Tiger Woods sponsor exec reveals why they stuck by him during 2017 scandal

The vice president of sports marketing at Monster Energy has revealed why the brand decided to stick by Tiger Woods after he was caught driving under the influence in 2017. 

Woods was found asleep at the wheel of his Mercedes in May that year with five prescription drugs and marijuana in his system. 

Only a month prior, he had undergone his fourth back surgery and it appeared as though his hall of fame career was going to be cut short at the age of 41.

Woods admitted reckless driving, apologised for his actions and entered a treatment programme. 

Eight years before that incident, Woods was abandoned by several sponsors after his extramarital affairs were exposed by the National Enquirer. 

Accenture, AT&T, Gillette and Gatorade severed ties with the golfer completely whilst others temporarily suspended or scaled back their association with Woods. 

Monster Energy's Mitch Covington recently joined the GYPSY TALES podcast to explain what was going on behind the scenes during that chaotic period in Woods' life when his mugshot was being plastered all over the media. 

"The founders of Monster—Mark Hall, Hilton Schlosberg, and Rodney Sacks—have always believed in second chances," Covington said.  

"They don't say it in those words, but their actions show it. When athletes screw up and all their other sponsors drop them, Monster almost always stands by them.

"Take Tiger Woods, for example. Not long after we signed him, he had an incident—took some sleeping pills that backfired, got up in the middle of the night, and ended up being arrested. His mugshot made the cover of USA Today. It was everywhere.

"The media exploded. Fans were calling, emailing. My phone wouldn't stop ringing. Everyone was saying, 'You've got to drop Tiger.'

"At the time, Rodney Sacks—the CEO—wasn't a huge fan of the Tiger deal to begin with. He's not a golfer, and Monster wasn't in golf. 

"We signed Tiger because he's one of the greatest athletes in the world. So I thought for sure Rodney would tell me to let him go.

"But when I walked into his office and said, 'Rodney, I think we've got to stick with Tiger,' he looked at me and said, 'Drop him? Are you out of your mind? We're standing behind him. Call him. Tell him we're here to help.

"That's who we are. Other sponsors dropped him. We stayed."

As we now know, Woods returned to the course and completed what is arguably the greatest comeback of all-time by securing his fifth Masters victory in 2019.

"I still get chills," Covington added. "I was lucky enough to be standing on the 18th green when it happened. One of the greatest sports moments of my life.

"Afterward, a reporter asked Tiger, 'Now that you've made this massive comeback, how much do you expect to increase your sponsorship revenue?'

"Tiger said, 'I'm not answering the phone. Only three companies stuck with me—Monster Energy, Rolex, and Nike. Nobody else needs to call. 

"They stood behind me when nobody else did."

Covington then explained how simple it was to negotiate a renewal, despite having to deal with Woods' agent Mark Steinberg. 

"He's got the toughest agent in the world," he said. "I used to dread negotiating with this guy. I called him to renew the deal. 

"I bought low and I was expecting him to [ask to double the money]. He had just got hit with a golf club by his first wife. I thought, here it comes, he's gonna stick it to me.

"I said, 'Where do you wanna start on this thing, Mark?' He said, 'I just got off the phone with Tiger and he said to take whatever you offer, I'm not negotiating with you just tell us what you want to pay he wants to be with you for the rest of your life."

He added: "Everybody loves a redemption story, too. It's not like we don't have a payout on this thing if it works. They don't all come back and win The Masters.

"Everybody in America loves a redemption story."