Tiger Woods’ injury hurts Michigan
I pretty much never talk about golf and a certain Tiger Woods, but there are a few reasons I will address his injury today.
1) It’s a left knee injury. If you know me and my history of 9 knee surgeries on my left knee, you know I like to talk about sport injuries.
2) I saw the last bit of the playoff in the US Open at work with our company’s founder so I actually watched golf(!) this week.
3) It’s Tiger Woods. He came and spoke at our school when the Ryder Cup was held a mile down the road back in high school.
4) Hockey season is over.
Ok that’s why I’m submitting you to this golf post, so now let me get to what I actually wanted to say. Woods’ injury is quite a loss to the city of Detroit, southeast Michigan, and all of its golfing fans. Over the next two months, Woods was supposed to appear in two tournaments held in Michigan and host a golfing clinic at Comerica Park where the Tigers play. Now that he needs ACL reconstructive surgery, Detroit will be Woods-less during the two tournaments and the clinic for this upcoming Tuesday has been canceled. Ticket demand for both events will decrease and you certainly won’t get the attendance that you would had Woods been able to play.
Not only does his injury hurt the golfing community and its fans, but it hurts the sponsors that have invested heavily into the Tiger Woods brand.
One marketer is already suffering some ramifications from Mr. Woods’s injury. General Motors’s Buick is being forced to drop one of its advertising efforts, which has been hyping a Buick promotion and contest. TV ads, print ads and a slew of Internet ads have been highlighting a “Tee-Off with Tiger” promotion that gives entrants a chance to win the opportunity to have Mr. Woods caddie for them while playing a round of golf in October.
“We are going to conclude the ad program since he isn’t playing,” says Larry Peck, Buick’s promotions manager. Mr. Peck says the company will still select a final winner and a new date for a round of golf with Mr. Woods will be chosen.
When I think of the Buick brand, I automatically think of Tiger Woods. Maybe that’s because I’m from Detroit and the Buick Open is here in Michigan, but it’s a pretty strong correlation. To lose your leading man, one week before your brand’s defining annual sporting event, is a pretty big blow. The auto industry has already been through so much that I’m sure this hurts them where it really counts, their wallet.
His absence will be felt quite hard by the PGA Tour who will have to face lower TV ratings as a result.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem acknowledges that the absence of the sport’s No. 1 athlete will be a loss for the Tour. The biggest impact will be on TV ratings, he says, noting that when Mr. Woods plays well, he brings in more TV viewers, including more casual fans of golf. The PGA Tour says that TV ratings for the final rounds of tournaments show a 28% increase when Tiger Woods is in contention versus not in contention. Other areas like tournament revenue are more vulnerable to a slowing economy than by Mr. Woods’s sabbatical from the Tour, Mr. Finchem says.
One estimate believes that Nike stands to lose $75 million of exposure from Tiger’s absence. Ouch.
Certainly Sidney Crosby is the face of the NHL, but he isn’t THE sport. Without Crosby, the casual hockey fan would probably still watch the game. Without Woods, you lose that casual golfing fan. So who is going to step up and fill that Tiger void? Should be interesting for all you golfing fans.
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