You always have to be skeptical of the dollar figures thrown around in the reports of athletes' endorsement contracts. But whether the news that Tiger Woods has signed a licensing deal with Gatorade that could be worth $100 million gets the dollar figure exactly right or not, Darren Rovell explains at his sports business blog that this is a huge deal.
Rovell says Gatorade usually pays no more than $1 million a year to the athletes who endorse it, but that the arrangement with Woods is actually a licensing arrangement, not an endorsement. What's the difference? It means that Woods will get a percentage of the sales of the Gatorade Tiger Woods Thirst Quencher, the new drink that the company will launch in March.
Deals like this are rare -- the only other one I can think of is the George Foreman Grill, which earned Foreman somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 million. But with the way so many weekend golfers want to imitate everything Tiger does, I could see this drink becoming incredibly popular and generating nine-figure paydays for both Woods and Gatorade.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. they will get their money's worth in spades.....he is all advertisers say he is, and more....
the most recognizable athlete in the world....a sponsers dream...role model ..... world wide appeal
if george foreman made $150 million on the grill..then tiger will make 1/2 billion or more.
that won't bother gatorade at all.
Posted at 1:56PM on Oct 17th 2007 by gary gidlow
2. Good for Tiger and Good for Gatorade!
He's a fabulous role model and we know how much he invests in children...he is a true class act!
Posted at 1:05PM on Oct 18th 2007 by Cindy Kokernak
3. I will definitely drink Gatorade when Gatorade Tiger comes out. Tiger, I hope you make a half a billion. Sam needs college money.
Posted at 10:48PM on Oct 19th 2007 by Richard DiSciascio