Fila USA "may part ways" with Yankees SS Derek Jeter as
the company "forsakes its attempts to become an All-American
athletic brand, instead trying to build on its European
heritage and high-fashion image," according to Andy
Bernstein of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Sources say that
Jeter's agent, IMG's Casey Close, "has sent faxes to other
footwear manufacturers alerting them that Jeter may soon be
up for grabs." Although Jeter's deal with Fila runs through
spring 2001, Close said that it "contains several escape
clauses." While Fila execs said that "no final decision has
been made regarding Jeter," they "conceded the company is
moving away from baseball as a marketing platform and
looking more toward" int'l sports. Fila Senior VP/
Advertising & Sports Marketing Howe Burch said the company
wants to "focus on what we would call the core categories
for the brand. Sports we would not consider core are
football and baseball." Fila signed Jeter in '97 to
coincide with the launch of branded baseball gloves, and had
planned to launch a baseball cleat line this past spring.
But Bernstein reports that the cleats "never did make it to
market," and Fila officials said that the gloves "likely
will be discounted" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/27 issue).
