What is wrong with Tiger Woods? Beyond the Scandal

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The aftermath of Tiger Woods scandal hits the industries harder and deeper. Leading brands including Nike and Adidas could cut their multi-million pound endorsements deals for sporting celebrities as a result of the Tiger Woods scandal, according to business analysts.

The adverse publicity from the golfer's serial infidelities has shown that investing vast sums of money in one individual can be "fraught with risk", Credit Suisse said.

In a report entitled "Tiger Woods Fallout: Another Nail in the Coffin of the Expensive Endorsement Era", analyst Omar Saad wrote: "We believe the trend away from high-profile, multi-million dollar celebrity and athlete endorsements has been growing for some time, and 'Tiger-gate' could be an inflection point. Athlete sponsorships can be fraught with risk and simply aren't as valuable as they once were."

Tiger Woods is reportedly struggling to cope with the cheating scandal that has engulfed him and has taken to hitting golf balls in the dark and spending his days eating cereal in front of the TV.

US Weekly magazine says Woods has been visiting a local golf course near his Florida home at night to "clear his head" after therapy sessions with his wife Elin Nordegren.

"He goes after dark so he can't be seen," an unnamed source told the magazine.

"For him, what's more therapeutic than hitting golf balls, the thing he's best at in the whole world?"

While he is busy at night, Woods is going crazy sitting at home all day, the UK's The Sun newspaper reports.

The tabloid claims the golfing superstar is spending the daylight hours hiding out at home, watching cartoons and eating cereal alone.

His friends are becoming concerned about how Woods is dealing with the situation, the newspaper reports.

Woods' friend and former NBA star Charles Barkley said he had been trying without success to get in touch with Woods to show his support.

"I've been trying to get to him and can't ... it's very frustrating," he told The Sun.

Meanwhile, according to reports, Nordegren has hired hot shot divorce lawyer Sorrell Troupe — who has previously represented Nicole Kidman, Britney Spears and Cary Grant — to negotiate the end of her five-year marriage.

Nordegren plans to ask for as much as half of Woods' billion-dollar fortune in light of the dozen mistresses who have been revealed, the reports say.

Ideally, Nordegren will file for divorce in the state of California where the couple own a home and the relaxed divorce laws would give her a greater chance of being awarded a larger chunk of Woods' assets.

Meanwhile, Nike and Adidas are the two brands that determine market prices for sports sponsorship, "We expect the Tiger media fallout to serve as a catalyst for them both to realize that they are systematically overpaying for athlete and team sponsorships, especially given the growing risks involved."

Phil Knight, the chairman of Nike, has pledged his support for Woods, calling his indiscretions a "minor blip".

However, other sponsors have sounded the retreat. Accenture has severed its links with the star, to the extent that staff has been ordered to remove all Woods branded merchandise from its offices worldwide, and Gillette is "evaluating" its relationship with the golfer.

The meltdown in Woods's personal life has seen a dozen women come forward to claim they had affairs with him, and could cost $200 million in lost revenue, according to analysts.

With the sport's biggest draw taking an "indefinite break" from the game, television audiences are expected to halve. When Woods was out with a knee injury in 2008 and early 2009, ratings fell by 47 per cent.

The fall in audience could lead television advertising to drop by 40 per cent, or around $190 million, industry watchers said.

"There will be an audience for the sport after Tiger Woods, they'll just be much smaller because he attracts a casual fan who otherwise may not tune in," said Aaron Cohen, chief media negotiating officer for New York advertising agency Horizon Media.

Nike, which has built its golf equipment business around Woods, stands to lose more than $30 million in sales, according to Claire Gallacher, an analyst with Capstone Investments.

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