AT&T the latest corporation to sever ties with Tiger Woods post-Whores Galore scandal
Taylor
Taylor
> He should have just reached out and touched himself!
AT&T Is the Latest to Drop Woods
By KEN BELSON
Published: December 31, 2009
Tiger Woods needs a brand new bag.
AT&T, whose logo had been emblazoned on Woods’s golf bag, said
Thursday that it is ending its sponsorship agreement with him. In a
brief statement, the company said it wishes him well in the future.
AT&T joins Accenture in severing its sponsorship deals with Woods
after he acknowledged reports of marital infidelity and said he would
take an “indefinite break” from professional golf to focus on his
family.
Tag Heuer, the Swiss luxury watchmaker, Proctor & Gamble and other
companies have scaled back marketing campaigns that include Woods.
Nike, another major sponsor, has stood by Woods, who has remained in
seclusion after crashing his SUV into a neighbor’s tree in an early
morning accident on Nov. 27.
AT&T had earlier said it was evaluating its relationship with Woods,
who was recently voted the PGA Tour player of the year by the players
for the 10th time in his 13 years on the tour.
For the past three years, the AT&T National has been “hosted by Tiger
Woods.” Woods won last year’s tournament, held at the Congressional
Country Club in Bethesda, Md.
The tournament raised millions of dollars for the Tiger Woods
Foundation, including more than $2 million for the “future development
of the Tiger Woods Learning Center to be built in the Washington D.C.
area.”
Woods’ name and photos still adorn the Web site of the tournament,
which will be held in late June.
AT&T said it will continue to sponsor the tournament. But its
sponsorship of Tiger Jam, an annual charity event held in Las Vegas to
raise money for the Tiger Woods Foundation, has expired.
Over the years, Bon Jovi, Sting, Stevie Wonder and others have
performed at the event. On his foundation’s Web site, Woods said that
a date for the event in 2010 has not been determined yet.