Woods, a global icon in sports with his 14 major championships, has been carrying the ‘ logo on his golf bag for the last nine years and still had one year left on his contract. But General Motors Corp. was looking to cut costs and hoard cash while trying to survive the worst sales downturn in a quarter-century. And it said Monday the world’s No. 1 golfer wanted more time for himself, especially with a second child on the way.
“Timing is everything,” said Larry Peck, golf marketing manager for Buick. “We’ve had such a great partnership with Tiger. It’s hard for us to walk away from that. But this frees up time for him. And it sure frees up a lot of money for us.” The endorsement deal, believed to be worth at least US$7 million a year, was to expire at the end of 2009.
Woods has endorsed GM products around the world and mainly has been seen in Buick commercials as the company tried to give the nameplate a more youthful image. Peck said during the launch a few years ago of the Enclave, its research showed that 78 per cent of consumers who bought the SUV previously had not been Buick owners. “We attribute awareness of our product to Tiger,” he said.
Mark LaNeve, GM’s vice-president for North American marketing, said GM and Woods started discussing an end to the deal earlier this year, and it had nothing to do with the Detroit Three automakers’ quest for $25 billion in federal loans. But GM’s statement said the decision was made as part of “the search for budget efficiencies during a difficult economy for General Motors.”
Woods’ agent at IMG, Mark Steinberg, said the decision to end the relationship one year early was “absolutely mutual.”
“It was a combination of things,” Steinberg said. “Tiger was looking to gain some more time, and certainly it was an opportunity for GM to reduce its spending with everything going on.”
Buick said last week that it would be cutting back on its deal providing courtesy cars at PGA Tour events.
Buick remains the title sponsor of two PGA Tour events - the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, which Woods has won six times; and the Buick Open outside Detroit, which Woods has won twice.
Tags: GENERAL GOLF TOPICS by Jenn
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