Untainted Tiger: Woods' popularity, earnings remain stratospheric
His image may have taken a drubbing since the days when he used to be corporate America's poster boy. But it seems that world-class philanderer or not, Tiger Woods is still one of the most popular athletes on the planet - and one with the most earnings potential, too.
In point of fact, Woods' crown has slipped ever so slightly; the 14-time major winner was previously rated as the sole most popular athlete in the US, while he now shares that honour with NBA star Kobe Bryant.
Bryant's ascension to the top comes with some striking baggage, however.
Aside from being a friend of Woods, the LA Lakers star has also suffered a public backlash of his own, having been accused of sexual assault in 2003. That charge was dropped in 2004, but it has taken until now for his redemption in the public eye to be completed.
Conducted by Harris Interactive, the poll sought opinions from 2227 adults, and was conducted last month, around the time the Lakers were beating the Boston Celtics to the NBA Championship - and Woods was tying for fourth place at the US Open.
That was one of Woods' better performances so far this year; the 34-year-old's game has been fitful since he returned to play at the Masters in April. Some three months down the line, Woods doesn't show much sign of recapturing his former greatness, with last week's 23rd place finish at the Open just the latest underwhelming result in a season in which the golfer is yet to win a tournament.
Woods' earning potential has certainly been hit by his current tribulations, but probably not enough to trouble his bank manager. According to a list in Sports Illustrated magazine, while his total earnings have fallen by 10 per cent to $90million for the year, Woods is still comfortably the highest-earning athlete, ahead of nearest rival and fellow golfer Phil Mickelson by some 30million bucks, Mickelson 's earnings for the year clocking in at a none-too shabby $61,660,757.
Of Woods' gargantuan earnings in the last year, $20million came in winnings from tournaments while he earned some $70million in endorsements - this despite the fact that several companies including Accenture and AT&T dropped him as details of his scandalous private life emerged into the public arena.
All of which might mean that Woods is unlikely to go hungry any time soon. Still, if the golfer's game doesn't pick up in the next few months, we'd expect to see some of those endorsement deals renegotiated - and not in Woods' favour.
America might not be privately so upset by a world-class athlete who cheats on his wife; a formerly world-class athlete who has forgotten how to win is surely a different proposition.
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