Gatorade Drops Tiger Woods, Says End Of Deal Unrelated To Scandal

Photos

Blue M&Ms linked to reducing spine injury

see larger image

uploaded by enlargetom

• 

  uploaded by enlargetom | add comment

• 

  uploaded by lindsay rogerson | add comment

Sports drink maker Gatorade announced today it will end partnership with golfer Tiger Woods. The announcement comes in the midst of a family saga involving Tiger Woods's alleged affairs with ten different women. Gatorade is the first brand out of the many that Tiger Woods endorses to terminate deal with the famous golfer. On its official Twitter account, Gatorade says the recent scandal involving Woods's alleged affairs has nothing to do with the termination of the endorsement deal and that the decision to end partnership was made several months ago.

It was reported the drink was dropped on November 25, two days before the car accident that ignited the media scrutiny of Tiger Woods's personal life. There was no comment on Tiger Woods's website about the end of partnership.

In accordance with the royalty based contract signed in 2007, Woods endorsed his own brand of sports drink called "Gatorade Tiger." The drink was dropped from the drink menu and does not appear anymore on Gatorade's website. The drink came in cherry blend, citrus blend and grape. The estimated value of the deal is reported to be $100 million.

The statement from Gatorade reads:

The total value of all Tiger Woods's endorsements is estimated to be close to $1 billion. He is widely regarded as the most 'marketable' athlete in the world. But, BusinessDay reports no ads featuring Tiger Woods have run on US prime-time television broadcast networks since late last month. The question now is whether other brands are going to follow suit and dump Woods as well.

Other companies that Woods has endorsement deals with are:

--General Motors
--Titleist
--General Mills
--American Express
--Accenture
--Nike

On November 27, Woods was involved in a car crash, suffering face lacerations. Later, it was alleged the injuries and the accident might have been provoked by the argument Woods had with his wife Elin Nordegren, who might have become suspicious of Woods's extra-marital affairs. It is being reported that Nordegren has now moved out from their family home, and bought a house in Sweden. Today, Woods's mother in law Barbro Holmberg was allegedly taken to hospital by ambulance from his Florida mansion.

Videos

TIGER MOONSHOT

see larger video

sourced by Sudha Krishna