USA: GOLF - With Tiger Woods absent from the PGA Tour for the rest of the year, network executives and sponsors are very disappointed

Record ID: 788991

  • Title: USA: GOLF - With Tiger Woods absent from the PGA Tour for the rest of the year, network executives and sponsors are very disappointed
  • Date: 23rd June 2008
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, DC, USA. JUNE 20, 2008 (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAUL FARHI SAYING: "Golf is a very lucrative franchise for the networks. The fact that the ratings will be down-- it's almost inevitable that they will be-- suggests that the airtime-- this very valuable airtime which is already sold out-- will have to be made up somewhere else. That will amount to tens of millions of dollars."
  • Embargoed: 8th July 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA2AUT9WO42RLWREJHXVETP273N
  • Story Text: The absence of Tiger Woods, the world's number one golfer, from this year's remaining tourmaments could cost the television networks tens of millions of dollars.
    The absence of Tiger Woods for the rest of the 2008 season will be a little like trying to stage the fairytale ball without Cinderella, or the Oscars without the prized statuettes.
    In many ways, Tiger Woods is golf and he has almost single-handedly ushered in an era of multi-million dollar endorsements and lucrative appearance money since turning professional in 1996.
    His Afro-American-Asian background has spread the sport to an audience far beyond its traditional image of male, white and middle-class and he has become the world's best known and most marketable athlete.
    Imagine boxing having to cope with the absence of heavyweight champion Muhammed Ali while in his prime, or professional basketball being deprived of Michael Jordan in his pomp? This is the task facing tournament organisers and sponsors over the next six months and beyond, following Woods's announcement on Wednesday that he will miss the rest of the year to have reconstructive surgery on his left knee.
    Next month's British Open, where Woods is a three-times champion, will proceed at Royal Birkdale without him, as will the Aug. 7-10 PGA Championship where he has triumphed on four occasions.
    The game's leading player will also be absent from the Sept. 19-21 Ryder Cup in Louisville, Kentucky where the U.S. will be bidding to end a run of three successive defeats by Europe.
    Above all, though, the fans will miss Woods for the rest of the year and this will be translated into plunging television ratings at golf tournaments where he normally plays.
    His uncanny ability to produce moments of magic almost on demand when they matter most, followed by his trademark fist pump, provides golfing theatre beyond the reach of his rivals.
    Ever since he appeared on television's Mike Douglas Show at the age of two displaying his raw putting skills alongside Bob Hope, Woods has been expected to produce the remarkable.
    Thirty years down the line, not much has changed. The world number one, and arguably the best of all time, continues to produce the remarkable with astonishing frequency.
    Last week's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on the longest course to stage a major, where Woods remarkably defied jabbing knee pain throughout the tournament to win his 14th major title at the 91st hole, was a case in point.
    Despite not being at his best and struggling to overcome his physical challenge, he electrified the huge galleries with his stunning shot-making and sheer obstinacy.
    Most of the fist pump moments at last week's U.S. Open were triggered by Woods and fans will simply have to look elsewhere for their golfing fix over the coming months.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register