Crisis management is an important factor when it comes to public relations and athletics. An athlete's image is major for companies to potentially endorse them. Most of an athlete's money comes from their endorsement contracts, but a tarnished image can potentially hurt their chances of getting signed.
Major sponsors like Gatorade, Nike, or Disney have an industry standard to uphold to their consumers. The face selling any of their products must be a credible one, one that the public can trust and believe in. There have been unfortunate cases where a spokesperson's personal life has conflicted with the interest of the sponsor...More than likely the sponsor will move on to find another cash cow.
When the Tiger Woods cheating scandal broke his squeaky clean reputation took a hit. Another thing was his wallet. Other than his inevitable divorce, one of the first things go was his endorsement deal with Gatorade. His PR team tried to frame the story like it was just a argument with his wife. For a few days the public was led to believe that there was nothing going on and that the story was blown out of proportion. I know I was part of that group. When the real story came out, I didn't want to believe it. Like the old saying goes when it comes to framing: If the facts don't fit the frame, you don't change the story. You change the facts.
In the end Tiger Woods' PR team tried to take the actual story and frame it could still keep him in good standing with his sponsors and the public. But unfortunately the truth was revealed and he really did have multiple mistresses.
