Was this Tiger's call

WAS THIS TIGER'S CALL?

In the voicemail released by US Weekly, a man says to Los Angeles waitress Jaimee Grubbs, left:

"Hey, it's, uh, it's Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor. Um, can you please, uh, take your name off your phone. My wife went through my phone. And, uh, may be calling you. If you can, please

take your name off that and, um, and what do

you call it just have it as a number on the voicemail, just have it as your telephone number.

That's it, OK. You gotta do this for me. Huge.

Quickly. All right. Bye."

GLF WOODS (Undated) Without being specific, Tiger Woods admitted transgressions on Wednesday in a rare and personal appeal on his Web site. He apologized to his family for letting them down and appealed again for a measure of privacy amid the firestorm of coverage that has encircled him since he crashed his car outside his house early Friday morning. By Lynn ZinserWoods' sponsors standing behind him for now

Eds: M aol ultimedia: An interactive timeline of the No. 1 golfer's career, recent car accident and alleged affairs will be updated to include audio from US Weekly in the sports/tiger woods folder. Moving on general news, financial and sports services. AP Video.

But the world's most famous athlete, who offered a "profound apology" Wednesday following allegations of infidelity, might find new deals hard to come by, marketing experts say, and the loyalty of existing sponsors could be tested by any additional tawdry stories or his reluctance to address the issue publicly.

"Unfortunately for Tiger, the situation is not over," said Bob Williams, CEO of Burns Entertainment and Sports Marketing, which represents companies looking to hire celebrities to sell their brands.

"The linchpin will be when he addresses the public for the first time," Williams said, adding that will help companies determine how they feel about him.

Woods' apology came in a statement on his Web site, after a cover story in Us Weekly magazine reported that a Los Angeles cocktail waitress claimed to have had a 31 month affair with the world's No. 1 golfer. The magazine also published what it said was a voice mail provided by the waitress, Jaimee Grubbs that Woods left on her phone on Nov. 24, three days before his middle of the night car crash outside his Florida home.

Woods did not offer details of any alleged relationships but said he had "not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves."

Forbes estimated earlier this year that Woods was the first athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings, more than 80 percent of that coming from endorsements with companies such as Nike, Gillette, Gatorade and AT Those are all long term relationships, Octagon First Call's David Schwab said, partners not likely to dump him at the first rough patch.

Nike, Gatorade and EA Sports all released statements Wednesday expressing their support or commitment to Woods, and Gillette said it had no plans to change its marketing programs. AT declined comment.

"These are people who are invested with him in his foundation, his golf courses, across the board. So they're part of his family, too," said Schwab, who also links companies and celebrities for branding opportunities.

In fact, cutting ties with Woods now could actually hurt a company, Schwab said.

"Brands look at how impactful a spokesperson can be for their for brand b nike free run ut also what the public outcry or public opinion would be," he said. "If a brand drops him, there could potentially be negativity toward the brand for doing so.

"That's why brands typically weather the storm."

But companies that may have wanted to align themselves with Woods might rethink that particularly companies whose target audience is women or children. Part of Woods' appeal has been his pristine image, off the course as well as on, and events of the last week have tainted that, making him an easy target.

Jay Leno poked fun at Woods during his show Tuesday night. Spirit Airlines is trying to capitalize on his troubles, too, offering an "eye of the tiger" sale, which they're promoting with a video that shows a tiger in a baseball cap driving an SUV into a fire hydrant.

Zeta Interactive's "Zeta Buzz" mines more than 100 million blogs, message boards and social media posts to analyze the feelings of potential consumers. In the past, terms most associated with Woods were "Masters," "golf" and "winning," Zeta CEO Al DiGuido said. In the last week, that's changed to "affair" and "cheat," DiGuido said.

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