Who’s the big loser in the Tiger Woods incident? Not who you think.
It’s not Tiger. Sure, he just put $90 million in endorsements at risk, but he’s doing just fine. He’s no O.J. Simpson. He may have made some miscalculations when it came to handling the aftermath of the “collision,” but the fall-out won’t last long. He’ll hire a crack PR organization to oversee his “social rehabilitation.” You’ll see pics of Tiger and his kids, and hear about the do-good projects he’s doing on behalf of the under-privileged. Even money says he regains most of his mojo before 2010 is out.
It’s not his corporate sponsors. If anything, they’ve gotten an extra boost out of the free media and publicity surrounding the affair. A week ago, I couldn’t tell you who Accenture is. Now they’re everywhere. No one really thinks a sponsor who signed a contract with Woods years ago is tied to his activity now.
It’s not Elin. Yeah it’s ugly now, but trust me, there’s a book deal or movie-of-the-week silver lining in this fiasco somewhere.
Nope. The biggest loser is the PGA.
Tiger isn’t just the brightest star on the Pro Tour. As far as most people are concerned, he’s the only star. By taking an indefinite leave from the sport, he creates a vacuum that’s almost impossible to fill. It’s not like Michael Jordan leaving basketball or Cal Ripkin leaving baseball. There were other stars. There were other storylines. But for most folks who follow golf (especially the casual followers), professional golf begins and ends with Tiger.
As proof, just look back to when Tiger took time off to rehab his knee. Ratings of TV tournaments were down by half. You can expect more of the same with Tiger on the sidelines this year.
As a short-term strategy, PGA officials need to huddle together to figure out how to get Tiger back on the tour in short order. Imagine the hype that would be generated by Woods returning for next year’s U.S. Open.
In the longer term, the PGA needs to devise strategies to create additional storylines with other players to hopefully build interest with casual followers. Utilizing Social Media to make players more “accessible” to fans, and creating real time online tournaments where fans can compete against pros, or vie to be their virtual caddies, would be a great start.
Oh, yeah. There is one other big loser in the Woods incident, of course. His Escalade.
Posted by Mickey
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