Tiger Woods Embarrasses EA Sports

Market research firm NPD says that Electronic Arts' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 sold only 32% of the volume sold in its first month on the market last year.

Author:: Andrea Tse
Publish date:: Jul 16, 2010 5:00 PM EDT

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- Market research firm NPD said that that

Electronic Arts'

(ERTS)

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 sold only 32% of the volume has sold in its first month last year and didn't even make it to the top ten title list in June.

EA Sports attributes the disappointing numbers to "the slowing of the overall Wii software market and Tiger's performance on the course," according to CNBC. Notably missing from this statement was his legendary sex scandal, which dominated media coverage for months after it broke last year but that

Nike

(NKE) - Get Report

chairman Phil Knight had dismissed as a "minor blip" in his career in an interview with

SportsBusiness Journal

Among the games that surpassed Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 included

Walt Disney's

(DIS) - Get Report

"Toy Story 3" and

THQI

(THQ) - Get Report

"UFC 2010: Undisputed."

Both Electronic Arts and Nike have been steadfast about their support for the golfer, but sooner or later, their patience could wear out if the Tiger brand doesn't start earning them returns.

Earlier this year, they had been jumping at the opportunity to include him in

big ads

as soon as he fully re-emerged into the public eye this past spring.

Tiger sponsors like

AT&T

(T) - Get Report

Accenture

(ACN) - Get Report

PepsiCo's

(PEP) - Get Report

Gatorade brand and

P&G's

(PG) - Get Report

Gillette didn't stick around to see how the Tiger scandal would pan out. They jumped before the ship could sink.

A study by finance professors at the University of California, Davis, estimated that shareholders of Tiger Woods-endorsed companies lost between $5 billion and $12 billion in market value after his sex scandal broke.

Electronic Arts stock fell 4.5% to $14.79 at Friday's closing bell, while Nike tumbled 2.4% to $68.96.