The First Cut crew discusses Tiger’s breakup with longtime brand partner Nike.
#pgatour #tigerwoods #nike
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ABOUT THE SHOW: The First Cut brings you everything you need to know in the world of professional golf. Nearly every day Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter, Mark Immelman, Greg DuCharme, Sia Nejad and Patrick McDonald bring you the best analysis in the game. From DFS to betting previews, interviews and recaps… everything golf is on the table when you listen to The First Cut.
Tiger Woods splits with Nike this is something that we saw the writing on the wall KP Nike’s obviously gone through a couple of iterations of how much they want to be in or out of golf equipment maybe Golf Apparel maybe they’re just sticking with athletic gear but a
Statement from Tiger which didn’t I guess it didn’t really confirmed that it’s over but it kind of confirmed that it’s over there there’s going to be quote another chap and then he signs off and says see you in La so I imagine when he steps a foot on the grounds at
Riviera he will be Dawning some type of new logo yeah the big news here is he’s not playing Tori right that was also like the barri the lead it’s just next time you’re seeing me we’ll be at Riviera yeah uh the whole thing’s kind of weird to me um
The end of the relationship is weird the statement is weird uh the the end of it is just bizarre like people will ask if there is another chapter that’s a strange sentence to have in there right and I don’t I mean if you’re Nike like the only
Conclusion that I’ve come to is you you have to you have to be getting completely out of golf right yeah that would be my assumption because if you were doing anything related I mean you have um I mean like Scotty wears Nike Tiger Woods golf shoes so they that they don’t make anymore
Or already out of equipment I I imagine this is a fullon hey we’re we’re kind of done with golf here well look they’ve still got Scotty sheffy who’s a world’s number one they still got feno they still got a few guys they did ditch a lot of people Jason day probably the
Most notable and they’ve been I was I was involved back in the day when they had the golf clubs and then that almost happened in the blink of an eye where they ditched the club line but the apparel Market I don’t feel like Nike are going away from golf I just feel
Like they’re streamlining in a way Tiger’s obviously costly and um you know I think tiger just wants to wear his logo so that’s that’s going to be what’s going to happen I would venture that’s my game so you you think Nike will stay in golf yeah I think so well I don’t see
Any reason for them to move I mean they move a lot of product in college a lot of teams are sponsored by them I mean there’s a lot of young people coming up that wear this stuff still so yeah I think it’s just the PGA to a player
Investment is a big investment and Tiger Woods is a massive investment let’s Do’s he’s a massive investment but they’re also a massive company right it’s not like’s with with uh you know my guys at holder Bourn who are a relatively new company at it’s it’s Nike
Like you can’t I mean and in the flip side of this there’s a guy Joe Pompano who has a really good newsletter you know this has happened before with somebody like Federer where you’re like oh fed is like the I I mean I think tiger is obviously bigger than
Federer as big as Federer is and you know feder is somebody that left Nike at the end of whatever 12 15 18 years and wh did uh a lot of his just he went and did contracts with with other companies Uno I think was the first one that he
Got into and um I don’t know on I guess after that um so this there is precedent here but to me if you’re still in golf legitimately in golf as a as a company I understand how it’s some point along the way you didn’t sign Tiger Woods to like a
Lifetime contract it just even the speculation about how much apparel tiger could move if he goes and does his own thing which I think is probably what’s going to happen he he’s the only person that matter drop everybody else if you need some money right like don’t have anybody
Just have tiger and so that to me is just I I don’t I don’t know I I’m sure there’s a million other things that I’m not thinking about but just at the outset I don’t I don’t totally understand it yeah I think mroy and Sheffer are enough right now in feno um
I can’t think of anyone else off the top of my head but I’m with you tiger moves the needle he sells the stuff but who knows what the marketing plans are with us but I’m sure it was renegotiation time and the number that seur and Company were looking for for Woods was
Just even more astronomical uh probably should also consider Rory mroy yeah yeah well I mentioned Rory Rory sorry okay Rory Rory M uh Patrick I think it’s interesting because I think in ener like I really don’t care about corporations nor what they’re going to do with their marketing
Dollars I’m not going to mourn the end of a 27y year very lucrative agreement between a 52 billion company and A4 billion man like I’m I’m not going to mourn that but I do think that the visual of tiger in red and black which I’m sure he’s still going to do but like
That Nike Swoosh I think it evokes a lot of emotion for people at least that’s the way it seems online yeah people are getting very nostalgic and they’re letting Common Sense kind of go out the window I I do agree with Kyle where I I think this does mean Nike golf is GNA
Fold in the near future because you look at Nike this past year their stocks down 20% if you’re a CEO you could have slept walk through 2023 and pretty much gotten a 20% gain if you’re a Forbes 500 company they lost 20% they said they’re looking to cut three billion in cost
Over the next few years or two billion in cost signing a 48- year old golfer who’s let’s be honest passed his Prime and only on TV five six seven times a year isn’t exactly cost effective and you think about what Nike is at its core what it started as it’s a running shoe
Company at its core Nike how many Runners do you see wearing Nike shoes they’re wearing Hoka they’re wearing oncloud they’re wearing all these different brands and Nike’s lost a huge segment of its core business so divesting away from golf and I think they could get creative with Golf 2
Through the Jordan brand you think about Perez hv3 ke and Bradley a lot of people wear those Jordan golf shoes they just had the collab with Travis Scott and Brooks Kea there too they had that commercial so if they want to get a piece of golf they have an Avenue
Through the Jordan brand which they could but I think for Nike it’s a niche Sport and they need to kind of batten down the hatches and look at its Core Business wait what what was your point about running shoes there they they’ve lost a huge segment of that and that’s their Core Business
That’s what Nike started as it was a running shoe brand and you’ve got Hoka oncloud and all these different brands taking up part of their uh their Core Business yeah I think the I I I would think they’ve made that up though in other areas like basketball shoes or baseball or football or
Whatever I think one thing that’s really interesting that I haven’t heard a lot of people talk about is the Tiger shoe thing the debacle the last two years that’s what I was thinking how damning is that when when this this this 27 year deal the most maybe the most important
Athlete you have on your roster definitely the most important golfer you have on your roster and he won’t even wear your shoe as as that’s like the only thing they’re showing you’re a shoe you’re a shoe company yeah I that is so damning like I’m guessing that’s that’s
When they shut it down honestly they said hey tiger you can wear foot jooy that’s fine with us but I don’t know if we want to spend the man power and the R&D because you know your contract ends in two years for for you to wear our
Shoes when we already have the prime real estate on your hat and on your chest I it’s weird though right because it’s not as if like they’re in tennis right right like they do tennis stuffff like why I I just don’t understand why they would be completely out of of golf and
That’s why I say I don’t think they’re getting out of golf I just think to Patrick’s Point they’re streamlining they’re battening down expenses a little but T but again like tiger is the only person that matters at all but yeah but think about it what tiger was
Looking for tiger doesn’t need the money tiger now’s looking for the Jordan royalties and and and that as that sort of a thing so I can imagine this I mean the number that must have been pitched for him to go ahead and now wear the shoes again and not emblazon his logo
All over himself and probably make money selling that stuff it would have been silly stuff it really would have yeah so I guess the three likely scenarios are some company like a uniel or whatever throws a trillion dollars at him that’s option one option two is and I believe
Tiger he retains that tww logo so he’ll you know it’ll just be the Tiger Woods Golf line it’ll probably be very similar to the to the Nike stuff and except he’s gonna see all the funds from it or there’s just some uh Tiger Woods line under Taylor Maid which is that still
Adidas is that is that thing still there it’s not uh Adidas sold Off Taylor Maid back in 20 I believe it was 201 18 to a private Equity Firm okay that now owns tailor maid so they’re they’re completely separate which is I was reading about this yesterday PR previously Nike golfers couldn’t use
Tailor made because they were effectively with Adidas also which was which was super interesting and and now obviously they they can because Adidas is no longer owns Taylor Made From the people I’ve talked to it’s it sounds like it’s going to be an enti ‘s very Tiger’s very conservative with his with
His choices right I I think that he is not he doesn’t uh take a ton of risk he never has on the golf course off the golf or or with his business decisions whatever and I I think I don’t I mean the the the rumors that I’ve heard are like there’s
There’s some Grayson talk uh there’s some does his own like basically builds his own company talk and then the the third one being the the tailor made tiger branded talk and I think that’s from the people I’ve talk to that’s the one that seems the most likely right now
That could change over the next month and a half or whatever but uh the weird part Rick is you go on Taylor maid’s website they don’t really have any gear all their gear is is other companies that they’ve just thrown their logo on right yeah
Yeah I I would I just my opinion here I I I think Taylor Made have got all the Tiger Woods they need they got the guy posing in Christmas pajamas and stuff they’re getting a lot out of him the irons he’s I’m sure he’s moving a ton of
Product I’ve seen him doing commercials for stealth drivers and stuff which he’d never done in the past before and and that’s not coming for free so no I still just think it’s a Tiger Woods line of clothing because every other clothing company unless you got a A Nike or an
Adidas or a unic one of these massive multinationals behind you it’s it’s it’s a it’s an invoice that is just too much for people to stand yeah what’s gracing going to give him yeah they C they caught 15% of their company or something like that I mean I well Grayson’s too
It’s that’s too much for Tiger right he’s not gonna show up to austa National joggers right joggers hoodies whole nine like he he can’t shows up what if he just shows up at Riven his Call of Duty sweatshirt but I think I think Mark I think the yeah that would be awesome I
Think the the rebuttal to that is is I don’t know that tiger wants to go and build his own clothing line you know like but he’s not he’s not like grinding from the ground up he’s gonna hire like 12 it’s like Kim Kardashian’s not like you know negotiating all the deals or whatever
They’re gonna slap his name on yeah but you gota the guy hired people from Nike to work his tgr business I mean the guy is a business himself entprise like stretch the fabric and be like he yeah he might he’s he’s obsessed with he’s weird like he’s he’s he’s an
Obsessive I I just I don’t know that you know with building your own brand comes a lot of like you’re the marketing right and that just doesn’t I don’t know that you’d have to tack on that much more to his tailor made stuff for him to fulfill his
Marketing duties if they had apparel also though but if he started his own thing that’s a lot of like just going out and Shilling and marketing and a bunch of stuff that I don’t know that he really cares about I I’ll revert to what you originally said you plaster a tww
Logo and anything it doesn’t need any branding it doesn’t need much marketing it’s Tiger Woods stuff if you put that in dicks people are going to buy it they just are I hope that he has for his sake the tww logo and the Frank logo if he
Can if he can get out of Nike with those two shut it down all right the Frank yeah Frank logo is great Frank logo’s sick
