Tiger Woods Ends Nike Sponsorship 

Legendary golfer Tiger Woods has shocked the sporting fraternity by ending his long-term partnership with Nike.

Taking to social media earlier this week, the superstar announced the split after 27 years and thanked Nike CEO, Phil Knight.

“Over 27 years ago, I was fortunate to start a partnership with one of the most iconic brands in the world,” Woods said.

“The days since have been filled with so many amazing moments and memories, if I started naming them, I could go on forever.

“Phil Knight’s passion and vision brought this Nike and Nike Golf partnership together and I want to personally thank him, along with the Nike employees and incredible athletes I have had the pleasure of working with along the way.”

Although he is keeping his cards close to his chest about his next move, Woods’ agent hinted to an exciting announcement coming up at next month’s Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles.

Woods first joined Nike in 1996 on a five-year deal worth over US$40 million. After a series of renewals, Woods’ last signing with Nike came in 2013, which was  reportedly a ten-year deal worth US$200 million. It is believed that the 48-year-old generational talent earned a whopping US$500m through one of the most lucrative sponsorship deals in the world. 

Following the return from his career threatening car crash in February 2021, Tiger Woods has swapped the swooshes for FootJoy golf shoes. Prior to that, in 2016, he also started using TaylorMade clubs as Nike Golf stopped making golf equipment, including clubs, balls and bags.  

Shortly after Woods’ social media post, Nike paid its respects to the iconic sports star on Instagram, writing, “Tiger, you challenged your competition, stereotypes, conventions, the old school way of thinking. You challenged the entire institution of golf. You challenged us. And most of all, yourself. And for that challenge we’re grateful.”

According to ASN data,  Nike (32.3%, ~US$355.9m) is the biggest spender for the sponsorship market across Asia since Q221, and spending for Q124 is tipped to hit almost US$31.4m, a figure close to the sporting behemoth’s quarterly investment of nearly US$30.8m.   Unsurprisingly, Nike’s share for golf sponsorship across Asia has been a mere 2.1% (US$365k) since Q221, pushing it out of the top 10, way behind the likes of SGF (13.8%), Adidas (12.6%) and Descente (11.1%).