Sports Biz

Published: Monday, 17 Aug 2009 | 4:50 PM ET

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Sponsors that are along for the ride when a huge upset happens in sports normally have a lot to gain. After all, they paid the underdog pennies on the dollar and had a chance to reap big rewards.

Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't.

So with Y.E. Yang's victory over Tiger Woods in the PGA Championship, we're asking which sponsors did well and which ones won't see a boost.

For Le Coq Sportif, it was a win -- just not in the United States. The brand bowed out of the U.S. market last May, but the "athletic rooster" is big in Asia. Yang sported the big rooster on his right shoulderblade, a small logo on his left breast, the words on his left arm and a belt with the rooster on it.

Thanks to Yang, Le Coq was on CBS for almost six minutes on Sunday alone, generating more than $2 million in exposure for the brand, according to Eric Wright of Joyce Julius & Associates, a sponsorship evaluation firm.

The most exposure came from the rooster on Yang's back, which garnered 3 minutes and 37 seconds of time. We're assuming the broadcasts in Asia at least got what CBS had.

For adidas' golf brand Taylormade, it was an absolute home run. Not only did Yang wear the brand on his visor, after winning, he hoisted his bag with their logo on it into the air for the ultimate photo opp. The company smartly had its on the front of their Web site within hours.

Two other sponsors, who were in position to capitalize, fell flat on their face. Yang carries a towel -- like many golfers do -- with the logo of Amino Vital. His caddy also participated in the caddy hat program, where caddies wearing a Nature Valley hat reportedly get paid for getting the brand exposure.

But leading into the 17th hole, CBS cameras focused on Yang eating and drinking competing brands -- an Odwalla bar and Gatorade's G2.  

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