Woods and Mickelson most Fortunate
When it comes to Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, one is never too far behind the other. Sports Illustrated released their Fortunate 50 list, a compilation of America’s top earning athletes, and with an annual income upwards of $90 million it’s no surprise that Woods was sitting at the top. Mickelson, who is all too familiar with being No.2, once again found himself second on the list and to Woods. His annual income was more than $61 million.
Woods income consists of $20.5 million he earned on the courses in 2009 and approximately $70 million from endorsement deals for 2010. All this is coming after he lost corporate sponsors AT&T, Gatorade, and Accenture after the s*x scandal broke last year. Mickelson’s income includes $9.9 million from the course in 2009 but a hefty $52 million from endorsement deals this year.
Both Woods and Mickelson are supported by major sporting goods companies. For Woods this would be Nike, the company that stuck by him when the above mentioned sponsors jumped ship at the first sign of trouble – though Nike’s marketing campaigns feature Woods were taken out of the spotlight for a while.
Woods was seen sporting Nike athletic attire from head to toe and the British Open, and with the exception of his putter Woods always uses Nike clubs and balls. When Woods originally signed with Nike in 2001, the deal was estimated to be worth $100 million. In December 2006 Woods signed a multi-year deal with the sporting goods company but the terms were never released.
Mickelson gets the majority of his endorsement money from Callaway Golf. The lefty uses sports a Callaway bag filled with 13 of the companies clubs, and often uses their balls. Mickelson signed on with Callaway after leaving Titleist in 2004. Though the specifics of the Callaway deal were never released, Mickelson’s contract with Titleist was estimated to be $4 million including incentives per year. Mickelson is also a paid representative of Scottsdale’s Grayhawk Golf Club.
The first to jump ship when Woods confirmed his illicit affairs was consulting firm Accenture. Their marketing campaign “Go ahead, be a Tiger” was immediately dropped and the company cancelled their five-year contract with Woods, stating he was “no longer the right representative” for the company. AT&T quickly followed suit and Tag Heuer cut back on advertisements for their watches with Woods in the picture.
Mickelson on the hand maintains good working relationships with his sponsorship deals with accounting firm KPMG, Barclay’s financial advising company, and Rolex. While he has his golf equipment companies and financial advisor sponsors, Woods has an array of popular brands and companies contributing to his income and making him once again number one ahead of Lefty.
Woods is golf star in the virtual world as well out on the real courses. The video game company EA Sports stuck by Woods when other sponsors were fleeing and continued to produce the widely popular series Tiger Woods PGA Tour. The video game company also released an online version of the game this year, and Woods contributes suggestions about the games design. EA Sports has also captured his exact swing.
Woods signed a multi-million dollar deal with Gillette in 2007 along with tennis star Roger Federer and French soccer player Thierry Henry. The deal was estimated to be between $10 and $20 million dollars. Though he was once a front runner for their television commercials Woods has not appeared in a Gillette ad since the scandal broke. He wasn’t dropped by the company but they took him out of the spotlight until his highly publicized private issues could be resolved.
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