EA Sticks With Tiger Woods, PGA Tour Online
By Lawrence Sonntag
EA Sports President Peter Moore directly addressed the Tiger Woods hubbub in his “It’s In The Game” blog today. Despite the man’s recent personal missteps and bad press, Moore stated that EA Sports will proceed with Tiger Woods PGA Tour as planned, stating that an open beta will begin later in the month.
Tiger Woods ran afoul of the proper American sensibilities by recently admitting to having several mistresses alongside his wife. Several sponsors instantaneously dumped the accomplished golfer, naturally wanting to avoid the association.
Unfortunately, games are not so easily excised. As Moore states, “we have spent considerable time developing and testing this game; we’re proud of it; and we are releasing it in open beta later this month.”
Building an entire project around a single sponsor doesn’t lend itself well to removing said sponsor. To help define the relationship, Moore explains their decision to keep Woods involved:
Our relationship with Tiger has always been rooted in golf. We didn’t form a relationship with him so that he could act as an arm’s length endorser. Far from it. We chose to partner with Tiger in 1997 because we saw him as the world’s best, most talented and exciting golfer. We struck that partnership with the assumption that he would remain near or at the top of his sport for years to come.
If one were to dissect this statement, Moore could be giving EA Sports an out. Once Tiger Woods is no longer at the top of his sport, they have no more reason to choose him as a front man. It has nothing to do with his bad press, naturally.
