Links - Woods scandal makes sponsors wary - North River Minor Hockey Association

Woods scandal makes sponsors waryskip to main content (press enter)Current WeatherCharlottetownChange weather location8C Cloudy CBC Global Header NavigationCBCca News news drop down menu Sports sports drop down menu Radio radio drop down menu TV tv drop down menu My Region drop down menu More drop down menu Watch drop down menu Listen drop down menu Search CBCca Submit Search Sign Up Log In Hockey Headlines Scoreboard Standings Stats NHL Schedule Teams Players Hockey Night in Canada Highlights Fantasy Pool Commonwealth Football Headlines CFL Scoreboard CFL Standings CFL Stats CFL Teams NFL Scoreboard NFL Standings NFL Stats NFL Teams NFL Players Video Alpine Skiing Curling Figure Skating Basketball NBA Scoreboard Standings Stats Teams Players Basketball News Feed Baseball MLB Scoreboard Standings Stats Teams Players Baseball News Feed Soccer MLS Scoreboard MLS Standings International Stats Soccer News Feed Amateur Sports Golf Tennis Story Tools EMAIL PRINT Text Size S M L XL REPORT TYPO SEND YOUR FEEDBACK Woods scandal makes sponsors wary Last Updated Monday December 14 2009 750 PM ET Comments27Recommend8The Associated Press Accenture was one of the first sponsors to dump Tiger Woods (Stuart FranklinGetty Images)The selfdestruction of Tiger Inc is calling into question whether companies can afford the risk of signing multimillion dollar contracts with celebrity endorsersDone right celebrities can help boost both the sale of products and their makers imageBut the hasty and stunning downfall of Tiger Woods shows how quickly things can sour when a superstar athletes negative life choices are exposed by todays realtime tabloid news cultureWoods and his advisers spent years cultivating a goodguy image to go along with his winning ways which is how he became the first athlete and perhaps last $1 billion US earnerIts also what has made his fall even more jarringThe billiondollar athlete might be a thing of the past said Laura Ries president of marketing consulting firm Ries&RiesCompanies want a safe choice and it seems like theres almost no safe choice out thereMost of Woods $100 million US in annual earnings came not from tournament winnings but from companies like Accenture that wanted to be associated with his personaThese image ads are the type least likely to endureUltimately that could mean few other sports figures will follow in Woodss footstepsThere has to be trust and hes just taken a grenade to any kind of traditional agreement that youd normally have said John Sweeney director of sports communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills School of Journalism and Mass CommunicationAccenture severed ties with Woods on Sunday two days after he announced an indefinite leave from professional golf to work on his marriage after admitting to infidelityIt said he was no longer the right representative of the company...