Figure-skating champion Johnny Weir says the economic slump has put the brakes on sponsorship deals for athletes in non-major-league sports. “It was hard enough anyway, especially for men skaters, but now with the economy the way it is, there’s nothing out there for us,” Weir told us at the Skating With the Stars gala at Wollman Rink last night. He says his federation still pays for travel, and he gets some backing from his ice rink and skate manufacturer, but that’s about it. “Everything else I pay for: costumes, this and that,” Weir says.
But as a sort of iconoclast, Weir knows his is not necessarily the image that mass-market brands go for. “I’m not commercial, I’m not for Special K cereal and I’m not a Wheaties boy; I’m a little bit more avant-garde, a little bit more out there,” he says. So who would be his dream sponsor? “A big fashion company would make me so happy — Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton. Or Teterboro Airport and their private jets.”
But he won’t take just anyone’s money. “Honestly, I got offered to be in a porn once. It was after the Olympics,” Weir says. He turned that offer down, but if this recession drags on, all bets are off. “Maybe in a few years,” he said, laughing. “If things keep getting worse.”
