EA: Tiger Woods needs to start winning
Publisher turns the screw on troubled golfer.
Tiger Woods needs to start winning games in order for his business relationship with EA to make sense, says EA boss John Riccitiello.
"We have no plans to move away from him, but it's a business relationship on the basis of we make the best golf game and he's the best golfer," Riccitiello told Reuters.
"Both of those things need to be true in the long run for the partnership to make sense."
"He sort of stuck with us for a very long time and we made great business together," he added, "and we're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for a period of time."
The golfing icon has suffered a serious dip in form since last year's tabloid feeding frenzy surrounding his extra-marital affairs.
Sales of EA's annual Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchise have taken a battering this year too, with speculation that the two turn of events might not be entirely unrelated.
Sales of the 2011 iteration were down 68 per cent compared to the previous year's edition, leading retail analyst Doug Creutz to comment, "we are concerned that Woods' scandal woes may have permanently damaged the sales potential of what we believe to be EA's third most important sports franchise, behind Madden and FIFA."
