Soon after news of Tiger Wood’s marriage issues hit the mainstream media, his sponsors were forced to decide what to do with one of the world’s most marketable athletes. At the height of his success on the PGA tour, Woods was one of the sporting world’s most desired figures for sponsors to partner with. With golf alone, Woods helped Nike reach figures of over $650 million in products sold (CBS/AP, 2009). Other major sponsors that Woods partnered with included Accenture, AT&T, PETA, Gillette, and Gatorade. Each of these nationally and globally know companies decided to end their endorsement partnerships with Tiger Woods in the weeks and months following the post-Thanksgiving incident and increasing marital issues. The only sponsor that has continued to endorse Woods has been Nike (CBS/AP, 2009). The main reason for these companies parting ways with Woods is due to an emphasis in keeping their names in good standings. In any form of public relations, you always want to have your company or business looked at in a positive light. When CEO’s and presidents of Woods’s former sponsors made remarks as to why they had terminated their relationship with the sports icon, they all mentioned that it was imperative to put the organizations good name as the top priority. This has been most reflected by Accenture’s reason for dropping Woods (Hamblen, 2009). The consulting firm had seen an increase in revenue in the months leading up Woods’ public relations nightmare (Hamblen, 2009). Keeping Woods as the firm’s public figure could have led to a decline in the revenue they had just received.
Keeping a company’s name and reputation in good standing is vital for working with business partners and audiences. For your audience to continue to support and help finance your company, they must feel the company is promoting good values and ethics. If Gatorade were to continue to