Tiger Woods signs new sponsorship deal with Rolex ahead of Frys.com Open – Golf news
It seems like Tiger Woods’ luck has finally decided to take a turn for good. The former World Number One will be back on the course for the latest episode of Frys.com Open on the PGA Tour, and he speaks of regained form and swing that he has been searching
for a long period of time. Not just that, Woods clinched a lucrative sponsorship deal on Wednesday, October 5, when he decided to be the brand ambassador for the watch making giant, Rolex.
The sponsorship deal has probably come at a precise time as the 14-major-winner has been under financial constraints for a considerable time now. Many previous sponsors ditched Woods after his extramarital affairs broke the headlines some two years ago.
He lost no fewer than five large sponsorship deals including Gillette, AT&T, Tag Heuer, Gatorade and Accenture.
Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent for the Excel Sports Management spoke about the deal and revealed that there are few others in the pipeline. Steinberg said, “This makes a big statement. I think this shows me where people are with Tiger Woods.”
Steinberg said that Rolex is one of the few other sponsorship deals that the former World Number One has struck and he will be making announcements regarding the same in near future. There will also be a new sponsor for Woods’ bag, which boosted of Nike
and Cadillac tags in the past. The latest Rolex deal does not make it mandatory for Woods to wear the logo on his costume, nor does it ask the player to wear the exclusive watch during the rounds as the player does not have a habit of wearing watches on course.
A spokesman representing Rolex highlighted the importance of the sponsorship for the company’s future ambitions. The spokesman said that the endorsement is a tribute ‘to the exceptional stature of Tiger Woods and the leading role he plays in forging sport's
global appeal.’
The company said in a statement, ‘Rolex is convinced that Tiger Woods still has a long career ahead of him, and that he has all the qualities required to continue to mark the history of golf.”
Woods, who has been battering form vows for the last two years, lost many high-profile deals but remains as one of the top earning athletes in the world. His gross earnings soar to an unofficial figure of $1-billion and despite of his winless streak for
the last two years, he is still the top-earner of the current year.
The 35-year-old champion signed a sponsorship deal with one of the Japanese painkillers earlier in the year, in a bid to control his winding down deficit. The deal was aimed specifically for the local market in Japan, and provided an insight of Woods’ desperate
attempts to improve his income.
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