Michael Jordan has been retired from the world of basketball for 20 years, but he remains the great icon of the sport of basketball. There were 15 seasons on the hardwood in which he earned the label of best player of all time… and in which he pocketed 91 million dollars. An astronomical salary for the time, but one that is dwarfed by current salaries (Curry earns 51 million this season alone) and, above all, for what Jordan has earned once he retired.
The former Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards player has achieved a new career high. Although this time he has not achieved it by scoring baskets, but by selling sneakers. Jordan will close the year with profits of 331 million dollars thanks to the more than 6.6 billion it has invoiced its sportswear brand, since it takes 5% of each brand’s product. That is In a single year he has earned 350% more than in his entire sporting career.
The brand of the five-time NBA MVP and winner of six rings accounts for 14% of the revenue generated by Nike and In just five years it has doubled its turnover, going from 2.8 billion invoiced in 2018 to 6.6 billion that the brand has generated in this 2023 that is now ending. Figures with which has surpassed Adidas, Puma and New Balance as the second best-selling sports brand in the United States, only behind Nike. In short, the most lucrative business in the history of sports. Although it wasn’t always like this.
In 1984 Converse dominated the market with faces like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the references of the Lakers and Celtics. They controlled the market, they had the best stars and the most popular sneakers. The alternative was Adidas, a German brand that had Kareem-Abdul Jabbar as its main asset. Jordan himself had worn both Adidas and Converse, at the university, without any type of contract, only for aesthetic or sporting preference. Nike wasn’t really an option, but their proposal was the most daring. And to understand it you have to know the role that Sonny Vaccaro had, the person in charge of convincing Nike to sign a very young Michael Jordan, just out of university. But, above all, from his mother.
This is how sports marketing changed
Everything changed thanks to Deloris Jordan. “After the first meeting, it was clear to me that the way to reach him was through his family. Michael only listened to his family, especially his mother,” said Vaccaro about his first meeting with the player’s mother. Vaccaro convinced Deloris, who over the phone He negotiated the percentage (5%) of each pair of sneakers sold that would go into his son’s pockets.
On April 1, 1985, Nike released white, red and black sneakers that are now sports history: the Jordan 1. Boots that the player had already worn in some games and in the dunk contest that same season and which came out with a retail price of $65. A market value that today has multiplied by three.
The sneakers went on sale in just six states and from the beginning they exceeded any expectations on the part of the Oregon brand. Nike’s forecasts aimed to sell 100,000 pairs in the first year. However, those sneakers were a real boom and in just one month they had surpassed 450,000 pairs. sold. It was only the beginning of a story that in 2023 alone has left more than 6 billion dollars in Nike’s coffers.
Passionate about basketball since he was a child, Guillermo García has managed to make the sport of basketball his profession. Graduated in Humanities from the Carlos III University and with a Master in Journalism, he began working at Marca in 2003, where he had time to do everything from football to reports and opinion, including the closing section. In 2011 he began as an editor on the official NBA website in Spanish and since then he has covered basketball information with special attention to what is happening in the United States. In addition, he has covered two Eurobasket, two World Cups and two Olympic Games, along with a multitude ACB playoffs, NBA and Euroleague Final Four games. He has also been able to interview figures from other sports such as Usain Bolt, Simone Biles or Armand Duplantis. …
2023-12-25 06:35:43
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