Tiger Woods and Nike have announced their parting ways after nearly three decades of collaboration. As ESPN puts it, it closes a chapter on one of the most iconic brand relationships in professional sports history, where “Wood’s traditional Sunday attire of a red Nike shirt, black hat and black pants became synonymous with men's professional golf."
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight and analysis. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact GW Senior Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass at [email protected].
Lisa Delpy Neirotti is the director of the MS in Sport Management Program and an associate professor of Sport Management at the George Washington University School of Business. She has been a professor of sport, event, and tourism management at the George Washington University for more than 30 years. Delpy Neirotti works with a number of sport event organizations, sponsors, and professional teams to conduct economic and market research studies including the Olympic Games, World Cup, BNP Paribas Open, Citi Bank Tennis Tournament, Rock and Roll Marathon, Marine Corp Marathon, College Football Bowl Games, among others
“The split from Nike makes complete sense as although his contract in 2013 was for $200 million, Nike stopped making golf equipment in 2016 and was continuing to sign golfers only for exposure on apparel and hat,” Delpy Neirotti says. “Opportunities with true golf apparel and equipment manufacturers, especially newcomers with investment money, should offer Tiger a bump in endorsement fees along with stock options.
Meredith Geisler joined the George Washington University in 2022 as a visiting assistant professor of sport management at the GW School of Business with over 30 years of experience in sports public relations. Prior to her appointment at GW, Meredith was senior vice president of communications for Tandem Sports + Entertainment, a full-service sports and entertainment agency with expertise in athlete management, talent representation, marketing, communications and publicity services. Prior to helping launch Tandem in 2013, Meredith founded sports PR company Meredith Communications in 2001. Before that, Meredith held senior roles at Advantage International (now Octagon), Fila USA, Total Sports and eoSports.
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