Tiger Woods' major sponsors, including Nike, Gatorade and Gillette, are standing by the richest athlete in the world. In September, Tiger Woods became the first athlete to earn $1 billion in a career, according to Forbes. His endorsements have more than quadrupled his earnings on the PGA tour and he has the backing of his sponsors despite the beating he's taking in the press after his alleged car accident last Friday.
"Tiger and his family have Nike's full support," Nike said in a statement. "We respect Tiger's request for privacy and our thoughts are with Tiger and his family at this time."
Marc Ganis, a sports marketing consultant with SportsCorp Ltd. told CNN, "This is a man who has carried himself exceptionally well while being in the intense glare of the media spotlight for his entire adult life," Ganis said. "He has had tremendous credibility with the public, media and his sponsors, and he singularly is why golf is still in the public consciousness in the United States."
The incident that is causing all of the media attention happened at about 2:25 a.m. on Friday and involved Woods leaving his house, hitting a fire hydrant and tree. His wife apparently tried to get him out of the SUV he was driving by smashing the vehicle with a golf club.
The rumors became ten-fold when combined with a story prior to the accident where The National Enquirer claimed Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess.
When the dust settles in the press, the majority of endorsement analysts believed that Woods was in no danger of losing any sponsorships, even if the some of the rumors are true.
Written by Cheryl Phillips
HULIQ.com
source: CNN
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