Since going professional in 1996, the 15-time major golf champion has used
the brand’s gear and goods.
Woods posted on social media, “The days since have been filled with so many
beautiful events and memories, if I started naming them, I could go on forever.”
Partnering with “one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen,”
according to Nike, is an honor.
When Woods, 48, became pro in 1996 at the age of 20, he first inked a $40
million (£31.5 million) five-year contract with Nike.
When Woods dominated golf for over a decade and ranked second among
men’s major titles, three behind leader Jack Nicklaus, the deal turned into one
of the richest partnerships in sports history.
As one of the most well-known athletes in the world, Woods inked several
more contracts with Nike over his career, the most significant of which was a
$100 million, ten-year agreement in 2013.
Tim Derdenger, an associate professor of marketing and strategy at
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, told
the BBC that Woods and Nike’s long-term collaboration was “a win-win for everybody.”
The scholar was a member of a research team in 2013 that examined Woods’s
effect on sales of Nike golf balls, which he began using in 2000.
According to the study, the company’s $181 million investment in Woods was
recouped in part by 57% in US golf ball sales between 2000 and 2010.
According to Prof. Derdenger, Nike “didn’t have a strong prominent position
in the golf market” when Woods turned professional, so the company struck
gold when it introduced its golf line featuring the rising star.
“Now that I think about it, who better to introduce this incredible young talent
to launch their golf and clothing brands for Nike? He is that; he is golf.
“Going out and finding these athletes who are generational, or some of the
finest of their time, and building brands around them to help them drive sales
of Nike items,” was sort of Nike’s MO (modus operandi) and it remains so today.
Woods, who made his comeback to competition in November of last year
following a seven-month injury layoff, expressed gratitude for his almost
three-decade partnership with Nike in a statement posted on social media.
Even after a scandal involving Woods’ personal life surfaced in 2009, when he
was at the height of his game, and he admitted to being unfaithful to his then-
wife, Nike stuck with him through all of his highs and lows.
At the time, Nike declared that it was staying firm and had offered Woods its
“full support” as big businesses, including telecom company AT&T,
management consulting firm Accenture, and maker of razor blades Gillette,
severed their links with him.
