While gay people around the world were screaming “homophobia” because Matthew Mitcham had not received any endorsement-deal offers in 2008, it seems he did. AussieBum was rumored months ago to be planning on offering him a deal, and now SameSame says AussieBum did offer him a six-figure deal, but that Mitcham’s management ignored the offer (luckily for us, plenty of other guys have decided to work with AussieBum). An unnamed AussieBum spokesperson told the blog:
The bottom line is AussieBum was very supportive of Matt’s trip to the Olympics. Sean [Ashby, AussieBum founder] sat him down and offered him a job. We want him to be a part of the company, to go out to the marketplace. We wanted to give him a career. It was a really fantastic opportunity as the face of the company, but they [his management] came back and said they could offer us only a few hours a week. We thought they misunderstood us, but from there we didn’t hear back from them. To say that Matt Mitcham has had no offers is wrong.
Interestingly, the article has since been removed from the SameSame site.
Whether the deal was right for Mitcham we certainly cannot say. But if this is true, it’s clear that his management let the calls of “homophobia” ring across the Internet while they knew he was getting offers. That would be pretty crappy.
We at Outsports always questioned the conclusion that the reason for Mitcham’s lack of endorsement deals “had” to be homophobia. With this revelation, by Mitcham’s own recent revelations, and the fact that he has in fact received a deal with Telstar, it’s becoming more and more clear that homophobia has had little effect on Mitcham’s finances.
Hat tip to Aussielicious.
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 1:47 PM
Sounds like someone needs new management.
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 2:28 PM
It’s possible that Mitcham turned down Aussie Bum for totally valid reasons. That does not excuse Mitcham, though, from claiming how “rough” it has been to get sponsors, which has left the implication that his sexuality may be an issue. Why not acknowledge he did get offers but did not feel they were the right fit?
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Wow, an athlete not being forthcoming with the public. Imagine that!
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 4:43 PM
We don’t know the full story here for sure. But I think Jim’s onto it. I have no problem with anyone turning down a company because they didn’t feel it was the right fit. But when the public is clamoring for information about that very issue, and jumping to conclusions, someone’s got to say something.
I also find it odd that the site took their story down. I’ll try to pursue more information on this, though it’ll be tough for the next couple days as it is already the weekend in Australia.
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 9:04 PM
Yes, please investigate this further. A “six-figure” deal with a well-known Australian company that makes swimwear (the very thing that one would associate with a diver) seems like quite an ideal sponsorship deal.
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 9:16 PM
I don’t know–this opportunity seems like only one step above endorsing a gay cruise line. There’s a big difference between a national telephone carrier and niche underwear mostly targeted to gay men. Perhaps aussieBum is seen differently in Australia but that’s my American assumption about the company.
on Feb 14th, 2009 at 8:52 PM
Why are we beating up on Matt Mitcham? He is an out and proud gay athlete. Sean Ashby of AussieBum is an honest and straightforward man. I believe him. But still, Matt needs our support, too. Though he may not have the achievements of Michael Phelps, he has conducted himself with more maturity, which we must applaud. Whatever happened to giving the benefit of the doubt?
on Feb 14th, 2009 at 11:13 PM
Michael Phelps’ mea culpa disgusted me! Rather than just saying, “i screwed up. I’m sorry,” he made it a point to mention numerous times how he had let down his fans in China, where he has lucrative endorsement deals. Matt Mitcham is still a better model than Phelps for the way he conducts his life. Phelps has from the end of the Olympics been in every tabloid and gossip column for endless indiscretions and squiring the latest waitress du jour. Matt Mitcham took a vacation with his boyfriend. Yet, our community, it appears, is bending over backwards to prove that Matt Mitcham should not be believed when he says that he has found it tough to gain endorsements.
Look, Jim is right that we should not suspect homophobia just because one gay athlete whose achievements do not match those of more well-known athletes, did not get a slew of endorsement contracts. And we should take satisfaction that Matt is the spokesman for a product with a wider appeal than a gay niche. After all, he gains wider visibility as an out athlete hawking the phone company rather than AussieBum. Nonetheless, we ought to keep in mind that being out still leads to assumptions that can affect product makers’ decisions.
All this leads me to my belief that the most admired athlete to come out of the Olympics is Johann Olav Koss. Matt would be well served to follow in his footsteps and bring to the world stage a cause close to his heart. Might I suggest the cause of human rights abuses and how they affect the GLTB community?
on Feb 15th, 2009 at 7:45 PM
Why wouldn’t we believe Mitcham when he says that it was tough to get an endorsement deal?? There are a lot of athletes, let alone gold medallists, in Australia, in USA and in all the world who haven’t got any sponsor yet…and you won’t be here saying that it was racism/homophobia/insert any other issue here- that stepped in their way to get sponsors, will you? It’d be so absurd.
I knew that as soon as he signed with his new management that they would somehow turn down the AussieBum offer and I think they did the right thing. I agree with boomer. It was great that he didn’t sign for them. AussieBum’s main clients are gay men….I even read in an Aussie forum that you rarely see men wearing AussieBum in Australia (of course they mean straight men, which is somewhat true), and it would have been kinda ostracizing him by targeting him and putting him as an icon for gay men only…which of course his management doesn’t want for him. They want him to be an sports icon and not a gay one, and it’s clear that that’s what Matthew wants.
To having signed with the largest phone company in Australia aimed to a general public (men/women/youth/old ppl/etc etc) would make him more mainstream and available for all media, which translates into more diffusion of his impeccable image and more endorsement money.
I hope the endorsements that come for him in the future (because they will) are all of this sort. Mainstream, for all people to see, to show everybody that sexuality isn’t an issue at all , that if you are the best at your sport – gay, straight or
whatever – that’s what matters most.
on Feb 16th, 2009 at 2:28 AM
I thought it was homophobia, that is until I uncovered some information about a swimmer and diver from ESPN from Australia who was heavily endorsed and was openly gay in the 90′s.
I showed Jim and we both concluded it wasn’t homophobia.
Although this doesn’t excuse Mitcham, I’m sorta disappointed he turned down the AussieBum offer. It would have been nice seeing him in skimpy underwear.
on Feb 16th, 2009 at 5:02 PM
@ DJ — Mitcham was the FIRST AND ONLY ONE Aussie sportsman who came out to the media, so I’d like to know who’s this openly gay and heavily endorsed Aussie swimmer/diver you’re referring to.
Maybe’s because of the sport rather than homophobia?
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25048303-5017479,00.html
on Feb 16th, 2009 at 5:49 PM
DJ was referencing rugby player Ian Roberts, who was VERY public in coming out while playing. He got the sport wrong, but not the idea that it happened in the 1990s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Roberts_(rugby_league)
on Feb 17th, 2009 at 3:15 AM
Thanks Jim, glad you still had the name in the email I sent ‘ya.
Funny how I messed that up, I should have known. Despite I only started following the AFL back a while ago.
on Feb 17th, 2009 at 11:27 AM
The thing with Ian Roberts has been iconic…he came out while still playing in the Aussie Rugby League and the reaction of his team-mates, the club and the fans has been incredibly positive towards him.
I think it had a lot to do with his sport…he was a rugby player and as we know, rugby is one of the most gay-friendly sports in the world. There are even openly gay referees in rugby, something unthinkable in other sports like football
)
(soccer
If he had been, say, an American football player, he would have suffered a hell of a lot of abuse and even a dramatic tarnishing of his image. In fact, Roberts’ coming out didn’t affect the intimidating, super-tough image he had as a player at all.
As for Mitcham, I agree with the article Kenneth posted…The issue is more a matter of his sport than homophobia indeed. Diving’s not a major-profile sport where big bucks roll in. But am sure that he’ll make the difference.
on Feb 19th, 2009 at 1:28 AM
You know, admired but nonetheless fallible, men & women at OutSports, there’s a journalistic world of difference between your statement “that the reason for Mitcham’s lack of endorsement deals ‘had’ to be homophobia” is suspect (as are all presumptions in investigative journalism) and the historical probability that needs to be objectively investigated as to how Mitcham’s abundance or paucity of endorsement deals (signed, sealed & delivered, as opposed to the innumerable rumors that are part & parcel of all of the advertising industry) compares to similarly outstanding athletes who are (or were, historically) identified as straight. That requires more than hunches and anonymous anecdotes. Which bushes have you beaten to bring out the truth?