Tiger Woods seems to be on the brink of announcing a new clothing partnership with TaylorMade, a day after his $500million, 27-year Nike partnership officially came to an end.
Woods is going to appear on Wednesday’s episode of the Fore Play podcast and after the production shared a teaser clip on X, TaylorMade added an interesting clue ahead of the show.
The company retweeted Fore Play’s clip with the wide-eyed emoji and the caption: ‘Stay tuned’.
Woods already uses TaylorMade clubs when he competes, so stepping up that partnership into clothing would appear a logical step.
While TaylorMade does have an apparel range, it is currently somewhat limited with just 33 items currently listed on its website, the majority of which are off-course athleisure wear.
Stay tuned. �� #TeamTaylorMade https://t.co/4jwpFBlQji
— TaylorMade Golf (@TaylorMadeGolf) January 9, 2024
Tiger Woods and Nike announced a parting of the ways on Monday after 27 years together
The range has, up to now, not been extensive enough to dress players on tour and the pros who are with TaylorMade for equipment purposes have worn Nike or Adidas in recent years.
However, the company could be gearing up to expand its clothing range after advertising job positions for its ‘new apparel division’ last month.
With a rejuvenated apparel line at its disposal, TaylorMade could launch a move to poach the stars from Nike’s seemingly withering golf division, including Woods.
Woods also uses FootJoys shoes and has seemingly found that the footwear helps him deal with plantar fasciitis that he has been battling ever since his 2021 horror car crash.
But it was a significant moment on Monday when Woods and Nike confirmed their split, which had been mooted for the last couple of months.
Woods is estimated to have earned around $500m in the 27 years he spent as a face of the brand he joined on turning professional aged 20 in 1996.
That first contract, for $40m for five years, blossomed into one of the most successful commercial arrangements in the history of sport.
Across his 15 major wins and 82 PGA Tour titles, Woods’ Sunday red look became iconic and so did a number of their adverts. There has been no suggestion that the end of the deal was acrimonious and both parties announced the news with respectful statements.
Confirming the split, which has been rumored within golf since late last year, Woods posted on social media: ‘Over 27 years go, I was fortunate to start a partnership with one of the most iconic brands in the world.
‘The days since have been filled with so many amazing moments and memories, if I started naming them, I could go on forever.
‘Phil Knight’s passion and vision brought this Nike and Nike Golf partnership together and I want to personally thank him, along with the Nike employees and incredible athletes I have had the pleasure of working with along the way.
‘People will ask if there is another chapter. Yes, there will certainly be another chapter.’
Tiger ended his statement with ‘See you in LA’, which suggests he is planning on playing next at the upcoming Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in February.
Nike posted their own statement on Instagram, adding: ‘Tiger, you challenged your competition, stereotypes, conventions, the old school way of thinking.
‘You challenged the entire institution of golf. You challenged us. And most of all, yourself. And for that challenge we’re grateful.’
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