Thursday, December 31, 2009

Tiger Woods loses AT&T as sponsor

World number one Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods' sponsors continue to drop him

AT&T says it will no longer sponsor top golfer Tiger Woods, who announced earlier this month that he would take an indefinite break from the sport.

The company joins Accenture and Gillette in dropping support for the golfer after he admitted to "infidelity" to his wife.

AT&T's logo appeared on the golfer's bag. The company did not comment on its reasons for dropping Woods.

AT&T said it would continue to sponsor the AT&T National PGA event in July.

In a terse statement, AT&T said: "We are ending our sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods and wish him well in the future."

The deal had been billed as a "multi-year" agreement when it was announced at the beginning of 2009.

Severed ties

The golfer became the first sportsman to earn more than $1bn from sponsorship deals and endorsements.

But a whole list of them have now loosened or severed their ties with him.

Apart from consulting firm Accenture and razor maker Gillette, the watchmaker Tag Heuer has scaled down its use of the star, while drinks manufacturer Gatorade discontinued a line of Tiger Woods-branded energy drinks.

It is not clear how much these deals separately brought in. AT&T also has not said how much its contract was worth.

A recent University of California study suggested the total economic damage of the Tiger Woods affair to all involved parties could amount to as much as $12bn.

Soul searching

Tiger Woods announced in December that he would take a break from his sport, after allegations from a string of women that they had sexual relations with him.

He said at the time: "After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person."

Woods is married with two children.

No comments: