Tiger Woods signed one of the most unique endorsement deals in sports when he signed the deal that established a 27-year, $500 million partnership with Nike, says his former agent Hughes Norton.
Woods, 48, confirmed in January that his iconic partnership with the sportswear giant had come to an end after 27 years.
The 15-time Major winner began wearing the Swoosh when he was just 20 years old and the brand provided the golf legend with his famous Sunday red looks and gifted his fans with legendary commercials.
And it was Norton, the super agent who represented Woods along with several of the game’s biggest names, including Greg Norman, who was the architect of golf’s most infamous partnership.
In his revealing new book, ‘Rainmaker: Super Agent Hughes Norton and the Explosion of Golf for Money from Tiger to LIV and Beyond‘, co-written with former Golf magazine editor George Peper, Norton divulges the behind-the-scenes details of closing the deal.
Tiger Woods started wearing Nike when he signed a $40 million contract with the brand in 1996.
Woods, 48, confirmed in January that his partnership with the sportswear giant had come to an end.
Hughes Norton, Woods’ agent at the time, reveals the negotiations in his book, ‘Rainmaker,’ which hit bookstores on March 26.
Norton, who met Woods when he was just 13 years old and was by his side for his first major victory at the 1997 Masters, reveals in ‘Rainmaker’ that when he began to lay the foundations for the golfer’s multimillion-dollar career, he decided to put all his ‘ eggs in two baskets’: Nike and Titleist.
Introducing Woods to then-Nike sports marketing director Steve Miller as a generational talent, Norton hedged his bets and declared that an offer in the region of $50 million over five years would be enough to get Woods on the field. with the Swoosh on his cap. .
Recalling the negotiations on ‘Rainmaker’, which hit US shelves on March 26, Norton explains that Miller first resisted the figure.
But it clearly wasn’t much of a deterrent, as the Nike boss returned with a commitment any agent would have dreamed of settling a deal with: $40 million ($8 million a year) over five years.
And the icing on the cake? Everything was guaranteed before Woods even stepped on the tee as a professional. So was the $20 million deal he struck with Titleist.
Even if he missed every cut or lost his Tour card, Woods was set for life, even before he turned 21.
Norton says sport mail which was one of the biggest hits of his two and a half decade career at IMG.
“It was so unique that someone who had never hit a golf ball as a professional, before stepping on the first tee, was guaranteed $60 million,” he says.
“By this I mean that even if he had missed every cut for the rest of his career, at least for the first five years the money was guaranteed in the bank.
Norton was golf’s super agent, representing both Woods and Greg Norman.
The 15-time Major winner launched his own clothing line, Sun Day Red, earlier this year.
Hughes was alongside Woods at Augusta National when he won his first major at the 1997 Masters.
‘There was no recourse, there was no claim for any of that revenue by Nike or Titleist. I was ready. That’s so unusual, and the numbers were so unusual that, you don’t want to pat yourself on the back and I really always try not to, but you think, “Wow, this is a dream come true. We’re going to have this generational talent for the next 10 years.” years, maybe a little more. You’re looking forward to it.’
Norton highlights in ‘Rainmaker’ that the figures were four times what the then world No. 1 Norman earned in golf clubs and balls, and double what the Australian pocketed in shoes and clothes.
‘That’s not bad, is it?’ was the young Woods’ response, Norton writes.
Not only did it demolish Norman’s earnings at the time, it also paved the way for Woods’ generational wealth.
Even though Norton was fired by an “emotionless” Woods just two years into those contracts, the golf icon is estimated to have earned around $500 million in the 27 years he spent as the face of the brand he was named after. joined when he turned professional at age 20. until breaking up earlier this year and launching their own clothing line ‘Sun Day Red’.
But it wasn’t just Woods’ career that impacted this pioneering partnership. Hughes insists that the value of golfers everywhere rose as a result, even if they never reached the dizzying heights of Woods.
‘Five minutes after it came out, every other golf management agency was saying, “We’ve been underestimating our guys for too many years.” “It set the bar,” Norton says.
‘It’s not like anyone else was going to put up the numbers Tiger put up because of everything that led up to it in his fabulous amateur career. But he sure raised the bar.
Woods wears his infamous Sunday Red, while his son Charlie also wears Nike, at the 2019 Masters
‘I can’t quantify it exactly. But certainly our players expected more, because many of our players had had distinguished careers up to that point. He put a new perspective on things.
‘Was Hughes Norton a change agent who single-handedly added extra zeros to the bottom of everyone’s paycheck and golf? No. But he certainly paved the way for many bigger endorsement deals as the stars emerged.
And it almost didn’t happen. Not if Phil Knight got his way.
In ‘Rainmaker’, Norton claims that Knight, former Nike CEO, tried to get IMG out of the deal at the last minute, going behind his back and directly to Woods’ father, Earl.
But Norton insists that Earl showed unwavering loyalty and rejected Knight’s advances.
Rainmaker: Super Agent Hughes Norton and the Explosion of Golf for Money from Tiger to LIV and Beyond is available everywhere in the US starting March 26.