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Show StateSManSpOrtS Friday, April 2, 2010 Page 9 Tiger's remaining sponsors ready for his return this Sunday NEW YORK (AP) — Sponsors who stuck by Tiger Woods are ramping up to profit from his return to the golf course. Upper Deck Co. will sell memorabilia like signed red shirts with price tags upward of $1,800. Electronic Arts Inc. has a new browserbased version of its Tiger-themed video game coming out next week. And Nike Inc. reportedly has a TV commercial featuring Woods in the works, though it won't confirm that. The big question is whether his tarnished image can work anything close to its old magic for them and the golf industry, which has been going through tough times of its own because of the weak economy. It could be that all publicity is good publicity — as time passes since his admissions to extramarital affairs and he returns to golf after four months at the Masters, starting next Thursday. Woods' value as a pitchman who embodied professional perfection may have suffered. He became sports' first $1 billion earner, but lost top endorsements from companies such as Accenture LLP and AT&T Inc. as the scandal unfolded. But it's hard to see much falloff in sales of some Woods-branded wares. Golfsmith, the nation's biggest chain of golf stores, and sports card and memorabilia maker Upper Deck Co. say Woods' scandal that erupted in late November didn't dampen demand for his products. Golfsmith International Holdings Inc. says sales of Woods-branded hats, shirts and belts (all made by Nike) grew 8 percent from October through mid-March this year compared with last year. Most of that period came after word spread that the quiet, clean-cut golfer had a sex addiction and partook in serial infidelities. The company sold 9,564 Woods-branded hats, belts, shirts and other products made by Nike from October through mid-March, cornpared with 8,855 in the same period the previous year. Woods' leave from golf will end in about a week at the Masters, the season's first major tournament. It's about time for an industry that has seen its retail sales drop as its main participants trim their tee times and spending habits in the recession. "The tour wants him back. The players want him back. His endorsers want him back and like anybody with an economic interest in him, we want him back," said Golfsmith CEO Marty Blue&White Sports Debate Join the discussion at Hanaka. Tiger has been good for golf. He's brought more interest to the game from even casual players, and boosted television ratings and sponsorships — which has translated into higher payouts for Woods and his fellow golfers. In 1995, the year before Woods turned pro, the Masters' total prize payout was $2.1 million. Last year, it reached $7.5 million. The sport is in need of a boost again. The industry has seen an unprecedented slump because of the weak economy and unseasonably wet weather, which also depresses playing, said Tom Stine, co-founder of Golf Datatech LLC, a market research firm. Total revenue for the golf industry was $2.4 billion last year, down 11.6 percent from $2.8 billion in 2008, the firm said. People are delaying equipment purchases but they're still playing golf, said Stine, who expected minimal effect from Woods' return. EA is releasing the browser version of "Tiger Woods PGA Tour" on Tuesday. The timing is good, though coincidental: the video game maker announced the launch date a day before Woods announced his return and now figures his return will just add exposure for its sites for the game and its Woods franchise. "Sometimes you just get lucky," said Craig Evans, marketing director of the game, who added visits to the company's Woods sites have risen "significantly" since Woods said he'd return. Former sponsors Accenture, AT&T and others who dropped Woods after his personal problems became public late last year have declined to say if they'll make any changes once he returns. Accenture merely referred to its December news release that announced it would drop Woods. Experts say it will likely be at least a year before any major new companies sign Woods. Companies that distanced themselves from him, like Procter & Gamble Co.'s Gillette unit, haven't announced plans to feature him in advertisements again, either. Spokesman Damon Jones said Gillette has no plans to use Woods "for the foreseeable future." Those who deal in razor blades and consulting services might be ambivalent, but the golf world undoubtedly wants him back. "That's just going to give golf this momentum that's just going to send it into a whirlwind of a season, which will be huge for them," said Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for market research firm NPD. Golfsmith's Hanaka said he's bracing for a surge in interest if Woods wins the Masters. "You can see after he wins a major event, our stores are like the Saturday before Christmas," he said. Upper Deck, which has had Woods as its golf spokesman and autograph signer since 2001, said there was no noticeable uptick or downturn in demand for Woods memorabilia. The company has new items it will sell no matter how Woods does at the Masters, including I See TIGER, page 10 www.aggietownsquare.com This Friday's matchup , Beautiful. Enduring. Remarkable. VS. ,,\ An expansive collection of the most memorable diesigns created with the most meticulous attention-to-detail. From the classic creation to the modern marvel, each ring exhibits quality fit for a Queen. , Matt Sonnenberg Steve Clark .._:. . And the topics are... 1. Jazz, hal f game out of second place in division 2. Final Four weekend 3. Baseball season getting underway Sunday 4. NIT wins or first round NCAA loss? 5. Play of the week 930 N. Main St. Logan, Ut. 435-753-9755 Wrestling: team happy with performances Come in and enter to win a Caribbean Crusie for 2!! More Details @ lnnr. jerricksfinejelreki.com or on our Facebook Fan page!! Good Luck! continued from page 3 everybody wrestled really well. The past couple of years, I don't think that anybody from Utah State has even won a match, but this year, we had multiple matches won." The second tournament was the CSU Open in Fort Collins, Colo. Utah State took six wrestlers — Haslam, four freshmen and a sophomore — to compete in the roundrobinstyle tournament. "It was a fun tournament and we each got a ton of wrestling in," Haslam said. "We had five matches for everybody, which was really good experience for the young guys. Everybody wrestled well, and I know that everybody won at least one match." The CSU tournament served as a good warm-up and primed the wrestlers for the regional tournament, which occurred two weeks later on Feb. 28. The Aggie wrestling team competed in the West Coast Conference Regionals in San Jose, Calif. Among the competition was a tough Weber State team and a strong host team in San Jose State. Each wrestler faced an eight-man bracket, each knowing that they would have to win their respective bracket to get the chance to wrestle on the national level. The Aggie wrestlers didn't disappoint. Out of USU's five wrestlers that went, two took second place in their weight divisions, and the other three finished first. Taking second was sophomore Ben Shurtz, at the 133-weight class, and freshman Dakota Dana who lost to his teammate at the 149 class. The wrestlers who took first and would later have the chance to wrestle on the national level were junior Mark Haslam at 141, freshman Jeff Wilkes at 149 and sophomore Zach Walker at 157. "The match between Jeff and Dakota at 149 was a tough match," Haslam said. "They are both good friends and have wrestled each other in practice all year." Besides high finishes, Utah State also achieved other honors at the tournament. Walker earned the Most Valuable Wrestler for the tournament, and Cox was one vote behind San Jose's coach for the WCC Coach of the Year. The team was also able to edge out Weber State to capture second place in the tournament, following host team San Jose. "This was the best that any Utah State team has done at conference," Haslam said. "Everybody wrestled unbelievably. Who would've thought that our small club team from Utah State would do so well. The whole team had to wrestle tough to achieve what we did." The three first place finishers, Haslam, Wilkes and Walker finished off their season at the Collegiate Wrestling National Championships. And on the Wednesday before Spring Break, the USU wrestlers started their long road trip to Hampton, Va. The first weigh-ins and matches started that Thursday, and the tournament lasted through Saturday. The tournament consisted of a 32-man bracket against the best clubs in the nation. Utah State's three wrestlers competed well and were able to win three matches at this level. Wilkes had a 1-2 record for the tournament, pinning his second competitor in the first period. Haslam made it to the top 16 and had a record of 2-2 for the tournament. Walker wrestled two tough matches and ended up 0-2 for the tournament. "Jeff (Wilkes) did amazing in his matches. I think that he is definitely the most improved for the season," Haslam said. "Each match he lost could have easily gone the other way. Each guy we wrestled we should have beat. We all wrestled well at nationals, and it was a fun tournament." Utah State finished 32 out of the 79 teams that were at nationals. Utah State's Wrestling Club only looks to improve off of its explosive year. It will be returning all of the wrestlers that qualified for nationals, as well as all those who went to conference. "I hope that we can take a bigger team to conference next year," Haslam said. "It would be exciting to see more wrestlers wrestling at the level that we did at conference, and I think we could have a good chance at winning conference with a bigger team. I know we will only be better next year." — t.g.s@aggiemail.usu.edu • .(Tcaturin alr1 'lltuqrated &rimy b'y rev. ro ncda fic ,a icr, 5Yrideq, ord compt6 pcbtor, frecaoin Chri--ticur ictlowNItir 2/14 i2.00-1.00PM j))-SC r ClitOriUM Sponsored by: Freedom Christian Fellowship, FOCUS, Oriental Mission Church, The Navigators, Tribu InDependientl |