Source:   Vancouver Sun
Contact:   Thu 12 Feb 1998
Section: News A1 / Front
Author: John MacKie

REBAGLIATI NOW WORTH EVEN MORE, AGENT SAYS

Snowboarder Ross Rebagliati's gold medal victory in Nagano has been
tarnished by a drug scandal. But he could still be on the road to becoming
a cultural icon.

Before the furore over his Olympic suspension, Rebagliati was just one of
dozens of athletes who would have come home with a gold medal from Nagano.
As a Canadian, Rebagliati might have made up to $500,000 per year in
endorsements and sponsorships.

But the traces of marijuana in his dope test have thrust the 26-year-old
Whistler resident on to the front page around the globe. And some people
think his marketing value could go sky-high, particularly in snowboarding
circles, which revel in their alternative image.

``He could make millions of dollars,'' said sports agent Ron Perrick, who
represents such National Hockey League players as Rod Brind'Amour and Cliff
Ronning.

``In this case, he's won a gold medal. Maybe it's taken away, maybe it's
not. There's a TV movie, a book, there's all kinds of stuff there now that
wasn't there before. Before, it was a gold medal in snowboarding. Now the
story is much, much bigger and therefore might be much, much more lucrative
for him. You can see this guy on Letterman, he's going to be everywhere.''

Places you probably won't seem him are on a kids' cereal box, or in
commercials for big, conservative corporations such as car companies.

``I can't think of a single sponsor who would take him, aside from the Hemp
Growers of America,'' said Barry Frank, vice-president of New York's
International Management Group, one of the world's largest representatives
of athletes.

But North Vancouver's Perrick thinks Rebagliati's new-found fame could be
dynamite for the right advertiser. ``He's like a cult hero,'' Perrick said.
``There are things that people react to. I remember when Willie Nelson wore
a Moosehead Beer T-shirt to one of his Farm Aid concerts. Well, Moosehead
Beer became the most popular beer for a while in the United States and
Canada -- they couldn't make the stuff fast enough.''

One of Rebagliati's current sponsors is Kokanee Beer, a division of Labatt.
The company plans to stick with Rebagliati's elite snowboarding team, the
JW4.

``This incident is obviously an unfortunate blip,'' said Paul Smith,
Labatt's director of public affairs. ``We're fully committed to promoting
and supporting the sport of snowboarding, and will continue to do that.''

Snowboarder Moe Arsenault said Rebagliati's name is now golden in
snowboarding circles.

``This guy kicks ass. If he's going to put his name on a product, I would
look at it,'' said Arsenault, a 20-year-old who hits the slopes five times
a week.

Marijuana advocate Marc Emery of Hemp B.C. said Rebagliati is now the
poster boy for B.C.'s billion dollar marijuana industry. In fact, there is
already talk of naming a strain of B.C.'s world-renowned pot Golden Boy, in
Rebagliati's honour.

``We love that guy,'' Emery said. ``He's the Canadian cannabis hero.''

One factor that may work in Rebagliati's favour is snowboarding's outlaw
image. In a way, it's only fitting that the sport's first Olympic gold
medal winner should stir up such controversy.

Snowboarding was invented in the late 1970s, but was virtually banned from
ski hills until the late 1980s. Snowboarders were seen to be the bad boys
and girls of the hills, anarchistic daredevils with a major attitude
problem.

In any event, snowboarding boomed in the late '80s, when it was embraced as
a possible financial saviour of the struggling ski industry.