REUTERS/Ashraf MohammedAs goes the image, so go the profits. At least they do for Tiger Woods' sponsors, if not necessarily the man himself.
While Woods' temporarily stymied endorsement deals may cause a small drop in his usual $100-million-per-year haul, it's his stuck-by-him sponsors that are really feeling the fallout of the golfer's rather spectacular fall from grace.
According to a study conducted by two University of California at Davis economics professors—who looked at stock market returns for Woods' sponsor companies in the 13 trading days immediately following his Thanksgiving revelation, ending a week after he announced he would be indefinitely leaving the sport—sticking by Tiger may have cost the companies as much as $12 billion.
Which means (sorry, Tiger defenders) there was a little more than standard fluctuations in the market at play.
Nike, Gatorade and EA Sports were hit hardest as a result of their carefully worded vows of support for the cheater extraordinaire, losing a total of $6 billion, while the consulting firm Accenture—whose profits don't so much depend on the opinionated whims of Joe Public—managed to escape their since-severed association with no negative financial effects to their company.
Which is all fine and dandy, but what we really want to know is, now that the revolving door of Tiger's mistresses has (for now) stopped and the media haze has started to clear, will Woods' private life affect your spending sprees?
Tiger's Selling Power Poll
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Not done weighing in? Take our Hairy Christmas Poll and tell us which star had the more hellish holiday: Tiger Woods or Charlie Sheen?