NBA star Michael Jordan has once again made the leap to the big screen. If he previously did it as a co-star sharing a scene with Bugs Bunny in Space Jam, this time, the cameras are set on what is probably the most lucrative deal ever signed between a brand and a celebrity. Last Wednesday it was released aira film directed by Ben Affleck which, as described FilmAffinity“narrates the incredible and revolutionary partnership between Michael Jordan, a rookie at the time, and the fledgling Nike basketball division that revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand.” critically acclaimedthe history of Air leaves several lessons for companies.
And it is that the adjectives of “incredible” and “revolutionary” do not seem to be of more when analyzing the case. The alliance between the basketball star and the textile giant dates back almost 40 years. In 1984, according to different American media that have collected the story, Adidas and Converse were the brands that led the shoe market in the United States. At first it was expected that Jordan would sign with Adidas since it was the brand he had used throughout his life. In order to ally with the promising basketball player, Nike had to throw the house out the window: it put on the table a contract of 500,000 dollars a year for five years.
The amount paid by Nike, which at that time was established as by far the largest collaboration agreement with a celebrity carried out by a shoe firm, since the previous one was New Balance, which paid $ 150,000 a year for eight years to James Worthy, it immediately proved to have been a worthwhile outlay. Although from Nike they expected to obtain 3 million dollars, “only in the first year, Air Jordan generated sales worth 126 million dollars. Quite simply, those shoes were the ones that put Nike on the map”, the portal specialized in sports news writes about it. sportskeeda.
Thus, the Jordan shoe deal was a huge success for Nike right out of the gate, but what’s truly exceptional is that it remains so today. In Nike’s latest annual results, a document published in the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC, the supervisor of the US markets), reflects what Air Jordan means today for the textile giant. Of the 36,151 million dollars that the company entered in 2022, the Jordan brand contributed 5,122 million dollars, the highest figure it has ever registered and the equivalent of 14.16% of all Nike revenue. The question is why it worked so well.
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Francisco Torreblanca, specialist in personal branding at ESIC Business & Marketing School, explains in this regard that there are products that become iconic due to their high emotional charge. “The Air Jordan is, without a doubt, one of them. The great success at the start was associating the AIR concept with the great figure of world basketball, who flew the most and who scored the most points. It is a very powerful concept and by humanizing it with the figure of the moment, the position it achieved in the minds and hearts of an entire generation was brutal. So much so that today many teenagers indulge in AIR Jordans, without knowing Jordan or caring who he was. What matters is that the product maintains its long-term aura and trail, having become a category of its own. Pure irrationality, just as we humans are: irrational”, reflects the expert.
Nike went out of the ordinary
The first answer is that Nike bet like never before on someone who was a newcomer to the NBA at that time and this worked out for him, since Jordan became a legend of the sport. “Without a doubt this is a key action, because it is very difficult that, if a world brand bets on you when you are nobody because it perceives that you will become one, not continue with it. That emotional bond (again) generates a huge loyalty component. It’s something similar to being a member of a specific team since you were little, then it’s unlikely that you’ll change colours”, affirms Torreblanca.
But not only the American company broke the schemes by putting a millionaire contract to a rookie. In 1997, with the idea in mind that its golden goose would last over time, Nike encouraged what had initially been a line of shoes within its company to become its own brand.
“That year, Jordan Brand and Nike decided to let the Air Jordan line operate 100% independently. It was a brave move that demonstrated the great confidence Nike had in the brand. The decision was probably heavily influenced by the fact that the 1997-1998 season was thought to be Michael Jordan’s last active season. Nike had to do something absolutely gigantic to show consumers that the jumping man signature was not going away, but he was here to stay ”, details an article from the store. shoepalace.
Thus, by the hand of a Michael Jordan who was active again after retiring for the first time in 1993 and along with other great NBA promises who would later also become a legend, such as Ray Allen, another mythical escort who in his case reached the summit with the Seattle Supersonics, Jordan Brand was born. Precisely, Allen himself gives a clue to another of the keys to the success of the shoes that elevated Nike.
Agreements beyond Michael Jordan
Another lesson from the Nike success story is the importance of not closing yourself off to new possibilities even when you are already having considerable success. As the career of the incombustible Jordan was ending, the company signed agreements with other athletes so that, under the umbrella of Jordan Brand, they would become part of the brand with their own designs. This practice continues to this day and is, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts, the fundamental ingredient so that it has not become outdated.
“Jordan Brand’s deals with Luka Doncic and Zion Williamson will boost sales and strengthen Nike’s reputation in basketball. […] The lifetime contract with LeBron James, as well as the alliance with Giannis Antetokounmpo, further boost his leadership role in the segment”, summed up analyst Sydney Goodman for Bloomberg, gathering four of the great names in basketball today in his comments. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook… They also have their own custom design with Jordan Brand.
Torreblanca points out that, although the brand has been able to incorporate new stars, at the same time it has kept Jordan at the center. “The keys to this success story are first, of course, the high economic component for the athlete. Second, giving it a privileged position compared to other sponsored athletes and, third, a lot of care throughout the process, since at any time any other brand can tempt the athlete”, he comments.
hit and care
If Jordan initially received $500,000 per year in exchange for giving his last name to the brand, the contract evolved over time. Thus, according Essentially Sports, the star gets 5% of the brand’s sales. With 2022 sales, this would equate to about $256 million.
Beyond the right decisions, the component of luck has also played in favor of this alliance. Jordan became considered the best player of all time and, furthermore, he is a figure whose personality has not generated controversy.
This last point is especially important in light of what happened between Kanye West and Adidas. The rapper, of great projection and success in his activity, had an agreement with the German firm with the “Yeezy” product line. This line generated sales of 1,470 million dollars (1,500 million euros) a year, which represented about 7% of Adidas’ total income.
As explained in an article previously published in CincoDías, the relationship was blown up at the end of October 2022 after the rapper’s anti-Semitic and racist statements that the sports firm described as unacceptable. In a statement, the German sporting goods manufacturer said it “does not tolerate anti-Semitism or any other type of hate speech.” And he pointed out that “the recent statements and actions of Ye (this is how the musician now calls himself) are unacceptable, hateful and dangerous.” Nike not only got the basketball player right, but also the person.
Record-breaking sneakers
The 1998 NBA Finals were the most watched in history. Jordan’s Bulls faced the Utah Jazz of Karl Malone or John Stockton. After a defeat in the opening game of the finals, the Bulls prevailed in the second game by 93-88. Jordan led the victory, with 37 points, and on his feet he wore the shoes that Sotheby’s close to selling for at least $1.8 million. “Wearing these remarkable Bred Air Jordan XIII shoes, Jordan blasted his way to his sixth NBA championship. As soon as the game was over, the ball boy in charge of the visiting locker room received a gift from Michael Jordan. The ball boy gave Jordan a jacket that he had lost. Michael took off his sneakers, autographed each one, and gave them to him as a thank you,” explains Sotheby’s.
The bids for these shoes that Jordan gave to a young ball boy from Utah close on April 11 and the auction portal expects the final price to be between $2 million and $4 million. For now, he has received a bid of $1.8 million. With the initial offer alone, these shoes would rank as the third most expensive in history. The first are gold and diamond sneakers that the Bisiön brand made for Dwyne Wade that were sold at auction for 2.3 million euros.
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