Even Tiger gets hit by "The Credit Crunch"!!

[thecraw]

Just read that General Motors are ending their association with Tiger at the end of this year stating that they are looking to reduce costs.

GM/Buick were paying $7 million a year for the bag sponsorship!!!

 

[theeaglehunter]

Bless him, he may even have to go back to getting 3 million for a nike tick on his bag. Poor bloke! Seriously though I can see why they may be ending it, he doesn't play enough events to warrant the money! He won't have any problem replacing them though- people will be queuing up.

 

[flandango]

Maybe we should have a little whip round for him?

 

[Herbie]

Bless him, he may even have to go back to getting 3 million for a nike tick on his bag. Poor bloke! Seriously though I can see why they may be ending it, he doesn't play enough events to warrant the money! He won't have any problem replacing them though- people will be queuing up.

The reason for the deal ending has nothing to do with Tiger, the company in question is in deep trouble at the moment, there may be an awful lot of heavy sponsorship falling by the wayside over the next year or two.

 

[USER1999]

But Buick are losing millions per day. What difference does another 7 make? Can't really see the problem. All the American car makers will need to be bailed out by the US gov, so the odd dollar here or there is zip. Maybe Tiger should bail out Buick?

 

[medwayjon]

Who in their right mind, yank or not, would buy a buick anyway?

 

[Herbie]

But Buick are losing millions per day. What difference does another 7 make? Can't really see the problem. All the American car makers will need to be bailed out by the US gov, so the odd dollar here or there is zip. Maybe Tiger should bail out Buick?

Its all about economics and politics, if you were expecting to be bailed out by the public, the first thing tax payers usually scream about is paying a multi million dollar golfer millions in sponsorship for a failing company. Normally sponsorship is meant to enhance the company cash flow not lower it! lmao.

 

[USER1999]

Like AIB and Man U then.

 

[thecraw]

GM are even having to stop supplying courtesy cars to the USPGA. No tournament cars either.

 

[viscount17]

GM are even having to stop supplying courtesy cars to the USPGA. No tournament cars either.

I didn't realise that was part of MikeH's budget!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

My wife works for GMAC-RFC a mortgage lender owned by GM. According to her GM in the US are likely to go under even with a bail out from the government. The mortgage lending side has goen (no real surprise) and the UK mortgage side has already dropped from 850 in June to 160 in December(wife redundant from 31st December) and there are rumours of more cuts to come in March.

GM in the US are cutting jobs across all its various business operations and trying to cut costs to the bone so this news is hardly a shock and to be honest thought it might have come sooner

 

[muttleee]

So will prize funds for tournaments start to shrink for a while..? If sponsors are getting cold feet, presumably the players will have less to play for.

 

[USER1999]

Like the race to Dubai? I think not.

 

[Cernunnos]

I wonder how many millions of dollars tiger has brought them in sales by being associated with them. Would easily have offset that 7 million. TBH I never really liked seeing such an obvious association of a golfer to a car manufacturere as carrying a bag with their name on it. Its one thing having something on a visor or aditional on a golf top, but to have it on the bag.... hmmm, never impressed me that, but if I'd have been american I might have looked at the Buick website & shown some interest in their vehicles on the back of it.

I'm really not sure I'd want to be carrying a golfbag with Ctroen on it, I'd feel a right cod-piece, even though I drive a citroen.

 

[muttleee]

There's more to golf than that, ya know. Of course a load of oil billionaires are unlikely to be all that worried by the credit crunch etc but for regular tour events sponsored by banks and car makers and so on, things might look a little more bleak. As The Guardian recently put it,

"With the credit crunch affecting many American financial institutions the long-term prospects for sponsorship of golf in the US are gloomy, in stark contrast to the opportunities enjoyed by the European tour."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/sep/26/golf

The LPGA and US Seniors tour have both dropped three events next year in direct response to the downturn. Greg Norman recently said that prize money would see a correction in the next couple of years, when TV and sponsorship deals come up for renegotiation.

http://sportsblog.projo.com/2008/11/greg-norman-say.html

So, it's not that hard to imagine that prize money (at least outside the Race to Dubai) will suffer.

 

[Herbie]

I wonder how many millions of dollars tiger has brought them in sales by being associated with them. Would easily have offset that 7 million. TBH I never really liked seeing such an obvious association of a golfer to a car manufacturere as carrying a bag with their name on it. Its one thing having something on a visor or aditional on a golf top, but to have it on the bag.... hmmm, never impressed me that, but if I'd have been american I might have looked at the Buick website & shown some interest in their vehicles on the back of it.

I'm really not sure I'd want to be carrying a golfbag with Ctroen on it, I'd feel a right cod-piece, even though I drive a citroen.

Sponsorship can work in different ways for companies, its not all for big names to bring in big bucks, some of it spent is a way of reducing tax burden with the hope a sponsorship association brings in trade.Why pay government a few million when it can be set against your tax burden if you sponsor.

 

[Cernunnos]

I wonder how many millions of dollars tiger has brought them in sales by being associated with them. Would easily have offset that 7 million. TBH I never really liked seeing such an obvious association of a golfer to a car manufacturere as carrying a bag with their name on it. Its one thing having something on a visor or aditional on a golf top, but to have it on the bag.... hmmm, never impressed me that, but if I'd have been american I might have looked at the Buick website & shown some interest in their vehicles on the back of it.

I'm really not sure I'd want to be carrying a golfbag with Ctroen on it, I'd feel a right cod-piece, even though I drive a citroen.

Sponsorship can work in different ways for companies, its not all for big names to bring in big bucks, some of it spent is a way of reducing tax burden with the hope a sponsorship association brings in trade.Why pay government a few million when it can be set against your tax burden if you sponsor.

Exactly.. so there is really no need for them to have dropped Tiger, even if he is out of things right now.