WHAT’S NEXT FOR TIGER?

The Tiger Woods saga is a movie-like rapid crash and burn story, which has not only rocked the sports world but is certainly one of the top stories of 2009 — with more to come in 2010!  Who would have guessed the incredibly business savvy, fiercely private good guy Tiger Woods would turn out to be a philandering sex stud?  But as harsh as that may sound, it also happens to be true. Is this the beginning of the end of his storied career?

According to various PR sources, Tiger and his handlers made a grievous error in their initial strategy to go silent and just wait it out.  This approach caused more questions than answers, and left the media and fans clamoring to fill in the blanks and complete the story that was being denied them.  PR experts say this left Tiger behind the story, having to chase and correct falsehoods just to catch up versus being in front of the story on his own terms.  The result?  Although backing him publicly, Tiger’s sponsors have already begun pulling his commercial ads from the airwaves.  Gillette announced that it would be phasing out Woods from its ads.  “As Tiger takes a break from the public eye, we will support his desire for privacy by limiting his role in our marketing programs,” Gillette said in a statement.  AT&T said over the weekend, “We are presently evaluating our ongoing relationship with him.”  And Accenture has decided to end its 6 year endorsement relationship with the golfer as well.  But as more women continue to come forward with tell-all voicemails, nude pics, sex tapes and the like, how long will it be before Tiger’s full roster of sponsors cut and run permanently?

So what’s next for Tiger?  His new “open and honest” strategy of full admission is a positive first step.  Ownership of the problem is important to gaining the forgiveness he says he seeks across the board.  Tiger’s decision to leave golf and temporarily disappear from the public scene is also a positive first step.  Any public appearances on or off the golf course would be a chaotic nightmare that could only work against him. But what about the golf world?  They will undoubtedly end up the biggest losers here.  Tiger Woods virtually reinvented the game of golf and introduced tens of thousands of new fans to the old game.  But his self-imposed removal from professional golf could cause a damaging ripple effect that would be a huge blow to the sport.  Without Tiger in the game, viewership will likely go down, causing ad endorsements to go down, which could be devastating to the sport over the long haul (viewership already dropped 50% during the 8 months Tiger was away due to injury).  Also, with Tiger saying he is leaving the game indefinitely, how long is that?  When will he return?  Will he EVER return? 

Tiger and his handlers have some incredibly important decisions to make.  But with such damming evidence mounting against him, one PR expert says Tiger may actually be better off leaving his marriage, sticking with the original pre-nup, paying off his wife, returning sooner than later to the sport, salvaging his endorsements, and openly being the sex-starved playboy he’s obviously been of late.  Anything other than that may be too far gone and impossible at this point.  Hmmm…

Oprah Winfrey must certainly be licking her chops at the thought of landing Tiger’s first public tell-all interview when all is said and done!