Buick announces the end of the Tiger Woods endorsement deal

Tiger Woods as a celeb endorser for Buick

General Motors announced on Monday that its very long and successful sponsorship deal with Tiger Woods has come to an end. A month ago I wrote about Buick's review of its contract with Woods and opined that it was the first step to finding a way out of it or letting it expire in 2009.

But in an almost comical excuse for its decision it cited Tiger's growing family and his desire to spend more time with them. In addition, as if we didn't know how the company is hanging on, it acknowledged its financial difficulties.

You know when a coach and his/her employer announces a resignation to be able to spend more time with family that it is merely a cosmetized firing. In this case, Tiger wasn't fired. He just got too expensive to maintain as the company looks at reorganizing itself.

The origins of the story and a discussion of the commercial relationship between Buick and Woods is below.

Dave Seanor has some ideas for the next Woods sponsor, right here

Bloomberg News has reported that General Motors' Buick brand is doing an early review of its PGA sponsorship, including the most important one of all - - the Tiger Woods endorsement deal. In this context, a review means they are looking for ways to get out of their contract or at a minimum, not extend it past its expiration date of 2009.

Woods has been the high-profile face of Buick for almost 10 years now. The company's sponsorship of PGA tournaments dates back to 1984.  But in case you haven't heard, we are in the midst of a financial meltdown.  And GM, Buick's parent company, has announced that an asset fire sale expected to net $15 billion won't be enough to prop up its operations.

The fact that Buick hasn't stopped funding tournaments or sponsoring Tiger might make some folks scratch their heads. Scaling back has been a way of life at General Motors. It has cut more than 50,000 jobs since 2005 and it looks like there is more downsizing to come. The almost unthinkable scenario of GM disappearing as a stand-alone company has been discussed for weeks now.

But don't cry for Tiger. Although he claims to appreciate Buick's SUV now that he has a child with another on the way, I don't think he will miss a beat if he is forced to look at a Range Rover.

This news that Buick might be exiting stage left must have elite brands lining up with offers to attach themselves to the man who BusinessWeek named the most powerful person in the business of sports. Watch the commercial in which Tiger goes all sincere on us about his love of a Buick.