Tiger Woods is taking a break from golf to focus on his marriage. (Diane Bondareff/Associated Press)Electronic Arts Inc. said Monday it will stand behind Tiger Woods — at least until after it releases a new online golf game featuring the embattled athlete.
The relationship between EA and Woods stretches back more than a decade, and Tiger Woods-branded games have pulled in hundreds of millions of dollars for the company over the years.
Woods's image has been tarnished by revelations that the pro golfer has had several extramarital affairs. News of Woods's adultery surfaced after he was involved in a car crash over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday at his Florida home. He later admitted on his website to having committed "transgressions" that hurt his family.
Woods is married to former Swedish model Elin Nordegren, with whom he has two young children.
He is taking a break from golf and has been dropped by major corporate sponsors AT&T Corp. and Accenture.
Gillette, a unit of the Procter&Gamble Co., and Swiss watch maker Tag Heuer, a unit of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, have also said they will cut back their use of Woods in their advertising campaigns.
On Monday, EA Sports President Peter Moore said the company decided to stick with Woods because he is "still one of the greatest athletes in history" despite his "mistakes" off the golf course.
Moore added in a statement that the company has spent "considerable time" developing and testing the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online game, which he called a "breakthrough experience."
The game will be released in so-called open beta later this month, which means it is still being tested but anyone can play and help find areas that can be improved. EA said it doesn't have a date yet for the launch of the finished game.
No word moving forward
The company, which is based in Redwood City, wouldn't comment on whether Woods's sex scandal will affect EA's plans for a new edition of Woods's popular console game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour.
It's a franchise that doesn't do as well as the company's enormously successful Madden football series but is still a serious money maker.
EA has raked in more than $670 million US from the Woods franchise in the United States alone over the length of the partnership, according to estimates by market research firm NPD Group.
The most recent instalment of the console game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, was launched in June 2009. The next one is scheduled for the summer of 2010. The games are especially popular on the Nintendo Wii, whose intuitive motion controls lend themselves to sports games.
EA can continue to make PGA Tour games without Woods. It could pick another golfer with a more pristine family life. Or it could go back to the pre-Woods days and simply call it PGA Tour.
The game has no real competitors. EA is the only company licensed by the PGA to make games that carry its name. It allows users to play in a setting that looks as close to real golf courses as possible.
Most of Woods's $100 million in annual earnings have come not from tournament winnings but from companies that wanted to be associated with his public image.
