Tiger Woods was once the most dominant and marketable athlete in the world due to his "squeaky clean" public image and record-breaking golf success. However, his image and multi-million dollar sponsorship deals were destroyed in 2009 when his multiple extramarital affairs were exposed after his infamous car accident triggered an avalanche of negative social media buzz and speculation. Within weeks, nearly a dozen women came forward and Tiger lost most of his major sponsors as the scandal overwhelmed social media platforms and shifted focus to the corporate fallout.

1. Tiger Woods Inc.
How Social Media Helped Destroy the Most Endorsable
Athlete in the World

2. Child Prodigy
• Appeared on both CBS News and Mike
Douglas Show putting with Bob Hope
(age 2)
• Shot 48 for nine holes at Navy Golf Club
in Cypress, Calif. (age 3)
• Appeared on That's Incredible (age 5)
• Appeared on Today Show, Good
Morning America, ESPN, CBS, NBC and
ABC
• First hole-in-one, May 12, 1982 (age 6)
• Won - Optimist International Junior
World at ages 8, 9, 12 and 13
• Second place - Insurance Youth Golf
Classic (Big "I") National at age 13
• • Handicaps of 2 at age 11, scratch at
age 13

3. Golf Success
• Woods shot to fame after winning the U.S. Masters at Augusta in 1997—
with a record score of 270—at the age of 21
• Tiger increased his record total on the PGA Tour career money list to
$94,157,304 through 2010, and had won $113,602,123 worldwide.
• He has won 95 tournaments, 71 of those on the PGA Tour, including the
1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005 Masters Tournaments, 1999, 2000, 2006 and
2007 PGA Championships, 2000, 2002, and 2008 U.S. Open Championships,
and 2000, 2005 and 2006 Open Championships.

4. The Appeal of Tiger Woods
• Multicultural
– Father African
American
– Mother Thai
• Broke Barriers
• Most Dominant Athlete
in World
• Squeaky Clean
Reputation

5. Sponsorship Deals
•MARKETERS DREAM
•Nike, American
Express, Tag Heuer,
Accenture, Electronic
Arts, General
Motors, Buick
Golf, Gillete, Golf Digest,
NetJets, Target, TLC
Laser Eye Centers, TV
Asahi, Upper Deck,
Yahoo! Sports
•In 2009 Woods raked
in 92 million dollars in
Endorsements

6. Marriage and Family
•Elin Nordegren
•Swedish model
•Started courtship in
2001
•Married October 4th,
2004
•June 2007 first child
•February 2009 second
child
•Bought a 39 million
dollar home outside of
Orlando

7. The Infamous Accident
•November 25, 2009 National Enquirer first reports Woods
having an affair with New York Party Girl
•Woods crashes his Cadillac SUV into a fire hydrant and tree
outside his mansion near Orlando at 2:25am. Police arrive
and Elin Nordegren is standing over him.
•By December 2nd Woods issued an apology on his website
for his transgressions

8. Mistresses and Divorce
•Women start coming
out to the woodworks
•Jamie Grubbs, two
days later Jamie
Jungers and Mindy
Lawton come out.
•By December 7th
almost a dozen women
came out.
•December 11th Woods
took his leave from golf.
•December 15th first
reported that Tiger and
Elin would separate

9. Tiger Woods Social Media Presence
Before The Crash

10. Tiger Woods Social Media Presence
Right After the Crash
• Buzz words fueled speculation
• News broke by BNO News Twitter account @BreakingNews
• Public concerned, no negative references yet

11. Tiger Woods Social Media Presence
After News Break
• Negative Buzz Words Infiltrate Social
Media Outlets
•Focused on controversy, mistresses,
sexts, rumors, adultering
• Negative References up 34 points

12. Shift to the Corporate Sponsors
•People wanted to know
what would happen with
his contracts
•Biggest contracts:
Accenture, Nike,
Gatorade
•Parody Ads came
flooding out

13. Nike

14. Accenture

15. Sponsorship Backlash
• Lost Major Deals
• Accenture, AT&T,
Gatorade, Gillette
jumped ship
• Went from 92
million dollars in
2009, to 90 in
2010, to 60 million
in 2011

16. Why the News Blew Up
• When it comes to wealthy
celebrities and sex scandals,
it spreads like wildfire.
• There was no one from the
Tiger Woods Camp to help
aid in the discussion.
• Tigers post on his website
was poorly written and led to
more controversy.
• Was absolutely no PR crisis
management plan.

17. What we as Social Media Examiners can
Learn
• A brand must have a social media presence
• A brand must have a PR crisis management plan in
place
• Being transparent is better than trying to hide
• Better to guide the conversation then let it run wild.

18. References
(2009). Tiger woods' sex scandal. (2009). [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from
http://www.nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/34969596
About tiger woods. (2011). Retrieved October 22, 2011 from
http://web.tigerwoods.com/aboutTiger/chronology
Freedman, J. (2011). The 50 highest-earning american athletes [Web log message]. Retrieved from
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/fortunate50-2011/
Tiger Woods. (2011). Biography.com. Retrieved Oct 22, 2011 from
http://www.biography.com/people/tiger-woods-9536492
Tiger woods' sponsors. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.listafterlist.com/tabid/57/listid/6327/Sports
Recreation/Tiger Woods Sponsors.aspx
Zurn, S. (2009, December 22). Social media monitoring case study tiger woods: damage to personal
and sponsorship brands [Web log message]. Retrieved from
http://www.slideshare.net/suzannezurn/tiger-woods-social-media-case-study-2691500