Tiger's return will rival Obama's inaugural for TV spectacle
(Agencies)
2010-03-17 09:30
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US golfer Tiger Woods, pictured in 2009. Scandal-rocked Woods making his return to golf at next month's Masters after a five-month layoff will rival the inauguration of US President Barack Obama as a television spectacle.[Agencies] |
That's the opinion of Sean McManus, the CBS News and Sports president whose division will produce US coverage of a global ratings blockbuster April 8-11 at Augusta National Golf Club following Woods' comeback announcement Tuesday.
"I think the first tournament Tiger Woods plays ... will be the biggest media event other than the Obama inauguration in the past 10 or 15 years," McManus told Sports Illustrated before Woods announced his return plans.
"It is hard to overestimate how much interest there will be. Tiger Woods is the most famous, most recognized, most accomplished athlete in the world, and his celebrity and prominence is even larger than it was.
"Whatever he does on the golf course for the first time since Thanksgiving will be of interest to almost every man and women in this country."
ESPN will televise US coverage of the first two rounds of the Masters with CBS taking over for weekend coverage.
Woods drew a global audience on February 19 in his first public appearance simply to watch him stand at a podium and apologize for his misdeeds, an adultery scandal in which more than a dozen women claimed sex affairs with him.
"When you look at the fact that he gave a very simple press statement with no questions and every broadcast and cable news network in America carried it with great interest, I think that's an indication that whatever he does has enormous interest."
Crowds at the Masters are typically well behaved, so Woods might not face the hecklers that could bother him at other events.
"We will primarily report on what is happening at the golf tournament," said McManus. "I don't think there is a lot of reason to dwell on what has happened in the past because it is one of the most exploited and overexposed stories in recent memory.
"But I will be fascinated to hear ... what Tiger is doing on the course, how he is reacting, how the fans react, how the media reacts, and how his fellow competitors have reacted. Those will all be fascinated stories."
ESPN television commentator Curtis Strange anticipates greater excitement because Woods is back but also said that Woods' off-course troubles will be fair game for questions for some time to come.
"I hope he's not too standoffish. That's not going to endear him to the fans," Strange said on ESPN. "I think he will handle it the way he has handled it in the past, to the point, but not give people a lot.
"It's the start of the rest of his career. It's not about winning or losing. It's about getting started."
About 43 million people in America watched Woods win the 1997 Masters, the first major triumph for a black golfer. That's still a US record for a Masters telecast -- for another month at least.
Woods became the first athlete with one billion dollars in earnings last year before the scandal hit, in large part because of rich endorsement deals that shriveled in the wake of his sex scandal.
Accenture, AT&T and Gatorade dropped Woods while Nike, Woods video game maker Electronic Arts and Gillette stayed with Woods and offered supportive statements Tuesday on notification of his return to golf.
"We look forward to Tiger's return to the Masters and seeing him back on the course," a Nike statement said.
"All eyes will be on Augusta in a few weeks," said a statement from Electronic Arts, which debuts a new edition of the Woods video game in June. "We're looking forward to seeing Tiger back on the golf course."
"Like many sports fans around the world, we're looking forward to seeing Tiger back on the course," said a statement by Gillette.