PGA Tour popularity plummets in wake of Tiger Woods sex scandal

December 22 -- The PGA Tour has taken a huge online hit to its reputation because of the passive way in which it has dealt with the ongoing Tiger Woods sex scandal.

• Tiger Woods may be out of the public eye, but his image is everywhere, as these photos illustrate

Before the never-ending Woods saga began late last month, the buzz surrounding the PGA Tour was 84 percent positive. That was higher than the NBA (81 percent positive), MLB (75 percent), and NHL (72 percent), according to digital marketing agency Zeta Interactive.

Buzz kill. As of December 22, however, the online popularity of the PGA Tour had dropped to 64 percent, which was lower than any other major sports league in the United States.

The tour’s close ties with Woods as “the most identifiable ambassador of a professional sports organization” accounts for the organization’s falling popularity, says Al DiGuido, chief executive of Zeta, which measures celebrities’ and other entities’ positive and negative “buzz” ratings based on blogs, tweets, and other online postings.

“Tiger’s image and that of the PGA are interchangeable,” DiGuido says. “As one fails, so does the other.”

Post-Tiger brand era. To stop the bleeding, DiGuido suggests, the PGA Tour must establish “a new personality” in the “post-Tiger brand era” by aggressively aligning itself with players like Phil Mickelson, whose popularity is rising as quickly as Woods’ drops.

Finchem might start by reassessing his glass-full view of the tour’s prospects without his meal ticket, who has admitted his infidelity and taken an indefinite break from the game.

“We’re on the eve of a golden age of golf from a growth standpoint,” Finchem told the media in his year-end press conference on December 17. “Having any player, even if it’s the Number One player, have personal issues like this, I don’t think you’re going to deter that growth.”

Really? In this economy, with one fewer tournament on its 2010 schedule than last year, and the tour's money-maker on the shelf?

Shrinkage. How about what Zeta calls the “catastrophic” impact the scandal has had on Woods’ online rep? Prior to Tiger’s infamous November 27 car crash, the golf ace’s popularity hovered around 91 percent -- higher than any other athlete in the world.

Two days after the scandal broke, Zeta reported that Woods’ positives had dropped to 74 percent and, as of December 22, to an all-time low 37 percent.

That’s a 54 percent plunge in less than a month, and Woods’ plummeting popularity is affecting his sponsors, as well as the PGA.

Ad rates. Tag Heuer, the Swiss watch maker that announced plans to phase Woods out of its future advertising campaigns and then placed his image on the first page of its Web page, is in a free fall.

Prior to the scandal, the company enjoyed an 86 percent online popularity reputation. Following its about-face on the use of Woods' image, the firm took a 40-percent nosedive to 46 percent positive online buzz.

Nike, which continues to stand by its man, lost seven percent online popularity points over the last week, according to Zeta.

Accenture, on the other hand, dropped Woods as a shill for its consultancy services and spiked to an all-time high 89 percent share of positive online buzz. 

All of which leads back to Finchem and his top-ranked golfer. If Woods’ hiatus stretches into months and Woods' image continues to tarnish, the PGA Tour will be in serious trouble.

If, however, Woods plans a speedy comeback -- complete with the requisite “Oprah” mea culpa and other signs that he’s truly sorry for his bad behavior -- then Finchem may escape without further damage to the PGA Tour brand.

For now, however, as the commish said last week, “We’ll just have to see how that plays out.”

Does Tag Heuer suspect Tiger will tee it up sooner rather than later? Read about how the Swiss watch maker has placed Woods’ image on the first page of its Web site, which may portend a Woods’ return to the game sooner rather than later.