But His Opponents Still Drink Haterade

Unbelievably, until it was announced yesterday, Tiger Woods did not have a major beverage deal. You mean "Grant Hill drinks Sprite" and Tiger's just been drinking colored water all these years?

But that is no longer since Tiger inked a deal with the folks at Gatorade, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, to promote a new drink called "Gatorade Tiger." Expect to see it on shelves sometime around March of 2008.

Now because it's Tiger Woods, this is not just any ordinary beverage deal. Rather than getting paid for the use of his appearance like most celeb endorsement deals, Tiger has entered into a licensing agreement, which means he will get a portion of the sales in exchange for the use of his image and likeness. This sports business reporter does an excellent job of breaking down the benefits of this deal to both Tiger and Gatorade, as well as the deal's significance. He notes that Vitamin Water put the pressure on Gatorade to give up the goods when (before Coke bought them out) they started offering athletes a piece of their company for endorsing their drink. Estimates are that this deal could be worth $100 million when it's all said and done. Dayum. All for drinking some colored water.

This is right on time for Gatorade, too, which has taken a hit in the market with all the energy and health drinks out there. As far as taste goes, Gatorade is still my hands down favorite sports drink.

And now, it's Tiger's, too. Gatorade Tiger will come in three flavors: cherry blend, citrus blend and grape. Those don't really say "Tiger" to me, but I guess it is Gatorade, after all. And he picked them.

I'm not a big believer in celebrity endorsements to boost sales, but getting Tiger Woods on board is a big deal. This is the same guy who is probably the main reason Buick finally designed a car in which Tiger wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen. And if you have seen the Buicks that they had him in prior to the roll out of the Enclave, you know that that is saying a lot.

I never wanted to "be like Mike" (even though the commercials were superb) but I think I will try out Gatorade Tiger, if only so I can help Tiger pay his bills. I'd want him to do the same thing for me.