And Woods’s decision to play or not in tournaments had consequences too: it has been documented that, since 1996, a number of tournaments (among them old events, such as the Chrsyler Classic of Tucson which dated back to 1945) fell off the schedule. On the ground, too, that effect was shown in terms of ticket sales at tournaments. In the 1996 season when Woods joined late that year, the total prize money amounted to $101 million between 19, the total prize money rose by an average of 9.3 percent per year, bringing the PGA Tour’s purse to $292 million by 2008. Woods’s arrival to the PGA Tour was the catalyst too for a big increase in purses. Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports in the United States, once estimated that Woods contributed to a 30 to 35 per cent ratings increase when he played. That “Tiger Effect” has been apparent since Woods broke onto the scene in the late 1990s and his presence in the field of a tournament has traditionally impacted TV viewership. Indeed, when Woods won the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta in 2018 - with record crowds in attendance - the TV ratings for the final round increased by 206 per cent on the previous year’s figures. When he contended in the 2018 US PGA Championship, ultimately finishing runner-up to Brooks Koepka, CBS network recorded a 69 per cent increase on the previous year’s championship and its highest viewership since the 2009 PGA where again Woods was in the mix, losing out to YE Yang on that occasion. The coverage of that 2019 Masters on US television was the highest in over a decade but, then, Woods more than anyone has been the one who changed the TV game for the entirety of golf, his arrival onto the scene resulting in greater TV contracts and resulting in big increases in tournament purses.Īn indication of Wood’s impact on television ratings had actually been shown the previous year. If there were some in the golf industry who questioned Bridgestone’s and TaylorMade’s moves to get Woods on board back in 2016, with no guarantee of him regaining fitness, the following years only served to demonstrate how the player’s influence on the sport remained unparalleled. Photo: Augusta National via Getty Imagesīridgestone moved swiftly to capitalise on Woods’s win: packs of a dozen golf balls were pushed into retail, all with “TIGER” stamped on the side of each ball and featured a commemorative wrap with the player with his fists in the air after his Masters success. Woods’ 2019 US Masters win at Augusta completed one of the greatest comebacks in sport.
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