd be willing to bet there are higher ups at his sponsor companies with much more disturbing predilections than Woods'.
The sponsor companies don't care who Tiger Woods is or how ethical he is; they care about how much money he is going to make them. This isn't some moral hypocrisy at work, it's a business statement. These same companies would have no problem cutting their own higher ups if it's financially beneficial to them.
Business doesn't make ethical statements; it makes profit statements.
posted by dfleming at 06:08 PM on December 31, 2009
drood, I think you're looking at this from the wrong perspective.
1) Sure there are plenty of upper management types at AT&T, Tag, Accenture, etc. that may have cheated on their wives...what does that prove? They weren't being paid millions to be the center of their advertising campaign, Tiger was. And, it was his wholesome image that they were banking on to drive customers to their business. Image gone...sponsorship gone. No hypocrisy. Now, we could argue about loyalty, but that's not what Tiger was being paid for.
2) Schumacher is being welcomed back to the sport. If Tiger comes back, he'll be welcomed too. Even if he isn't successful in his return, you know ratings will be huge! Even the golfers that have spoken out against him know that he'll pump money into the program if he returns.
posted by dviking at 06:10 PM on December 31, 2009
Until last month, how many people really looked at Tiger Woods and said, "It's not just that he's a great golfer - it's that he's a family guy too!" ???
Do people really think that's why sponsors paid him millions?
I don't. His reputation among non-golf fans who don't buy the products he endorses may be in the shitter - but who cares?
People who watch golf will embrace his return. Like dviking just said "Even if he isn't successful in his return, you know the ratings will be huge!"
THAT is what sponsors care about. Maybe different sponsors, who will run a different sort of campaign, but there will be sponsors lining up (IMO).
posted by MW12 at 06:30 PM on December 31, 2009
He should get Durex as a sponsor under the circumstances. "The Only Condom fit for a Tiger".
posted by Drood at 05:26 AM on January 01, 2010
"AT&T drops Tiger Woods, although he clearly was an enthusiastic backer of texting." - Phil Rosenthal.