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Forbes: Tiger Woods first athlete to hit 1 billion mark in earnings

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XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Tiger Woods y'all.

Sports' First Billion-Dollar Man
Kurt Badenhausen, 09.29.09, 07:25 PM EDT
Tiger Woods cracks the $1 billion mark in career earnings.

Tiger Woods has been making history on and off the course since he joined the PGA Tour in 1996. First up was a record $40 million contract from Nike. The following year he won the Masters by a record 12 strokes, becoming the youngest winner ever and first black player to take the title. His career has been packed full of accomplishments, including major titles (14), annual money titles (9) and Player of the Year awards (9).

Now Woods can add one more accolade to his trophy case: the first athlete to earn $1 billion. Our calculations show that the $10 million bonus Woods earned winning this year's FedEx Cup title nudged him over the $1 billion mark in career earnings.

Forbes has been tracking athlete earnings since before Tiger turned pro. Woods had earned a cumulative $895 million going into 2009, by our estimates, from prize money, appearance fees, endorsements, bonuses and his golf course design business. If you add his $10.5 million in 2009 prize money, the FedEx bonus and his take so far this year from his more than $100 million in annual off-the-course earnings, Woods' career earnings are now 10 figures.

Woods has only two real competitors when it comes to career earnings among athletes: the two Michaels, Jordan and Schumacher, who dominated their respective sports for nearly 15 years. Jordan's earning peaked during his last season with the Chicago Bulls (1998-'99), when he earned $69 million in salary and endorsement income.

Jordan continues to earn $45 million annually, almost entirely from Nike ( NKE - news - people ). We estimate that Jordan has earned $800 million since he entered the NBA in 1984. Annual sales of the Jordan brand are now $1 billion for Nike, so MJ should hit the $1 billion mark in career earnings in the next four to five years.

Schumacher's earnings peaked at $80 million in 2003, when he won his record sixth World Drivers' Championship (he won a seventh title the following year). His $40 million salary was the highest in sports at the time and his income doubled when you factored in endorsements, licensing deals and championship bonuses. Schumacher has earned $700 million, by our count, since his Formula One debut in 1991.

As for Woods, only his accountant knows if Tiger is a billionaire athlete yet, but if it did not happen on Sunday it is likely only a matter of months or his next check from Nike. Woods has been the world's highest-paid athlete since 2002, when he surpassed Schumacher. His earnings have surged in recent years as he launched a golf course design business. He currently has three courses underway that pay him more than $10 million per project. The launch of the FedEx Cup has been a bonus for Woods, who has taken the $10 million top prize in two of its three years (a knee injury prevented his participation last year). Woods also commands $3 million appearances fees when he plays outside the United States.

Woods lost General Motors' Buick division as a sponsor at the end of last year, but he quickly added AT&T as the brand on his golf bag. PepsiCo launched Gatorade Tiger last year in a revenue-sharing deal that potentially could be very lucrative for Woods. His other biggest endorsement deals include Accenture, Electronic Arts, Gillette and Upper Deck.

It is Nike, though, that has been Woods' most lucrative partner. The relationship has been hugely beneficial for both parties, as Nike launched a golf division from scratch, with Woods carrying the brand, and sales are now $800 million annually. Nike pays Woods upward of $30 million annually for his ringing endorsement.

The most stunning part is that Woods is only 33 years old--he might have 15 years of competitive golf left in him, and 30-plus years of designing courses. This is only the first billion for Woods.
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X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Gigglepoo said:
Tiger Woods is to athletes what Saw III is to movies.
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pga_wi_tigerflex_580.jpg


Seriously, the guy's easily built like a free safety at the least.
 
RubxQub

RubxQub

φίλω ἐξεχέγλουτον καί ψευδολόγον οὖκ εἰπόν
Tiger is a beast.

His name is fantastically marketable and memorable. His skills are unparalleled. His story is awe inspiring and heart warming. His personality it charming.

Dude's a total package.
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
eggybob said:
I didn't know golf paid so well.

Thats insane.
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The rest of the field has Tiger to thank for that too. He's so damn marketable, the entire PGA is making more money than ever before, including the guys missing cuts in the tournaments.

And I'm :lol at people who don't think Tiger is an athlete.
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
gamerecks said:
Why do athletes who have so much money continue to play?
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If you earned gazillions of dollars doing not only what you love but what you're really good at and find fulfilling, would you stop?
 
T

Tamanon

Banned
gamerecks said:
Why do athletes who have so much money continue to play?
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Because if he wasn't competing, he'd still be playing golf at the local links. Might as well make a billion dollars doing it.:lol
 
Y

yacobod

Banned
Kung Fu Jedi said:
And I'm :lol at people who don't think Tiger is an athlete.
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and i :lol :lol :lol at ppl who are comparing tiger to nfl free safeties

i'm usually of the frame of mind that golfers are not athletes, look at guys who are/have been successful on the pga tour like phil, john daley, that asian guy who won a major this year etc etc, those guys are the farthest thing from what i would consider an athlete, and look at how many senior players contend for titles each year, didnt greg norman almost win the british open last year, and didnt tom watson lose the open this year in a playoff?

we might as well consider billiard, poker, and bowling champions great athletes as well

tiger woods doesnt look much different from any number of guys you can pick out from your neighborhood health club/gym, he looks like an athlete in comparison to all the slobs on the pga tour, but that doesnt make him a great athlete by any means
 
mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
yacobod said:
tiger woods doesnt look much different from any number of guys you can pick out from your neighborhood health club/gym, he looks like an athlete in comparison to all the slobs on the pga tour, but that doesnt make him a great athlete by any means
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So I guess you haven't heard of his workout huh?
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
yacobod said:
and i :lol :lol :lol at ppl who are comparing tiger to nfl free safeties

i'm usually of the frame of mind that golfers are not athletes, look at guys who are/have been successful on the pga tour like phil, john daley, that asian guy who won a major this year etc etc, those guys are the farthest thing from what i would consider an athlete, and look at how many senior players contend for titles each year, didnt greg norman almost win the british open last year, and didnt tom watson lose the open this year in a playoff?

we might as well consider billiard, poker, and bowling champions great athletes as well

tiger woods doesnt look much different from any number of guys you can pick out from your neighborhood health club/gym, he looks like an athlete in comparison to all the slobs on the pga tour, but that doesnt make him a great athlete by any means
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The fact that you're equating golf to something like poker shows how much you know what you're talking about. :lol

mckmas8808 said:
So I guess you haven't heard of his workout huh?
Click to expand...
Isn't it comparable to Jerry Rice's regular workout? Minus that insane hill anyway...
 
G

Gigglepoo

Member
Battersea Power Station said:
I don't get the reference. Has Saw III earned more money than any other movie?
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Kornheiser mistakenly thought it was the highest grossing movie of all time on yesterday's PTI. It made me laugh.
 
B

Brinbe

Member
LeBron could get up there eventually, he's only 24. And anyone else think Schumi could have gotten there first had he not retired?
 
R

reilo

learning some important life lessons from magical Negroes
Wizman23 said:
Wow you are still OBSESSED
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Good to know you are still alive and didn't choke on your tears like the Cavs choked against the Magic.

I eagerly await your random drive-by posts in NBAGAF.
 
T

Tamanon

Banned
Lebron could catch him, but it'll take some time. He's a bit limited in that his salary has a ceiling, but once he signs with the Knicks, his endorsement deals should get even bigger. The problem is that Tiger's still going to be earning for years to come also.:lol
 
R

reilo

learning some important life lessons from magical Negroes
Tamanon said:
Lebron could catch him, but it'll take some time. He's a bit limited in that his salary has a ceiling, but once he signs with the Knicks, his endorsement deals should get even bigger. The problem is that Tiger's still going to be earning for years to come also.:lol
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Tiger will be playing golf by the time he's 65.
 
L

Lion Heart

Banned
If Michael Jordan was in his peak now (instead of 96) in todays world, do you guys think he would be making more than Tiger?
 
R

reilo

learning some important life lessons from magical Negroes
LQX said:
I am surprised Michael Jordan never hit the 1 billion mark.
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Prior to 1996 or so, Jordan was making a league-high $10mil/yr.
 
N

NYCrooner

Member
Obama, Woods, Oprah, LeBron, etc.

What do they all have in common?

The letter O. Crazy right? People with the letter O have come a long way.
 
ajim

ajim

Member
NYCrooner said:
Obama, Woods, Oprah, LeBron, etc.

What do they all have in common?

The letter O. Crazy right? People with the letter O have come a long way.
Click to expand...
Shit. My first and last name by START with O. Am I gonna be rich soon? Or continue being a dirty poor student? :(
 
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