According to a new study by economists at the University of California Davis, the Woods scandal has cost those who own stock in the golfer's chief sponsors an estimated $12 billion.
The study, conducted by economics professors Christopher R. Knittel and Victor Stango, charted the stock performance of the top eight companies sponsoring Tiger Woods in the wake of the revelations stemming from his late-night car wreck.
"This is what is called an event study," Knittel said. "We looked at the stock prices of these companies relative to the market as a whole and tracked them accordingly."
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Nike, one of Tiger Woods' biggest sponsors, has lost an estimated $1.3 billion in stock value since the car accident that lead to revelations of the golfer's infidelity.
According to Knittel and Stango's tally, Accenture, Gillette and Gatorade lost 2 percent to 3 percent of their aggregate market value since Woods' alleged serial adultery surfaced. Pepsi, Nike and EA Sports have lost over 4 percent.
For Nike alone, "that means roughly $1.3 billion in losses," Knittel said.
Calculating the total value that Woods -- the world's highest paid athlete in terms of corporate sponsorship for several years running, according to Forbes -- has added to each company over the course of their relationship with him is more difficult, Stango said. Partly, that's because tracking the cumulative benefits a sponsorship yields for a brand involves a greater number of variables to consider.
Event studies, by contrast, provide a more focused snapshot. "The key is you can use this method if there is a surprise introduced to the market," Stango said. Certainly, for Woods' sponsors, the events of recent weeks have been surprising indeed.
