Tiger buying TaylorMade?

[Groucho Valentine]

I would've guessed tiger would purchase the bones of the Nike Golf infastructrure and rebrand it under his own name instead of buying an existing brand like Taylormade. 

Edited September 16, 2016 by Groucho Valentine

[GolfLug]

12 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

I would've guessed tiger would purchase the bones of the Nike Golf infastructrure and rebrand it under his own name instead of buying an existing brand like Taylormade. 

Nike golf is just too stale IMO..

[Groucho Valentine]

13 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

Nike golf is just too stale IMO..

Probably. But i was thinking he would just purchase the manufacturing infrastructure and use his own brand on the clubs. 

[GolfLug]

20 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Probably. But i was thinking he would just purchase the manufacturing infrastructure and use his own brand on the clubs. 

Like stamp the clubs 'TW'?? Hmm, don't think he would do THAT. I thought he would buy TM (I guess still a rumor) and leave it as TM, just run it. It's not like anybody would miss out on the fact (if he goes on to actually buy it) that TW owns TM (2 great brands) and that alone would be marketing gold.

[Valleygolfer]

I will buy a Tiger "wood" off of ebay...

[newtogolf]

I think Tiger would have bought out the division of Nike Golf if he was going to get into the golf equipment business.  I'm pretty sure he already owns a percentage of it.  

[70sSanO]

2 hours ago, newtogolf said:

I think Tiger would have bought out the division of Nike Golf if he was going to get into the golf equipment business.  I'm pretty sure he already owns a percentage of it.  

There was no money buying Nike's golf division because NIke doesn't have the base of golfers to support NIke much less re-branded Tiger equipment.  Nike didn't have much market share even when Tiger was on top of his game. 

They have never been a player as a manufacturer of any sports equipment, except golf.

But Taylormade has a substantial base using their equipment.  And those that may have left Taylormade due to their flooding the market with new products every 6 months might jump back in if the brand is under new mgmt.  Especially if this new mgmt does not have to answer to corporate and shareholders.

John

Edited September 17, 2016 by 70sSanO

[newtogolf]

Oprah couldn't save Weight Watchers and Tiger won't save Taylor Made unless he can still win golf tournaments.  There will be an initial bump due to all the media coverage and hype but if he isn't on the leader board on Sunday, people will eventually stop caring that he owns TM.  

[Steviestuboy]

I hope he buys John letters,  there's a real brand!  Made in bonny Scotland owned by eldrick.  

[Rainmaker]

Hmmm . .I can't think this would be a good investment for Tiger.  If I'm Tiger - the only way I'm considering this is if the money comes from somebody else and my investment is my time - input to R&D and, most importantly, marketing/branding.  Something like . . Let's start up a company and buy Taylormade.  We'll be 50/50 . .you put in your billions and I'll be Tiger Woods. 

Otherwise I can't see a scenario that isn't too risky for me (if I'm Tiger). 

[newtogolf]

54 minutes ago, Rainmaker said:

Hmmm . .I can't think this would be a good investment for Tiger.  If I'm Tiger - the only way I'm considering this is if the money comes from somebody else and my investment is my time - input to R&D and, most importantly, marketing/branding.  Something like . . Let's start up a company and buy Taylormade.  We'll be 50/50 . .you put in your billions and I'll be Tiger Woods. 

Otherwise I can't see a scenario that isn't too risky for me (if I'm Tiger). 

As many people have pointed out in other Tiger threads, unless he really screwed up, Tiger doesn't need any more money.  The motivation to buy TM would have to be a desire to remain relevant in golf after he retires which at this point could be 1 - 10 years.  

Given his contract with Nike, he probably couldn't buy TM without violating any non-compete clause that is likely in the agreement.  

[WUTiger]

One scenario: Tiger could be the front-man and combine resources with other investors to get TaylorMade. That way, members of the group could spread the risk.

Such alliances are often forged in business.

[Rainmaker]

47 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

As many people have pointed out in other Tiger threads, unless he really screwed up, Tiger doesn't need any more money.  The motivation to buy TM would have to be a desire to remain relevant in golf after he retires which at this point could be 1 - 10 years.  

Given his contract with Nike, he probably couldn't buy TM without violating any non-compete clause that is likely in the agreement.  

True - he doesn't need more money .. but I assume he wants to hang on to the money he has.  In my opinion (of course) if he were to put a lot of cash into Taylormade that would be a bad and unnecessary thing.  Assuming he does - time will tell if it's a good idea or not. 

[natureboy]

I don't think $ 500 mil net worth is really enough to buy out a major equipment manufacturer is it? Back in Hogan's day, sure, but I thought they were bigger firms, now. Sales in 2015 were ~ $ 1 bil.

Besides being sole owner wouldn't make sense - too risky financially (eggs in one basket). He'd more likely spearhead an investment group for which he'd be the marketing figurehead.

It wouldn't be a bad time to look at it. Household incomes in the U.S. finally rose, golf is gaiing inroads in France & Germany. A male Japanese player is one of the rising male stars on tour. A Korean LPGA golfer took the gold and a Chines player took bronze. Things could be turning a corner. A lot of this fallout is (like GolfSmith) is from companies limping along through the lean times hoping to survive and just now stumbling before an uptick in the economy / business cycle.

Edited September 17, 2016 by natureboy

[70sSanO]

So if he buys Taylormade does that mean that Dustin and Jason report to him, from a sponsorship perspective?

And if he comes back to the tour, would there be any conflict of interest to own an golf equipment that sponsors competing players?

John

[ZappyAd]

I remember reading about Greg Norman's business operations (possibly in his autobiography) and I don't think he ever invested his own money.  He just said I'll give my time and the fact that I am Greg Norman and someone else provides the cash.  If it works for him I think it would work for Tiger.

And if I was thinking of buying TM then given the choice of paying all the cash for 100% or paying all the cash for X% and having Tiger front it, I'd definitely be interested in finding out what x% would need to be.

[iacas]

10 hours ago, 70sSanO said:

They have never been a player as a manufacturer of any sports equipment, except golf.

Not entirely true. Bauer was Nike-Bauer for awhile. They bought and then re-sold-off Bauer hockey equipment after a few years, IIRC.

[newtogolf]

5 hours ago, ZappyAd said:

I remember reading about Greg Norman's business operations (possibly in his autobiography) and I don't think he ever invested his own money.  He just said I'll give my time and the fact that I am Greg Norman and someone else provides the cash.  If it works for him I think it would work for Tiger.

And if I was thinking of buying TM then given the choice of paying all the cash for 100% or paying all the cash for X% and having Tiger front it, I'd definitely be interested in finding out what x% would need to be.

There are all different types of deals, especially for celebrities and athletes.  In some cases, a business just wants to just use the name and offers ownership stake to use the name, personal appearances and to prevent the person from allowing a similar business to use their name.  

In other instances, the celebrity / athletes takes a riskier ownership stake.  There are countless stories of athletes and celebrities losing all their money because they were poorly advised into starting up a business or investing in an existing one that failed.

Tiger is savvy enough that he'd likely put together an investment group where there's some of his own cash combined with others.  It appears what TM requires now is a strong management team, Tiger might know a lot about golf clubs but that doesn't mean he knows how to market and sell them. 

Anyone buying the company has to consider the soft goods side of the business.  The majority of golf shirts I see are mostly non-equipment manufacturers, UA, Adidas, Nike, Puma, Greg Norman and Oakley.  I rarely see guys wearing Ping, Callaway, or Mizuno.  How big a market is there for TM golf shirts, shorts and pants?  Is there room for TM golf shoes in an already crowded shoe market?    About the only easy entry soft good item would be hats since many people like to wear hats that represent the equipment they play.