Business: Tiger Woods Exit From Golf Will Cost The Sport Millions

Golf just won't be the same while Tiger Woods takes a leave from the game. He's like pure gold for the sport. When Tiger Woods plays on TV, ratings sometimes jump 83% compared to events where he doesn't play. All of this will translate into lost ratings, and also lost millions from the sport.

The sordid personal life of the athlete is like a body-blow to the sport. Tiger Woods wholesome and squeaky-clean image was especially appealing to both younger as well as older fans. But with that reputation now badly frayed, the sport is only expected to lose lots of appeal. The personal fall of arguably the greatest golf player of our generation will not be easy for the sport to endure.

Advertisers loved Tiger Woods. He was wholesome, with a great natural smile. He was a great commodity to market. Even when he returns to the sport, advertisers won't want to follow him. He's now damaged goods. Gatorade announced that it break their advertising campaign with him. And you can expect many more companies will begin to follow as well. It will become like a domino effect.

A few years ago popular TV preacher Dr. Robert Schuller explained why adultery is such a damaging thing for any person in business. If they will cheat on their spouse, then they cannot be trusted by any business associates. Further, adultery makes a fool of the person as well as damages the relationships around them. It's like a form of reputation suicide. And for a major celebrity like Tiger Woods, it will cause huge financial harm as well.

Once a person finds themselves to be the punchlines of jokes by the late night comics, then they know that their reputation is toast. About all that Tiger Woods do now is to take a little break, and attempt a comeback of sorts. But there will be plenty of bad days in the between time while the healing starts. But a bad sign for the marriage relationship is that the wife of Tiger Woods has now purchased a home in Sweden.