Sports Biz with Darren Rovell

How Much Will Tiger's Absence Affect Nike Golf?

I wrote a blog yesterday about how Nike Golf had scaled back the presence of Tiger Woodson its Web site and mentioned that Nike Brand President Charlie Denson had admitted that company officials expected to see a short term impact on Woods' absence from the game.

A Nike Golf display featuring Tiger Woods is shown at a golf shop in Orlando, Florida.
Getty Images

How much of an impact? Not as much as you think.

Last month, we gave you the reasons why Nike Golf wouldn't be hit as much as many were speculating — mainly the fact that the Woods' specific part of the business was small.

And now we have the data to back it up.

In the 13 weeks before Tiger's accident, Nike Golf sales had declined in the mid single digits, according to SportsOneSource, a market retail tracking firm. In the seven weeks since, sales have declined in the mid single digits.

"The incident has had no apparent impact on the sales of Nike Golf," said SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell.

Powell said golf equipment sales are almost entirely discretionary and the state of the economy affects buying more than anything else.

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