Tiger Woods on course to become sports first billionaire
Tiger Woods had just won his first pro tournament in 1996 when
he walked into the press room at the Las Vegas Invitational and
glanced at a story a reporter was writing.
"Like it?" the writer asked.
"I like this,'' Woods replied, pointing to a mention of the
$297,000 winner's check.
Woods had been a pro for only about a month and he already was
rich, thanks to deals with Nike and Titleist that would pay him $60
million for five years. But to a 20-year-old who couldn't even
legally drink, the winner's check was what really mattered.
"That other stuff was paper money,'' his father, Earl Woods,
said.
Four years later, Woods has come to understand that paper money
can add up. He's the biggest moneymaker in sports.
At 24, he dominates and transcends the sport of golf. Companies
throw money at him to get him to endorse their products, while
tournament directors and TV executives pray for him to play in
their tournaments.
America is in love with Tiger Woods and, as evidenced by the
ratings for his suspenseless 15-stroke victory in the U.S. Open, this affair is in no danger of waning.
"He's Elvis. We've found Elvis and he looks like Tiger Woods,''
said Rick Burton, director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Centre at
the University of Oregon.
Not quite, but Woods certainly has staked his place in line to
surpass Michael Jordan as America's most recognised -- and well-paid
-- sports hero. Fans who wouldn't know Davis Love III from Fred Funk
know Tiger Woods, and his reach already has spread far from the
sport of golf itself.
The money is coming in so fast that he's on his way to becoming
sport's first billion-dollar man.
"If anybody can, it's Tiger,'' his agent, Mark Steinberg, said.
Estimates vary -- and his handlers won't give specifics -- but
Woods will easily earn tens of millions of dollars this year from a
select group of deals topped by a contract with Nike. He's already
won $5 million this year on the golf course, money he puts into a
fund to build a house in Florida while his other millions are
invested by his father.
Woods's agents are wrapping up the details on a new five-year
Nike contract that published reports value at $100 million or more.
He will also reportedly get a piece of the revenue from the new
Nike golf ball that he began using shortly before the Open.
"He is the most remarkable athlete in the world right now and
certainly deserves the comparison to Michael Jordan,'' Nike Golf
president Bob Wood said.
Just how big Woods is becoming is hard to imagine. But everyone,
it seems, wants to be a part of it.
The company that performed laser surgery to correct his vision
is paying Woods $2 million a year just to use his name, and he owns
far more lucrative deals with Buick, American Express, EA Sports,
Rolex, and Wheaties.
"If Jordan isn't the first billion-dollar athlete, then Tiger
will be the first,'' said Burton, whose institute analyses the
sports marketing business. "This guy can play golf 45 or 50 years
and, if you calculate it at $200 million a year, that's an
unbelievable amount of money.''
The $200 million figure may be high, at least for the time
being. But there is no question that Woods commands tremendous
wealth from those seeking to align themselves with one of the
world's most recognised athletes.
While Woods went out and dominated in the Open last week,
Steinberg worked into the early hours of the morning tying up
details on his new contract with Nike. The company's commercials
helped cement his early fame after turning pro, and TV images of
Woods bouncing balls off of a wedge and leading Buick owners in
humorous be-like-Tiger lessons are aimed at trying to make the
public identify with him.
"They're allowing people to come into his world a little,''
Steinberg said.
Also helping is that Woods competes in a sport anyone can play
most of their lives, and, unlike Shaquille O'Neal, is of normal
size.
"It's very tough to relate to a 7-footer,'' Steinberg said.
It's easy to relate to Tiger Woods though, and everything he
touches seems to turn to gold. Look no further than the new Nike
golf ball.
Introduced in February in a field dominated by Titleist and
crowded with dozens of others, the ball languished with about a 1
percent share of the $820 million annual market.
Woods began testing it earlier this year at home in Florida. He
played the ball for the first time in a tournament in Germany --
where he got a $1 million bonus simply for appearing -- and used it
to win easily at the Memorial in late May.
Nike executives could barely control their excitement on the
Open telecast, where the Nike swoosh always seemed to end up on
just the right side for the cameras every time the ball was on the
green.
"It was like winning the lottery,'' Nike's Wood said. "People
are absolutely juiced around here. Everybody is talking about this
guy, even the people in finance who don't even know about him.''
Sales of the ball picked up after last weekend, and Wood said
the company was sending balls by air freight to meet demand. At
golf retailer Edwin Watts, vice president Lincoln Cox said
customers were calling to ask about the ball.
"He definitely raises the awareness,'' Cox said. "Up until
this year the golf industry has been flat. Now it seems to be
coming out of a down cycle.''
It's not just golf balls. Woods is selling golf on television,
where ratings double and triple for tournaments he plays. When he
tried for a record seventh straight win in the Buick Invitational in
February, ratings topped that of the NBA All-Star game the same
day.
NBC's coverage of his Open victory pulled in 19 percent more TV
homes than the event did a year ago, when Payne Stewart won a
dramatic Open on the final hole. NBC estimates 53 million people
tuned in Saturday and Sunday, with the highest Sunday national
rating for the tournament since 1981 -- an 8.1 with a 21 share.
Woods is the attraction, but the rest of golf is enjoying the
attention. A new TV contract signed last year has nearly doubled
purses on the PGA Tour to a total of $132 million this year, and
tour officials already are looking toward bigger increases when the
deal expires in 2002.
"We've had two athletes in my time -- Muhammad Ali and Jordan --
that draw fans from outside their sport,'' NBC Sports president
Dick Ebersol said. "Every indicator we have says Tiger is the next
one.''
The presence of Woods, who plays in 20 to 25 tournaments a year,
can make or break an event. That was evident when more than 40,000
people braved traffic jams two miles long to crowd Torrey Pines
golf course in San Diego for the Buick Invitational.
"The first question a tournament director gets from everyone
is, 'Is Tiger playing your tournament?' '' said Charles Davis, who
runs the National Car Rental Golf Classic at Walt Disney World
Resorts. "Tournament directors are on pins and needles waiting for
him.''
Woods is just as popular overseas, with his appearance in the
Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Germany this year credited with more than
doubling crowds in a country where few people play golf. He also
endorses Asahi beer in golf-crazy Japan.
At home, the PGA Tour finds itself walking a fine line trying to
promote its other players so fans don't stay home in droves and
turn off the TV when Woods isn't playing that week.
"You can't avoid putting the emphasis on Tiger Woods, but it is
144 or 156 guys every week,'' said Henry Hughes, senior vice
president and chief of operations for the PGA Tour. "Yet we're on
a real upsurge, and he's clearly the leader in that.''
With Woods already having cemented his place in the game at such
a young age, the question is whether he can keep it up over a
sustained period of time.
He's done so much so fast and gotten so rich so quick that some
believe his work ethic might slip.
Not likely, says Earl Woods, who said the money won't affect his
son because he spends so little of it.
"That's one of the first things to know about Tiger -- he's
tight. Very tight,'' Earl Woods said.
Steinberg said he, Woods, and Earl Woods will continue to screen
endorsement offers to make sure they fit properly and avoid
oversaturation. Woods has 11 sponsors, which use him to varying
degrees.
Besides, Steinberg said, there is no hurry to make an immediate
killing when the future is so bright.
"He's 24. That's the key to this,'' Steinberg said. "He's
limitless. He's a transcendent athlete, finally being recognised as
the greatest athlete on the planet, and he has anywhere from 20 to
40 years left.''
