Tuesday, March 19, 2002
Olympian's deal with Hilfiger not an endorsement
By Darren Rovell ESPN.com
University of Colorado football recruit Jeremy Bloom's collegiate eligibility appeared to be in jeopardy Monday after the 19 year old, better known as an Olympic freestyle skier, signed a deal with Tommy Hilfiger to promote the clothing company's fall 2002 line.
But on Tuesday, Bloom's agent and a compliance officer at the University of Colorado told ESPN.com that Bloom can fulfill the deal and still be eligible to play football this fall. Bloom, who signed a letter of intent with the Buffaloes a year ago, deferred his scholarship for a year to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Freestyle team. He has not announced whether he plans to play football this year.
NCAA bylaws stipulate that future student-athletes can endorse products and receive compensation as long as the athlete is not receiving money once he or she begins intercollegiate competition.
But Bloom's agent, Andy Carroll, said the Hilfiger deal technically is a modeling contract, not an endorsement deal, meaning Bloom doesn't necessarily have to delay his college football career further.
"Jeremy is not obligated to wear the clothing outside of his modeling shoot," Carroll said. "He can make as much money as he wants off this as long as he is doing the modeling during school breaks."
After not playing football last season to focus exclusively on skiing, Bloom made the U.S. Olympic team. He placed ninth in the moguls in Salt Lake City in February and on Saturday clinched the World Cup season title in the event.
According to NCAA spokeswoman Jane Jankowski, enrolled athletes can receive money for other professional sports, such as minor league baseball, as long as the income earned is made in salary only. Collegiate athletes cannot be used in any advertising or accept endorsements while playing those sports.
Jankowski said Bloom could receive money from modeling as long as he meets certain criteria. Bloom's modeling would have to have started before he enrolled; his modeling couldn't be based on his athletic ability (football); the company could not mention his involvement with NCAA athletics; and his pay would have to be commensurate with similar modeling contracts.
"Modeling is just your body," said Sherri McKelvey, Colorado's assistant compliance coordinator, who has been dealing with Carroll and Bloom. "As long as his name is not associated with University of Colorado or college football he can be paid to wear clothes. Athletes can be good looking kids, and they can model because of their looks, not because of their athletic ability."
Last month, Bloom requested a waiver that would allow him to put his endorsement money in a trust because freestyle skiing is not an NCAA sport. The NCAA denied his request.
While Bloom is taking classes, he can only earn up to $2,000 a year, but McKelvey said modeling completed during school breaks does not count as part of the NCAA restriction.
Bloom already has endorsements with Oakley sunglasses and DynaStar skis but would also have to give up those deals if he wanted to play football. Carroll said that many endorsement offers are on the table, but Bloom has not decided as of yet if he will play for the Buffaloes this upcoming season.
Bloom will be promoting Tommy Jeans in print advertisements for the clothing company, according to a news release -- which did not mention that Bloom was a football player.
Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at Darren.rovell@espn.com.
