Will Tiger's Likely Return Event Remain Sponsorless And Other Television Ramifications?

Tod Leonard recently documented the surprising inability of the Century Club and PGA Tour to find a sponsor for the event formerly known as the Buick Invitational.

Since there is a very good chance Tiger Woods will make his next start at the "Century Club of San Diego Invitational," the sponsorship status of the event may tell us just how much or how little sponsors want to be a part of the Woods brand post-accident. After all we're talking about monster ratings for an event that already drew well and while tickets and schedules have been printed, we know the PGA Tour can move quickly to insert a sponsor last-minute, though we could be inside a window that makes it impossible to sign someone for the late January event.

And this is assuming a major corporation wants to be associated with Tiger Woods.

As for the future, Doug Ferguson addressed the idea of ratings and next year's television contract negotiations:

Neal Pilson, former CBS Sports president who runs his own consulting business, did not think it would affect the next deal.

"We're seeing this in the glare of the day, these incredible revelations," Pilson said. "At some point, he'll play golf and he'll move on. At some point, this will become more embarrassing to the media than Tiger."

TV ratings typically double when Woods is contention, and he has begun his season every year since 2006 at Torrey Pines in San Diego, which starts Jan. 28.

"Ratings will be good for golf. Aren't you going to be watching?" Pilson said. "The ratings for Tiger are going to be higher than they might be ordinarily. I don't think there will be any negative fallout for golf. This is a Tiger Woods story. He happens to be a golfer, but he's a worldwide personality."