Nike's stock takes a tumble: What Tiger effect?

Posted Dec 12th 2006 5:26PM by Sarah Gilbert
Filed under: General Motors (GM), NIKE, Inc'B' (NKE), Business of Sports

Our correspondent, Mike Brewster, is a freelance writer and sports enthusiast. We asked him to begin contributing pieces on the business of sports.

Following the shortest drive of his career (about 10 feet of stage while behind the wheel of the newly introduced Buick Enclave last week at the L.A. Auto Show), world number one golfer Tiger Woods is back making business news, re-upping with NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Tuesday for a third successive multi-year contract.
While terms weren't announced, this pact is bound to exceed the two previous five-year agreements, which at $40 million and $100 million were relative bargains for the Oregon sporting goods giant.

Interestingly, Nike's stock price took a tumble on the news, thereby temporarily disproving my "As-Tiger-Goes-So-Goes-Nike" theory. Ever since Tiger regained his form over the summer and posted six consecutive PGA Tour wins, Nike's stock has risen from a 52-week-low of $75.52 on August 10 to a high of $99.30 on November 30. But today, the stock fell nearly a full percentage point. Maybe Tiger's deal is for a little more scratch than we thought?

Either way, Nike should count itself lucky. For example, the brainiacs at IT consultant BearingPoint sponsor Tiger foil and Dumb Golfer of the Year Phil Mickelson, whose wacky club selection on the 72nd -- and final -- hole of the U.S. Open led to the double bogey that cost him the tournament. Picture that BearingPoint client meeting the next day: "Gee, your guy's a real bonehead. And just how are you going to fix our server problems?"

Credit where credit is due, though. After his U.S. Open debacle Phil and his ubiquitous BearingPoint baseball cap disappeared from tournament golf, while BearingPoint's stock price has held on between $7 and $8 a share.

Tags: brewster, buick, contract, golf, mike brewster, MikeBrewster, nike, nke, pga tour, PgaTour, tiger, tiger woods, TigerWoods