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 Converse terminates Worm's contract
Posted: Tuesday March 23, 1999 06:35 PM
BOSTON (AP) -- The unpredictable Dennis Rodman said he can be counted on to fight a shoe manufacturer's termination of his $15 million endorsement contract a year early. Converse Inc. of North Reading, Mass., is ending its contract with Rodman about one year before it was to expire, according to a source familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Dennis has a contract with Converse," Rodman's spokesman, Matt Labov, said Tuesday. "Dennis has not breached any terms of the contract and we expect Converse to honor the contract." Labov did not specify what action Rodman would take. One of the terms of Rodman's contract with Converse is that he receives $3 million if he plays in Los Angeles, Chicago or New York. Rodman recently walked out on the Los Angeles Lakers for eight days to address personal issues, and returned Sunday. Just before he signed the Converse contract in 1997, the forward had kicked a photographer during a nationally broadcast game. The NBA suspended him, and Eastman Kodak and the West Coast hamburger chain Carl Jr.'s pulled television commercials featuring him. But analysts say Converse's decision to release Rodman has more to do with the declining popularity of expensive athletic shoes and professional basketball than with Rodman's walking away from the team. Nike and Reebok have significantly cut back their endorsement contracts with NBA players. "This is a combination of following that trend as well as the fact that Rodman is a little too eccentric to be counted on," said Bob Dorfman, sports analyst at Foote, Cone & Belding, an ad agency in San Francisco. Last year was one of the worst in the history of the athletic footwear and apparel industry. Nike, Reebok International Ltd., Fila and Converse all suffered sales and profit declines. In February, Converse said revenue fell from $450.2 million in 1997 to $308.4 million last year. Its stock lost more than half its value in the last year. Dorfman said athletic shoes that cost more than $100 are going out of style. Shoe companies are suffering from the Asian economic crisis as well as negative publicity about their employment of sweatshop workers overseas, he said. The NBA has also lost popularity as a result of the player lockout, the retirement of Michael Jordan and a lackluster season, Dorfman said. But it may be premature for Converse to cut Rodman loose, he said. "He hasn't lost as long as he's been on the Lakers, there's a good chance he's going to be in the finals this year, and they're the most closely watched team in basketball," Dorfman said. A Converse spokeswoman said the company does not comment on athlete's contracts.
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