As we often discuss on Sports Business Radio, Tiger Woods, all by himself is a multi-billion industry. He drives TV ratings, attendance at golf tournaments and sponsor revenues. He has endorsement deals with companies like Nike Golf, Gatorade, Buick and Tag Hauer. Tiger Woods earns over $100M a year and is the highest earning athlete on the planet today.

So today's news that he will miss the rest of the 2008 golf season due to knee surgery has a ripple effect on many corporations.

The U.S. Open this weekend on ESPN and NBC got huge ratings. The Monday playoff got an 8.0 rating with almost zero promotion - and on a work day - that's a HUGE rating by the way. The TV networks carrying golf for the remainder of the season will see ratings dip sharply because its well documented that when Tiger is not playing, people are not tuning in - especially the casual golf fan.

What about the tournament organizers who now have to put on their event without Tiger? Tiger has played a much more limited schedule in recent years so more and more tournaments are having to deal with no Tiger in their field, but there will definitely be a decline in interest without Tiger. And the sponsors who have paid top dollar to associate their brand with a tournament Tiger was going to play in..............sorry. Its worth noting that Tiger hosts several tournaments each year that raise money for his foundation, including the upcoming AT&T National in Washington D.C. and the Target World Challenge later this year. Will Tiger even be on hand to help shine the spotlight on these events and serve as an ambassador for his foundation? We'll see.

I'll be very interested to see the TV ratings for the two remaining majors of the year - the British Open and the PGA Championship (where Tiger is the defending champ). I'll bet you the TV ratings are down considerably with no Tiger. There certainly won't be the buzz around the events. And many people tune in to watch Tiger chase history and Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships.

How about the Fed-Ex Cup? Tiger won a $10M bonus last year for winning the season long points race and he is leading the race again this year. Now the door is open for other players to claim that enormous bonus prize (keep in mind that Jack Nicklaus won 113 tournaments in his career and earned a total of $6M in prize money). Despite Phil Mickelson's poor play at the Open, he's in 2nd place in the Cup standings and stands to be the biggest "winner" as a result of Tiger's absence. Phil could add a major or two to his belt and also win the Fed-Ex Cup and the large sum of money that accompanies the title.

Tiger's sponsors won't get nearly the exposure with Tiger on the sidelines. He won't be nearly as visible as he's been in years past. Will sales of the products he endorses slip because Tiger isn't as top of mind with consumers as normal? Tiger won't likely see competition on a golf course until January...........will it be "out of sight out of mind"?

Just as Wayne Gretzky was everything to the NHL, Tiger Woods is everything to the golf world. When he's not playing, the sport is just not the same.

We'll have lots more on Tiger Woods and the U.S. Open on this weekend's edition of Sports Business Radio.