The sports brand overall profit in golf ball sales after the scandal was $1.6 million greater than it would have been if the brand had dropped its sponsorship of Woods as other partners did.

“The retail data shows clear movement in sales and brand market share at particular time points that coincide with Woods’ endorsement of Nike products and during the period of negative publicity associated with his personal scandal, which began last year,” said Timothy Derdenger, assistant professor of economics and strategy.

“Although we have found Woods’ continued endorsement to be profitable for Nike, this may not translate into similar results with non-golf related consumer goods – where the celebrity is not inherently part of the enthusiasts community or where his financial success is not directly tied to the use of the endorsed product,” added doctoral candidate Kevin YC Chung.

The research says the endorsement of Nike products by Woods resulted in the acquisition of approximately 4.5 million customers and $60 million dollars in profit for the last 10 years.

In the six months following the personal revelations, Nike lost approximately 105,000 customers, but these losses were not gained by other brands as the negative publicity resulted in a net loss to the golfing industry of $7.5 million in profit overall.