WASHINGTON — World No 1 Tiger Woods is close to signing a new endorsement deal with Nike that would keep him as golf’s highest-paid pitchman, Woods agent Mark Steinberg told ESPN.
Reuters
In a report on Monday on the sports-network’s website, Steinberg said that the current Nike — Woods deal signed in 2006 is set to expire before the end of 2013. “We’re down to the very, very short strokes right now,” Steinberg said. “I would expect we would come out with some sort of joint announcement when we get the paperwork signed. I hope this is viewed as a pretty bold statement.”
Woods said on Sunday after sharing 65th at the Memorial that he knows every detail of the negotiations and expects to sign the new contract perhaps as soon as the completion of the US Open, which runs June 13-16 at Merion Golf Club.
It was not so very long ago that sponsors fled from Woods in the wake of his admission of a sex scandal in which he cheated on then-wife Elin Nordegren with multiple mistresses, apologising in a televised 2010 statement.
Endorsement deals with Gillette, Accenture, AT and T and Gatorade ended in the wake of the scandal and Woods’ marriage ended in 2010.
