NEW YORK: Tiger Woods announced Monday that he was ending a longstanding partnership with Nike, thanking the sports brand in a social media post that alluded to “another” unspecified chapter.
“Over 27 years ago, I was fortunate to start a partnership with one of the most iconic brands in the world,” the golf legend said on Facebook. “Yes, there will certainly be another chapter.”
Woods, 48, a 15-time major champion who has struggled with injury in recent months, posted a picture with his mother, Kutilda Woods and Nike Founder Phil Knight, whose “passion and vision” he credited with bringing to fruition the Nike Golf partnership.
Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Although Woods has employed Nike shoes, hats and other items, he is perhaps best recognized for donning the swoosh in the fire engine red polo shirt worn in his first Masters triumph in 1997.
In Woods, whom the brand first sponsored in 1996 when the golfer was just 20, Nike identified a global superstar identified with his sport in a similar way to Michael Jordan in basketball and Roger Federer in tennis.
More than 20 years after he stopped playing, Jordan’s name still sells basketball products for the brand. Federer, by contrast, shifted from Nike to Japanese brand Uniqlo in his last playing years.
Nike’s golf business has amassed more than $10 billion in sales, withe the peak year in 2013 with $791 million in revenues.
Woods has received an estimated $500 million through the venture, according to estimates.
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