Rory McIlroy to Nike?

aster99

Saw a couple of articles this morning about Nike Golf and their increased profits etc. Also the rumour that they're mad keen to sign McIlroy. Guess it would be a big one for them to get him along with Tiger.

What do ye think? Would it just be for clothes, shoes? Or would he have to play Nike clubs?

Hard to see him move away from Titleist clubs. I suppose a player like him could play with anything but surely it would be a risk to move away for 2013 from what is working so well

slave1

Tiger used Titleist for a while until Nike got their stuff up to scratch. Lots of pros use their sponsor head cover but the club itself is not matching, I think our Padraig has switched from Wilson recently for example but still uses the Wilson cover.

Trampas

ph putter i believe has a wilson grip also.

usually the top pros are allowed a few different branded clubs

Adiaga 2

Maybe he's always felt more Nike-ish than Titleist...??

sorry

link_2007

Adiaga 2 wrote: »

Maybe he's always felt more Nike-ish than Titleist...??

sorry

www.sadtrombone.com

Johnny_Fontane

can u imagine how much cash nike would have to offer mcilroy to go to nike.

Obviously tiger and rory are best buds at the moment, so cant say it would be surprising.

hundreds of millions though, it would cost them....

Seves Three Iron

I think it's widely accepted in the pro game that many, many players use custom fit clubs with their sponsors' logo put on afterwards.

Talking to one of the top club fitters last winter and he was showing me a chart of the amount of pros that use Miura clubs. It was unbelievable and these guys are contracted to the big stables. A pal of mine has a set of Miura's but I've never used them. Apparently they're absolutely beautiful clubs that often make clubs for players from Nike, TM etc.

It stands to reason I suppose. Sure look at McDowell switching from Callaway to Srixon after winning US Open. Why would you switch and potentially jeopardise your form unless you knew it wasn't really a switch at all.

neckedit

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

can u imagine how much cash nike would have to offer mcilroy to go to nike.

Obviously tiger and rory are best buds at the moment, so cant say it would be surprising.

hundreds of millions though, it would cost
them....

Titlest have him in contract till 2015 i think. If Nike made a play for him no other brand would be able to match them. He might stay loyal to Titlest, as Harrington has with Wilson.

L.O.F.T

neckedit wrote: »

If Nike made a play for him no other brand would be able to match them.

Taylormade-Adidas have the muscle and spending power to rival Nike. As much as Rory & Tiger appear to be 'friends' I can't see Tiger being comfortable playing second fiddle to Rory at Nike and vice versa. Tiger is top dog at Nike and the perfect fit would be Rory being the top dog at Adidas-Taylormade.

slave1

neckedit wrote: »

He might stay loyal to Titlest, as Harrington has with Wilson.

But he's (Harrington) not using Wilson clubs, well driver/putter anyhow, he switched during the summer....still Wilson logo but the carpet don't match the curtains.

dvemail

Don't see why McIlroy would want to change from Titliest unless they start to play hardball with him.
Would be a massive risk for Rory to leave a make of club he has been using all his career and probably most of his amateur days.
Doubt the issue with him would be money but rather would the new equipment be a good match for him.

MP62

dvemail wrote: »

Don't see why McIlroy would want to change from Titliest unless they start to play hardball with him.
Would be a massive risk for Rory to leave a make of club he has been using all his career and probably most of his amateur days.
Doubt the issue with him would be money but rather would the new equipment be a good match for him.

Yea of course its got nothing to do with money at all, and if he were to change then he would be banned from playing any other brand.

Benicetomonty

McIlroy is contracted not only to Titleist but also to Oakley and a switch would require total loyalty I believe - head to toe in swoosh. He'll probably be given a little bit of leeway with the clubs at first Like Woods was but most of what's in his bag would need to be Nike from what I've been told.That means he would have to be bought out of at least 2 major contracts which would cost serious money.

But it could happen and Nike will make that money back in no time if McIlroy goes on to become even a third as successful as Tiger was/is. The new clubs are unlikely to cause much hassle; as was mentioned earlier, Woods' clubs are believed to be Muira and are merely stamped after they're made, no reason why Rors can't come to a similar arrangement.

fullstop

This rumour has done the rounds every year since he turned pro, bar none, so take it with a large helping of salt.

fullstop

slave1 wrote: »

neckedit wrote: »

He might stay loyal to Titlest, as Harrington has with Wilson.

But he's (Harrington) not using Wilson clubs, well driver/putter anyhow, he switched during the summer....still Wilson logo but the carpet don't match the curtains.

Harrington is using Wilson clubs, he uses their irons. He has rarely, if ever, used their putters/drivers. He probably has a 9 club contract.

neckedit

slave1 wrote: »

neckedit wrote: »

He might stay loyal to Titlest, as Harrington has with Wilson.

But he's (Harrington) not using Wilson clubs, well driver/putter anyhow, he switched during the summer....still Wilson logo but the carpet don't match the curtains.

Harringtons deal with wilson is for irons and bag only......as are a lot of them. Only a few 14 club deals I believe mostly from Titleist.

neckedit

Seves Three Iron wrote: »

I think it's widely accepted in the pro game that many, many players use custom fit clubs with their sponsors' logo put on afterwards.

Talking to one of the top club fitters last winter and he was showing me a chart of the amount of pros that use Miura clubs. It was unbelievable and these guys are contracted to the big stables. A pal of mine has a set of Miura's but I've never used them. Apparently they're absolutely beautiful clubs that often make clubs for players from Nike, TM etc.

It stands to reason I suppose. Sure look at McDowell switching from Callaway to Srixon after winning US Open. Why would you switch and potentially jeopardise your form unless you knew it wasn't really a switch at all.

Im not too sure about the while Muria clubs debate. This resurfaces in the buisness every couple of years and its always very well rebutted by suppliers and manufacturers alike. I dont see the logic in brands out sourcing their tour players products.

liam7831

I heard he was using RAM clubs all along..............

staker

Talking to the local pro who runs a driving range and he says since McIlroy's return to form this year the range's turnover has at least doubled. If McIlroy can have that effect at such a "lowly" level how much would he generate at the top end?
I'd like to see him stay at Titleist, but that's just because I can't stand Woods. Adversaries in all departments would be a better thing for the game imo.

Seves Three Iron

neckedit wrote: »

Seves Three Iron wrote: »

I think it's widely accepted in the pro game that many, many players use custom fit clubs with their sponsors' logo put on afterwards.

Talking to one of the top club fitters last winter and he was showing me a chart of the amount of pros that use Miura clubs. It was unbelievable and these guys are contracted to the big stables. A pal of mine has a set of Miura's but I've never used them. Apparently they're absolutely beautiful clubs that often make clubs for players from Nike, TM etc.

It stands to reason I suppose. Sure look at McDowell switching from Callaway to Srixon after winning US Open. Why would you switch and potentially jeopardise your form unless you knew it wasn't really a switch at all.

Im not too sure about the while Muria clubs debate. This resurfaces in the buisness every couple of years and its always very well rebutted by suppliers and manufacturers alike. I dont see the logic in brands out sourcing their tour players products.

Well I can only take the man at his word. He knew his stuff - as he does a lot of work with miura - and put forward a pretty convincing case.

The whole thing appears to be built on pretty flimsy aesthetics anyway. If Rory having a Titleist sign on his hat is enough to convince amateurs that Titleist is a good club choice for them - as is presumably the case - then it doesn't matter a whole pile if its secretly a miura or a garden spade he's using.

GreeBo

staker wrote: »

Talking to the local pro who runs a driving range and he says since McIlroy's return to form this year the range's turnover has at least doubled. If McIlroy can have that effect at such a "lowly" level how much would he generate at the top end?
I'd like to see him stay at Titleist, but that's just because I can't stand Woods. Adversaries in all departments would be a better thing for the game imo.

I dont think you can make that correlation, unless he was quizzing everyone to ask them why they suddenly went to his range and they said it was due to McIlroy.

TheDoc

neckedit wrote: »

Titlest have him in contract till 2015 i think. If Nike made a play for him no other brand would be able to match them. He might stay loyal to Titlest, as Harrington has with Wilson.

I'd imagine when his contract runs out, that there will be some serious bidding at his feet.

If he continues this sort of form he will have a rake of wins and be the games hottest commoditty for sponsors.

There is also nothing to say Nike cant buy his contract from Titleist for a heap.

brick tamland

A bit off topic I know but I never realised that pros don’t use the clubs they always claimed too before the thread. Always wondered did Tiger actually play a Nike Ball. Ive seen the swoosh but is it maybe a ProV1 with an added swoosh?

meath4sam

brick tamland wrote: »

A bit off topic I know but I never realised that pros don’t use the clubs they always claimed too before the thread. Always wondered did Tiger actually play a Nike Ball. Ive seen the swoosh but is it maybe a ProV1 with an added swoosh?

tiger does play a nike ball but its a made just for tiger, not avilable any other pros or in the shop,i think it has a little star on it to stand out from all other balls,its a softer then other nike balls for extra control around greens which he prefers. got that from the hank haney book.

neckedit

Seves Three Iron wrote: »

Well I can only take the man at his word. He knew his stuff - as he does a lot of work with miura - and put forward a pretty convincing case.

The whole thing appears to be built on pretty flimsy aesthetics anyway. If Rory having a Titleist sign on his hat is enough to convince amateurs that Titleist is a good club choice for them - as is presumably the case - then it doesn't matter a whole pile if its secretly a miura or a garden spade he's using.

I understand what your saying, I have been working in the golf industry for over 20 years and as I said this subject often pops back up, to be honest its normally put out there by people who fit and sell Miura, there is no doubting the quality of the clubs, I have tried and played with them, and they are very sweet but way outta of my financial league. With regards to the whole player endorsement thing being flimsy aesthetically, I again I couldn't agree more, but it does make a difference people who uses what, as sales of certain products peak when a player wins using such.

neckedit

TheDoc wrote: »

I'd imagine when his contract runs out, that there will be some serious bidding at his feet.

If he continues this sort of form he will have a rake of wins and be the games hottest commoditty for sponsors.

There is also nothing to say Nike cant buy his contract from Titleist for a heap.

I'd say the brands that can will be falling over them selves to sign him and as you say....it will be heaps!!

Tones69

All money, Rory would play Spalding clubs if they paid him a mint

meath4sam

meath4sam wrote: »

tiger does play a nike ball but its a made just for tiger, not avilable any other pros or in the shop,i think it has a little star on it to stand out from all other balls,its a softer then other nike balls for extra control around greens which he prefers. got that from the hank haney book.

as far as i know when tiger switched from titleist to nike part of the deal was for nike to design a blade as close as possible to the titleist he was using before the switch.

staker

GreeBo wrote: »

I dont think you can make that correlation, unless he was quizzing everyone to ask them why they suddenly went to his range and they said it was due to McIlroy.

That's what he says, might be a bit of spin though. I'd find it hard to believe that it would have such an impact tbh.

staker

Tones69 wrote: »

All money, Rory would play Spalding clubs if they paid him a mint

Wouldn't we all?:D

fullstop

meath4sam wrote: »

as far as i know when tiger switched from titleist to nike part of the deal was for nike to design a blade as close as possible to the titleist he was using before the switch.

And in turn those Titleist blades were clones of Mizuno blades he used as an amateur.

cormacjones

staker wrote: »

Talking to the local pro who runs a driving range and he says since McIlroy's return to form this year the range's turnover has at least doubled. If McIlroy can have that effect at such a "lowly" level how much would he generate at the top end?
I'd like to see him stay at Titleist, but that's just because I can't stand Woods. Adversaries in all departments would be a better thing for the game imo.

Even if Rory did have this effect, unless your friend runs a driving range somewhere in the States I don't think Nike/Titleist will give a monkeys. It's all about that market for them, and Tiger is still king.

staker

cormacjones wrote: »

Even if Rory did have this effect, unless your friend runs a driving range somewhere in the States I don't think Nike/Titleist will give a monkeys. It's all about that market for them, and Tiger is still king.

If he was in the states they still wouldn't give a monkeys.
Of course there are no european players sponsored at all by either Nike or Titleist, not to mention Asian or Australian.
Whether Tiger has the States dominated or not, you're very wrong in thinking there's nothing outside that market for them.
Cue a lucrative deal for McIlroy because worldwide at the minute he's the major sales generator.

LostPassword

staker wrote: »

If he was in the states they still wouldn't give a monkeys.
Of course there are no european players sponsored at all by either Nike or Titleist, not to mention Asian or Australian.
Whether Tiger has the States dominated or not, you're very wrong in thinking there's nothing outside that market for them.
Cue a lucrative deal for McIlroy because worldwide at the minute he's the major sales generator.

Top-athlete equipment deals are more of a branding thing than an advertising thing. Almost nobody buys anything because "that's the one that Tiger / Rory / Messi / Ronaldo / whoever uses". Every time an athlete wins something or does something special, the images of the athlete have the logo in it and the success and specialness of the athlete subconsciously leeches into the brand from the athlete. That's why lots of people will buy a particular brand of clubs following an athlete's triumph with the brand even though they often don't have a clue what brand the athlete uses. Branding is all about subconscious association and very little to do with conscious rationality.

whocares86

neckedit wrote: »

Harringtons deal with wilson is for irons and bag only......as are a lot of them. Only a few 14 club deals I believe mostly from Titleist.

I remember reading in a golf mag where Harrington said he is not required to play a certain amount of Wilson clubs. But as he is the main player with Wilson and help to develop their clubs he is bound to use Wilson as the majority of his clubs

acejeff

Must have been having read this thread yesterday but I had a dream last night where at one golf tournament a lot of the big players were sporting their newly signed sponsorship deals - Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood had moved to Cobra, Rory McIlroy was the new face of MD Golf (good man Rory, keep it local!), Ian Poulter had become incredibly reserved in his dress sense and was the new Dunlop representative, Rickie Fowler was the new face of Nike (and incidentally a multiple Major winner!!) - a premonition perhaps!?

Seves Three Iron

I think you should take it handy on the cheese before bedtime.

onlyfinewine

Seves Three Iron wrote: »

I think you should take it handy on the cheese before bedtime.

What kind of cheese was it? Can we have some?

Seves Three Iron

Judging by the elaborate nature of that dream, I'd suspect it was a large helping of cambozola, perhaps on a flavoured cracker.

acejeff

Seves Three Iron wrote: »

Judging by the elaborate nature of that dream, I'd suspect it was a large helping of cambozola, perhaps on a flavoured cracker.

How did you know? Was that you lurking outside my house last night!?

Johnny_Fontane

acejeff wrote: »

Must have been having read this thread yesterday but I had a dream last night where at one golf tournament a lot of the big players were sporting their newly signed sponsorship deals - Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood had moved to Cobra, Rory McIlroy was the new face of MD Golf (good man Rory, keep it local!), Ian Poulter had become incredibly reserved in his dress sense and was the new Dunlop representative, Rickie Fowler was the new face of Nike (and incidentally a multiple Major winner!!) - a premonition perhaps!?

thats no dream....poulter has become incredibly reserved in his dress sense....

onlyfinewine

Seves Three Iron wrote: »

Judging by the elaborate nature of that dream, I'd suspect it was a large helping of cambozola, perhaps on a flavoured cracker.

Maybe with some type of herb (perhaps spiky) to help the thought process??

redhill

On a similar topic,Ping re-signs Bubba Watson, Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen. All get multiyear contracts. Terms and lengths not disclosed.

meath4sam

On sky news today he has signed to nike

Keano

Don't see anything on any website. Just lots of speculation, it'll happen though

meath4sam

On sky news 15 million a year 10 year deal, think they might trow in a dozen balls with that aswell.

staker

Are they the same crowd that stood by Armstrong til recently?

15 million squid, you can't blame the lad, not gonna make me buy their stuff though.

link_2007

meath4sam wrote: »

On sky news 15 million a year 10 year deal, think they might trow in a dozen balls with that aswell.

While it is clearly a collosal amount of money, I must admit I thought it would be a lot more.

Edit: Wait, I thought it said 15 million over 10 years.

Ignore the stupid person!

dvemail

I'm assuming that's 15million pounds a year also. So it's close enough to the $25million a year over 10 years rumour being thrown about the last few weeks.

Keano

Nothing from Nike yet but he has announced he is leaving Titleist and Footjoy.

the lawman

Where did you see that Keano?