The public apology is in the books and the rehab stints are over but the backlash from the Tiger Woods scandal is still surfacing in some pretty interesting ways. Once the most “endorsed” athlete, Woods has been dropped from brands such as Accenture, Tag Hauer, Gatorade and Gillette in light of his recent “transgressions”. Tiger isn’t the only one feeling the burn in the wallet, though. The NY Times reports that companies everywhere have become leery of giving large endorsement deals to high profile athletes because of the latest scandals involving them. If you remember, Tiger wasn’t the only highly endorsed athlete to be involved in some controversial activities recently. Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps found similar trouble when a picture of him smoking what appeared to be marijuana surfaced in 2009. With the economy as shaky as it is and companies needing to find any way possible to save money, many are deciding that risking a large endorsement deal just isn’t worth it.
This decision could not have come at a worse time for current Winter Olympians such as figure skater Evan Lysacek and bobsledder Steven Holcomb, both of whom won gold medals in their respective sports. Scandals aren’t the only thing keeping these athletes from gaining endorsements, though. It’s no surprise that winter sports just aren’t as marketable as mainstream sports. Evan and Steven are competing with the likes of Lebron James, Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning…and losing. Instead, they are turning to more innovative ways to make a buck, such as giving motivational speeches or writing a book. Many think it’s pretty safe to say that we won’t being seeing or hearing much from these Winter Olympians anytime soon, perhaps not even until the 2014 games.