Woods Signs on With Rolex in First Major Pact Since Golfer's Sex Scandal
By SUZANNE VRANICA
The moment has come for Tiger Woods to move beyond the heat rub and get back into the big time.
Two years after a sex scandal demolished the golfer's endorsement career, he has signed on with watchmaker Rolex, his first major pact since the incident.
Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Sports marketing experts say privately held Rolex SA is likely getting Mr. Woods for much less than the millions of dollars he commanded when he was untarnished and at the top of his game.
Mr. Woods was the most powerful brand endorser on Madison Avenue before marital infidelities and other foibles landed him in the tabloid press in 2009. Amid the public-relations nightmare, Mr. Woods lost several major sponsors, including AT&T, Accenture and Gillette.
Associated Press
Tiger Woods has lost major sponsors. Above, he teed off Wednesday.
Experts are surprised that Mr. Woods was able to grab such a high-profile consumer brand, especially given that he hasn't won an event in almost two years and fell out of the top 50 golfers for the first time since 1996. Earlier this year, Mr. Woods signed with a small Japanese company to endorse a muscle-pain heat rub.
Mark Steinberg, Mr. Woods's agent, declined to comment on the specifics of the deal but said his client wasn't entering the marketplace at a significantly reduced rate. "I feel confident and bullish on his marketability," said Mr. Steinberg, who added he is in the late stages of negotiations for a bag sponsor.
Before the scandal, Mr. Woods earned roughly $90 million a year from his marketing pacts and was seen as the most powerful endorsement property in sports.
Research suggests that prior to the scandal, Mr. Woods was the 11th most effective product spokesperson—on par with Bill Cosby. As of July, Mr. Woods ranked 2,775th, putting him alongside Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, according to Davie-Brown Entertainment, an Omnicom Group Inc. unit that tracks celebrities' appeal using online consumer polls.
Rolex and Mr. Woods have a long history. Mr. Woods promoted Rolex's Tudor watch for about five years and then switched alliances to rival Tag Heuer in 2002. At the time, Tag Heuer agreed to pay about $2 million annually for three years, according to people close to the company.
When he jumped to Tag Heuer Mr. Woods said, "My tastes have changed."
Tag Heuer, owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, ended its relationship with Mr. Woods several months ago—after standing by the golfer during the scandal.
Rolex said it believes Mr. Woods "has a long career ahead of him and that he has all the qualities required to continue to mark the history of golf."
The deal is a "clear indicator that mainstream corporate America is coming around," says Kevin Adler, founder of Engage Marketing, a sports-marketing firm in Chicago.
Mr. Woods is scheduled to play this week in the Frys.com Open, an opportunity to practice a new swing he has tried to develop. He didn't qualify for the Tour Championship, professional golf's late season playoff.
"Marketers and consumers love a comeback story," says Sam Sussman, senior vice president and director at Starcom, a media buying unit of ad giant Publicis Groupe SA.
—Matthew Futterman contributed to this article.
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