So I have some correcting to do. In my commenting on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup payout plan, I said it was an annuity. Why wouldn't I? Everyone, including the players have been calling it that. But I spoke with Ron Price, the Tour's CFO, who clarified that it's actually a deferred compensation plan. When a player wins Sunday--or perhaps Monday, if there are weather delays--the player gets a choice of making 15 investment options with his $10 million prize.
Of course, he can't take out that money until he is at least 45 years old and is playing less than 15 tournaments a year. Tiger Woods, who is in first place in the FedEx Cup Standings, is 31. Steve Stricker, who is in second, is 40. A piece on the compensation plans runs on "Street Signs" and "On the Money" today.
Bonds Away
There's a little bit more than one day left in the Barry Bonds No. 756 home run ball auction. And we have some not so surprising news. The ball is getting exactly what many experts thought it would get. It's at $260,000. Unfortunately, the kid who caught the ball, Matt Murphy, didn't listen. If he did, he would have taken the offer of $500,000 from the folks at Steiner. I figure by the end, this finishes up at $314,500. At that price--and factoring in inflation--the Bonds record breaking shot would be worth 8.5 percent of the price paid for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball from the 1998 season.
One Too Many
Gillette hit the jackpot with endorsement deals with Tiger Woods and Roger Federer. Unfortunately, they also have a deal with soccer player Thierry Henry. They put Henry, who is well known everywhere but the U.S., in the spot and that ruins the power of having the two most dominant athletes of this era on the same stage. Instead of concentrating on Woods and Federer, many have written to me saying they spend time focusing on why Henry is in the ad. He might be accomplished, but next to those two guys, he's still an odd ball.
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