Can Tiger Woods' sexual transgressions actually be turned into a marketing opportunity for Nike (NKE) -- his largest sponsor, the company that seems to be the biggest financial victim of his fall from grace?

The Golfer's Warehouse is hoping so.

An email sent to subscribers and an ad placed on the company's website proclaims: "Welcome Back Tiger! Get Free Ground Shipping on All Nike Items. No Minimum Purchase. Through March 17th (Midnight CDT)."

Rumor has it that Tiger Woods has started to brush up on his game a bit and some of golf's greats believe that he will be playing in the Masters. If, and when, he returns, Tiger will be a little lighter in the sponsorship arena, what with AT&T (T), Accenture (ACN), and PepsiCo's (PEP) Gatorade all having ended their sponsorship deals with Tiger.

Fear not though, Tiger is making enough money that he can actually turn down sponsors. Reportedly, an Irish bookie -- Paddy Power (awesome name) -- has made a $75 million offer to sponsor Tiger over the next five years.

One of the more bizarre cases of corporate espionage and theft of intellectual property has come to an end, with trading card manufacturer Upper Deck settling a lawsuit filed against it by Konami, admitting to counterfeiting Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

Konami, which owns the rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! brand, sued Upper Deck last year, accusing the company of illicitly manufacturing and distributing over 600,000 trading cards. Upper Deck executives, including the company's CEO, invoked their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in court, and Konami was seeking damages of between $50 million and $150 million.

Every one in awhile -- and by every once in awhile I mean a few times per day -- some cynically ambitious researcher will come out with a "study" that taps into media interest in a hot topic, even if the research itself is completely lacking in rigor.

Such was the case when economists at the University of California, Davis announced that Tiger Woods' infidelity scandal has wiped out $12 billion worth of shareholder value at companies he endorses.

So, it isn't bad enough that Tiger Woods ruined his marriage and soiled his squeaky-clean reputation. Apparently he cost his corporate sponsors $12 billion in stock value as well. According to a study conducted by UC Davis economics professors Victor Stango and Christopher Knittel, Tiger lost his sponsors a "collective $5 to $12 billion." This loss outpaces "several decades' worth of Tiger Woods' personal endorsement income."

The study examined the stock market returns during the 13 trading days after Tiger's car crash, a period concluding a week after Tiger's announcement of an indefinite leave of absent. The two economics professors then compared the returns for Tiger's sponsors during this 13-day period to those of the total stock market and each of the companies' closest competitor. Returns for the four years prior to the car accident were also taken into account in order to establish the stocks' historic performance.

Haven't had enough Tiger Woods news lately? Are you absolutely obsessed with the comings and goings of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and their respective love lives? Well, the newest entrant into the world of sports reporting may keep you up to date on just that, and more. TMZ has become a major name in the world of celebrity news, and is now expanding its reach into the world of sports.

The main reason for this move is that TMZ will no longer be tied to AOL (AOL), which should make it easier for Harvey Levin to introduce a sports-related Internet site. The celeb happenings of the past year have helped to cement the validity of TMZ, but advertising sales are on pace to come in $10 million shy of a year ago. TMZ itself has evolved from a scoffed-at website that paid for tips and hints to major news stories to an "effective news-gathering operation of a certain kind" according to Time Warner (TWX). TMZ came into its own this year, with the site's popularity exploding thanks to its report that Michael Jackson passed, which came in an hour before the "most mainstream news organizations."

Perhaps lost in all the Tiger Woods related news surrounding the company is Thursday's earnings announcement from Nike (NKE).

Late in the day, Nike announced second-quarter earnings of $375 million, or 76 cents per share. A year ago, Nike raked in $391 million, or 80 cents per share. Total revenue for Nike dropped 4% to $4.4 billion. The Street expected Nike to report earnings of 71 cents per share on revenue of $4.4 billion.

Nike Inc. (NKE), which said it stands by embattled Tiger Woods, is scheduled to discuss its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2010 in a conference call Thursday, December 17, at 5:00 PM (ET). You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.

In the three months that ended in November, Nike selected a new CEO for Converse, launched its N7 collection and increased its quarterly dividend. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for Nike to report that earnings for the quarter fell 11.3% from a year ago to 71 cents per share. Revenue is expected to decline 4.2% to $4.4 billion.

With companies like Accenture (ACN) and Procter & Gamble (PG) cutting, or at least weakening, their ties with embattled ladies' man Tiger Woods, it's interesting to look at who is standing by him: Upper Deck, a leading producer of sports cards and other memorabilia, has opted to stand by him.

"Upper Deck will maintain its exclusive agreement with Tiger in both our sports cards and memorabilia categories, and we look forward to his eventual return to the PGA Tour," Upper Deck Chief Executive Richard McWilliam said in a statement. "Tiger and his family have our full support."

Time to piggyback on my thoughts about Tiger Woods potentially quitting golf. A statement on Tiger's personal website announced that the world's greatest golfer is going to take "an indefinite break from professional golf." Tiger begins the statement by expressing awareness of the "disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has cause to so many people, most of all my wife and children."

This is the first time that Tiger has really spoken since the car crash, which I feel was a bit of a public relations mistake. His silence allowed the public and tabloids to assume Tiger's guilt before he spoke. Of course, it doesn't matter now, as Tiger admitted to "infidelity," confirming what many have theorized. Tiger added that "It may not be possible to repair the damage I've done, but I want to do my best to try."