Nobody would have thought the PNC Championship in December 2023 would be the last time Tiger Woods was spotted wearing a Nike Swoosh on his T-shirt. The 15-time major champion announced the splitting with the leading sports apparel brand in an emotional post on X (formerly Twitter). Soon after that, the brand also shared a post on Instagram giving tribute to their impeccable partnership. However, no official statement regarding the reason behind their split has been given by both parties. So, here we are with our three possible reasons.
To dive further into our main question, let’s take a look at the stats provided by the No Laying Up podcast back in December 2023. Nike has amassed a huge sum in terms of revenue with their partnership with the 15-time major champion. They had a revenue of $30 million in 1996 before signing Tiger Woods and had $300 million in revenue in 1998 after three years with him. During their 27 years of association, the golfer himself has received over $500 million in payments.
If Nike and Tiger Woods have benefitted so much from their mutual partnership, why has he left leading sports apparel brand? So, the following are our three possible reasons behind their split:
1) Nike Left Because of Tiger Woods Nearing His Career End?
Tiger Woods returned to professional golf back in November 2023 at the Hero World Challenge after an eight-month hiatus. During the tournament, he cleared that would certainly play just one tournament a month to extend his career for a few more years. Also, his career charts have been going down due to his long list of injuries with his last professional win coming back in 2019.
Since Tiger Woods would compete in limited tournaments, that might hurt Nike in the longer term. This could be enough for them to let go of the 15-time major champion and not renew his contract after 27 years of association.
2) Tiger Woods Stuck A Huge Deal With New Brand?
Post 2000, there had not been any other golfer that has matched the stature of Tiger Woods in the professional golf circuit. He has been phenomenal both in terms of winnings and love from the fans. Parting ways with Nike might have been because he might have been offered a huge deal with a new brand.
However, Tiger Woods and loyalty go hand in hand. Back in 2022, LIV Golf was rumored to offer him a hefty amount of sum to join them. During that time, reports of the 15-time major champion refusing to join them and staying loyal to the PGA Tour circulated.
So, if he had stayed loyal to his Tour, this is quite unlikely if he had parted ways with Nike for money. Although this reason can not be ruled out.
3) Tiger Woods Starting His Own Apparel Brand?
As per Forbes, Tiger Woods has roughly accumulated $1.8 billion during his golf career. It would not be surprising to see the 82-time PGA Tour champion starting his own new apparel brand. However, doing that later in his career does not make very much sense. But starting a new apparel brand rather than joining a new brand by splitting with Nike after a 27-year-long association makes better sense in that context.
As mentioned earlier, none of the parties have given any official statement regarding why they have split. So, all we can do is assume various possibilities. But as Tiger Woods mentioned in his X post, he would certainly have “another chapter” in Los Angeles. So, to solve this question, all we can do is wait for the legend himself to answer them when he returns to LA.
