Nike will revamp its Tiger Woods line of apparel and footwear in an effort to boost sales. The Nike swoosh will be downplayed as the $9.6 bil company tries to reverse the 9% revenue and 35% net income decline in its fiscal 1st quarter. Nike also plans to cut 300 jobs in its Asia-Pacific operations.
Tiger Woods has a $40 mil deal with Nike. It may be that Nike tried too hard with a huge line of Tiger Woods apparel, in bright colors. Conservative golfers across the US balked at buying the product. Marlene Christopher of Palm Beach Golf Center points out that golfers are not generally on the cutting edge of fashion. The Tiger Woods collection might appeal to the younger crowd, but they don't buy $75 golf shirts or $225 golf shoes. Joseph Teklits of Perris Baker Watts says that almost 67% of all golf apparel is purchased by people over age 35. The Tiger Woods collection will thus be redesigned for conservative tastes. The new line will not be in stores until spring 1999. Nike must learn to appeal to a whole new audience than it is used to. Nike may limit distribution of the redesigned product primarily to golf shops.
Still, the Tiger Woods collection is generating revenues of some $50 mil/year.
Golf participation rose 7% in 1997, according to the National Golf Foundation. Golfer spending will rise 73% from $15 bil in 1994 to $26 bil in 2005, according to Teklits.