This contract with Nike, like others involved Rory playing all Nike clubs, wearing Nike and using a Nike bag, ball, hat and glove. Nike had a policy whereby all their athletes had to sign up to a full 360° agreement.
This meant that every part of their clothing and equipment had to have the Swoosh or Nike on it. The strict sponsorship agreements insisted on a very “clean visual” in that Nike owned every square inch of the “player real estate”. No other sport or corporate branding was allowed.
We are all very aware that golf has been in a steady decline over the past few years. The numbers of golfers has been shrinking and with a low take up on the sport, golf is in a rough place. This lower number playing means big trouble for the golf industry as a whole, with less equipment sales and as a result a big player, Nike Golf, closed the door on its global golf equipment operations.
This is by no means the end of the casualties in golf and there are a large number of seemingly bullet-proof BIG golf companies bleeding heavily, and are quite possibly wounded beyond repair.
With less golfers buying less equipment, the Golf Pie is quickly shrinking. Tour players are now scrambling to hold on to their share of the lucrative sponsorship deals and bonuses with the golf manufacturers.
The money pie got smaller, so all they are doing is dividing up the slices thicker, in an attempt to hold on to the top guys. What happens if the pie gets so small, that there is just not enough to go round?
With Nike Golf closing its equipment operations earlier this year, the move allowed their players to switch to whatever clubs they wanted to move to. With no conditions on the table, players were allowed to use whatever they believed was better for their game and not necessarily what they were contracted to use.
This agnostic approach has worked very well for players like Matt Kuchar and Matt Fitzpatrick, who have taken less equipment sponsorship money. In return they have selected clubs from different manufacturers, and built to suit their style of game and requirements. This allows them to focus on winning tournaments, an approach to sponsorship that seems to be working well for both of them.
If there is less funding available from the manufactures to effectively pay players to use their range of clubs, then what will the players do?
One solution is that they will simply make up the difference elsewhere. The stealth sports management companies and agents will be watching brands and corporations who are already doing well in business, and who are looking at reaching into the world of golf.
The long awaited return of Tiger Woods recently was heralded with him teeing up a TaylorMade driver, a decision that Nike would have, in the past literally lost millions on. He also had a very different looking “golf” sponsor on his bag. The Monster Energy drink company who spend millions every year in mostly motocross, BMX, mountain biking, snowboarding, skateboarding, car racing and speedway have now teamed up with the biggest name in golf, Tiger Woods.
Once in a while you will have seen a few non golf logos turning up on bags and hats of some of the players. FTI Consulting and KPMG are a few that I can recall. I would imagine it’s only a matter of time before we see more of the car companies, household brands and possibly the dot.com brands turning up in golf as agents and players look to different sponsorship avenues to make up the shortfall of money within golf.
I wonder how long it will be before we see a Google glove, a Guinness golf bag or the Linkedin logo on a player’s hat, coming down the stretch in the final group at The Open.
One thing is for sure, Tour Players and agents won’t cut their cloth to suit the situation, so the future of sponsorships will always follow the brands that are willing to pay out. It looks like the days are numbered for the big Taylor Made and Titleist endorsement deals.
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