
We constantly read, and hear, about Tiger Woods impact on the prize money that tour pros now earn after he started playing...and certainly the numbers are eye popping.
However, the other day I was looking at other pro sports and many aren't much different.
Tennis, for example, which has hardly seen an explosion in popularity (shrinkage perhaps?) over the past 20 years, but the US open prize money for winner has gone from 600K to 1.9mm. US Open Golf has gone from 425K to 2.1mm.
Other sports have seen dramatic increases as well...heck, the Dodgers sold for 340mm in 2004 and 10 years later for 2 billion...and that didn't include the parking lots!
It just seems to me that while TW certainly helped, the numbers might have gotten there anyway?
PS. I'm not trashing TW (loved watching him play in his prime), but just curious.
However, the other day I was looking at other pro sports and many aren't much different.
Tennis, for example, which has hardly seen an explosion in popularity (shrinkage perhaps?) over the past 20 years, but the US open prize money for winner has gone from 600K to 1.9mm. US Open Golf has gone from 425K to 2.1mm.
Other sports have seen dramatic increases as well...heck, the Dodgers sold for 340mm in 2004 and 10 years later for 2 billion...and that didn't include the parking lots!
It just seems to me that while TW certainly helped, the numbers might have gotten there anyway?
PS. I'm not trashing TW (loved watching him play in his prime), but just curious.