"For Sponsors, Tiger's Open Timetable Most Troubling"

The main focus of this article is talking about how Tiger Woods doesn't plan to be golfing for a short period of time. He also isn't sure as to when he plans to return to golf. The author is focusing on how his short absence from golfing will affect his sponsors. He talks about Nike and how they plan to stick behind Tiger Woods 100%. They state how Nike stands behind the athletes they sponsor for pretty much anything and wouldn't just give up Tiger because one day he will return.

I feel this is a smart move on Nike's part. Tiger Woods is known for being one of the best, if not the best, golfer around. Although what he did was ethically and morally wrong it won't stop him from winning golf tournaments. He will still be the best golfer no matter when he decides to start back up again. If Nike were to drop him, another company could swoop him right back up and be the ones now making money. I feel as if his fans will forget about the fact that he cheated on his wife. It may take a few years, but in reality it will blow over. I feel that Nike knows that this is the case also.

When companies sponsor athletes it also isn't always public knowledge. Until reading this article I wasn't aware that Tiger Woods was sponsored by Nike. This may be to my own ignorance and it is publicly known, but I'm sure there are customers of Nike who don't know what athletes they sponsor. So for those people they aren't going to stop shopping at Nike because of Tiger Woods because they don't necessarily know the connection he has with Nike. So I feel that it is more a benefit to Nike to keep Tiger because one day he will rise up to be just as popular as he has always been.

Do you think that by Nike continuing to sponsor Tiger Woods they are making a statement that they approve of what he did?