Tiger Woods Is Back. Will Sponsors Buy In?<br />Angel Ilagan, Bridgestone Golf’s chief executive, said in a recent interview<br />that the company had sent 12 dozen balls to Mr. Woods, hoping he would attach his name and endorsement to the product, which he eventually did, signing a multi-year contract in December of that year<br />“We know Tiger’s brand strength,” Mr. Ilagan said.<br />Mr. Ilagan attributed that to Mr. Woods; Bridgestone has already begun to market a Woods edition golf ball, which it introduced on Wednesday.<br />Bridgestone reached out to Mr. Woods about playing its golf ball in September 2016, shortly after Nike announced<br />that it would no longer be selling golf equipment (though it would continue its Woods-branded clothing line).<br />“Brands with a strong female stakeholder base will continue to be a struggle for Tiger,” said<br />Mr. Land, who was with PepsiCo when Gatorade, which PepsiCo owns, decided to drop Mr. Woods.<br />Its chief executive, Ryan Dotters, thought Mr. Woods could use the simulator to train indoors, and Mr. Woods was receptive.<br />For a time, the streaming service of PGA Tour Live crashed because of “unprecedented traffic.”<br />All this is evoking memories of the unprecedented fan interest<br />that made Mr. Woods one of the most recognized — and influential — athletes for more than a decade, worth about $90 million per year in endorsement contracts alone.<br />“He’s a unique, integral part of the Nike family,” Mr. Buckley wrote in an email, “and we don’t see that changing any time soon.”<br />But while performance brands remain aligned with Mr. Woods, more mainstream companies have not yet jumped back on the bandwagon.
