Tiger Woods is sitting pretty today as the world’s largest manufacturer of two-wheelers, Hero MotorCorp, , announced a global sponsorship with him on Tuesday. The Indian motorcycle and scooter maker is little known in the U.S., but it plans to use Woods to bolster its expansion outside of its base in India. There, it generates 98% of its sales.
The good news for Woods, comes just two days ahead of his return to competitive golf, after four months off. Woods, who celebrates his 39 birthday on December 30, will take to Isleworth Golf & Country Club to tee it up on Thursday at the annual tournament that he hosts, the Hero World Challenge. The Challenge benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. Hero MotorCorp also signed on (in September) to be a sponsor of the event which features 18 of the best golfers in the world, including Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler.
MotorCorp is one of the newest in Woods’ sponsor portfolio as he returns to the course. After four months off, recovering from back surgery, he missed the cut at the PGA Championship in August—his fourth tournament back after back surgery in March. The four events included two missed cuts and a withdrawal. It was a disappointing year for Woods who finished 201st on the money list with $108,275 and saw his world ranking plummet to No. 24 after starting 2014 ranked first. The 14-time major winner also yanked his name from consideration for a captain’s pick for the 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup team.
The new Hero MotorCorp deal is the most lucrative new sponsorship to date, since his 2009 infidelity scandal. It runs four years and could bring incentives for others to follow. Since his 2009 infidelity scandal, Woods lost personally and professionally as things crumbled around him including his marriage and rich endorsements with Accenture , AT&T T, PepsiCo, Gillette , Tag Heuer and Electronic Arts.
Press reports from India put the value of the Hero deal at roughly $8 million a year. Hero CEO Pawan Munjal wouldn’t comment on financial terms, but when asked about the rich price tag, Munjal quipped: “It is Tiger Woods after all.”
Woods ranked sixth in June in Forbes’ annual look at the world’s highest-paid athletes with earnings of $61.2 million. His Nike sponsorship remains one of the biggest in sports with the $28.8 billion-in-sales sportswear giant building a $789 million golf division on the back of Woods.
Global travel may have helped to pave the way for The Woods foundation for the Hero MotorCorp partnership, because, it was solidified in February when Woods played an exhibition in India hosted by Munjal and also featured Hero-sponsored golfer Shiv Kapur, who is one of India’s most high-profile golfers. Munjal says he was considering a handful of celebrities to help with the global expansion of Hero, but quickly settled on Woods. “I thought he was the best fit for our company. He is one of the biggest global celebrities and cuts across all segments,” said Munjal by phone. “We need to very quickly make the brand recognizable and popular globally. I am very confident that with Tiger, we will be able to do that.”
Munjal has big international plans for Hero. The company will enter the European market in 2015, followed by the U.S. and Brazil in 2016. The latter will coincide with the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, which Woods has expressed interest in participating. Hero projects to be in 50 countries by 2020 with sales volume of 12 million units, up from current totals of 21 countries and six million units. Munjal expects Woods to play a major role in the global expansion through promoting the brand and advertising across print, TV, digital and social. Munjal says that sales outside of India should reach 10% of the company within 3-4 years.
Hero reported net income of $348 million on $4.2 billion in sales for its latest fiscal year. Analysts expect sales to increase 14% for the latest fiscal year ending in March.
