Rory McIlroy signs with Nike.. Rory and Tiger Film Commercial Together (Updates)

[jamo]

I hope he signs with Nike.

[mvmac]

Titleist is known for not ponying up a lot of money to re-sign high profile players, so there could be an opportunity from other OEMs but Nike may be a stretch.  If Rory goes to Nike he wouldn't be able to wear his numerous logos like Jumeirah, Oakley, AP etc.  Part of Nike's deal is have an exclusive with their players

Rory's agent chimes in

Quote:

It’s no secret that McIlroy’s deal with Titleist expires at the end of this year. And while we’ve been assured by our sources that he’s going to Nike to the tune of $250 million over 10 years, we’re going to have to wait until he turns up in Abu Dhabi in January for confirmation that he will wear the famous swoosh from head to toe.

Horizon Sports Management’s Conor Ridge successfully negotiated a move from Titleist to Nike for McIlroy’s stablemate Ross Fisher this year. But he is duty bound to deny all knowledge of plans to make McIlroy a Nike player in 2013.

“I hadn’t even heard it, to be honest,” Ridge said this week when asked about the strong rumours linking his client to Nike. “Look, he’s a Titleist player and there is no way I am going to make any comment on anything like that.”

[colin007]

i hope he signs with Nike too.

[Beachcomber]

$250 Million over 10 years...

[Chris E]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

$250 Million over 10 years...

They freed up some money when they canned Lance Armstrong.

[Divotmaker77]

Does Taylormade have the cash to pay that kind of money?  Seems they are dominating the marketing end of things right now and who else would be better to take it to another level than Rory.

[jamo]

Does Taylormade have the cash to pay that kind of money?  Seems they are dominating the marketing end of things right now and who else would be better to take it to another level than Rory.

TM is owned by Adidas. I can only imagine they've got enough cash for anyone.

[mvmac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divotmaker77

Does Taylormade have the cash to pay that kind of money?  Seems they are dominating the marketing end of things right now and who else would be better to take it to another level than Rory.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamo


TM is owned by Adidas. I can only imagine they've got enough cash for anyone.

Yes TaylorMade is doing well, article from May

Quote:

TaylorMade’s performance is staggering in an industry under duress. Profits doubled in the first quarter (King wouldn’t reveal profit margins). The company is taking market share from rivals. Metal woods is the biggest category in the golf business and represent roughly 35% of TaylorMade’s revenues. TaylorMade owned 30% of the metal woods market at the start of 2011 and now commands 52% of the market. “The products are great and the validation of that is so many touring professional around the world are using our products,” says King.

[Archie Bunker]

Originally Posted by stogiesnbogies

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtogolf

I don't doubt their forged blades are comparable to the MB's that Rory is using now.  I was thinking more about the woods.  Titleist was just recently able to get Rory to switch from his six year old 906 fairway woods to the new 913's which would seem to indicate he's pretty particular about his woods.

That may well be but most equipment deals do not require that all clubs in the bag are made by the sponsor....in other words he could use Nike irons and Titleist woods ...I know a mini-tour pro with a sponsorship and they require he carry 10 clubs from their shop...

For a while, Jim Furyk carried an OLIMAR bag with only one Olimar club in it.

[Burner Turner]

wow that would be HUGE for Nike!

[poser]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/golf-devil-ball-golf/rory-mcilroy-could-sign-reported-10-250-million-151901313--golf.html

[Rip24]

nah, they play pretty much the same clubs that are available to us in the stores.

This statement is absolutley inaccurate. Some of them do sure. Luke Donald is known for playing stock specs in his irons. But the stuff they make for their staff players is not the production line stuff we buy at golfsmith. They're even assigned serial numbers denoting tour issue... I had a teacher with a deal in Titleist... His irons were AP2's but his 3 an 4 iron were AP1's. only his AP1's were forged and had no offset....think you'll find those in stores? Tighter tolerances in the woods are pushed to the absolute limit of COR, custom face angles, weighting grinds... It goes on and on

[Beachcomber]

I 'liked' a video that Rory linked on a Tweet earlier this year - called 'Beyond Reason' which was an Oakley video on Rory, with Samuel L. Jackson as the narrator.  It was a really cool video, and when I originally watched it... It actually reminded me of something Nike would do.

Anyway, these Nike rumors, combined with looking at Youtube tonight... Made me think of the Oakley video with Rory.

Rory actually made the video private now... So you can't see it.

https://www.youtube.com/user/RoryMcIlroyOfficial/videos?sort=dd&flow;=grid&view;=0&page;=1

But it still shows up in my 'liked' video feed.  Hmmmmmm

I'd say where there is smoke there is fire.  And he is going to make a change to Nike.

I Googled and found the video...

http://www.whosay.com/rorymcilroy/videos/226795

[colin007]

Originally Posted by colin007

nah, they play pretty much the same clubs that are available to us in the stores.

Originally Posted by Rip24

This statement is absolutley inaccurate. Some of them do sure. Luke Donald is known for playing stock specs in his irons. But the stuff they make for their staff players is not the production line stuff we buy at golfsmith. They're even assigned serial numbers denoting tour issue... I had a teacher with a deal in Titleist... His irons were AP2's but his 3 an 4 iron were AP1's. only his AP1's were forged and had no offset....think you'll find those in stores? Tighter tolerances in the woods are pushed to the absolute limit of COR, custom face angles, weighting grinds... It goes on and on

i stand by my statement.

[mvmac]

Rory downplays the rumors in a recent interview

Quote:

"These rumours have been going around for years and it seems to always come up at this time of the year," McIlroy said at Lake Malaren Golf Club.  I leave it up to Conor (Ridge, McIlroy's manager) to sort out as it leaves me to concentrate on my golf.  That's all I can do and besides I have enough to think about trying to get the ball in the hole. Also I've got a very important end to my season coming up and I need to concentrate myself fully on that goal."

[Bigtank]

I've heard from a couple OEM guys that the deal is done!

[clubchamp]

I think he will go to Nike but keep in mind Titleist is now owned by Fila so their theory on how the pay their players might have changed. Granted I still don't think they would pay 10 years 250 million and I'm sure a nice chunk of that will be guaranteed.

[Joakim]

For 250 Million I would use a broom stick. Hopefully Tiger won't be giving advice on his love life