The Sunday Mail
“The Last Dance”, ESPN’s documentary tracking Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls, has captivated the American viewing public at a time when sports are on lockdown.
The first two nights of the 10-part series delved into Jordan’s running mates with the late 1990s Bulls in Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and coach Phil Jackson.
This Sunday explores MJ as a global endorsement phenomenon, with ad slogans like “It’s Gotta Be The Shoes” and “Be Like Mike”.
Nike has always been Jordan’s biggest backer, both financially and marketing-wise. The sportswear giant has paid him an estimated US$1,3 billion by Forbes’ count since it signed its first deal with Jordan in 1984, and it has helped make him a cultural icon.
It is the richest athlete endorsement deal ever but also arguably the biggest bargain given that Jordan helped transform Nike from a scrappy underdog into one of the largest, most valuable consumer brands in the world.
The Nike Swoosh is ubiquitous today, yet that was hardly the case in the mid-1980s. Adidas was 50 percent larger by revenue.
Reebok had just burst on the scene and would surpass Nike in revenue by 1987. Converse was the brand of choice for NBA stars Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Julius Erving.
Jordan wore Converse sneakers at the University of North Carolina, and his first choice was to join Adidas after the Bulls drafted him.
Jordan’s agent, David Falk, who coined the phrase Air Jordan, had other ideas. He had a close relationship with Nike and encouraged Jordan to hear the company’s pitch.
Nike eventually offered a five-year deal with base pay of US$500 000 per year, triple any other NBA sneaker deal.
MJ’s first shoe with Nike was banned by the NBA because it didn’t meet the league’s colour standards.
Nike paid the fine and seized the moment with an iconic 1984 commercial.
“On October 15, Nike created a revolutionary new basketball shoe,” a voice read as Jordan dribbled a basketball.
“On October 18, the NBA threw them out of the game. Fortunately, the NBA cannot keep you from wearing them.” Nike had a hit on his hands.
The first Air Jordan sneaker hit stores the following year and racked up more than US$100 million in sales its first 12 months. MJ’s pay cheques climbed as the Jordan Brand got bigger. He earned an estimated US$130 million from Nike last year, four times as much as LeBron James, who has the biggest shoe deal among active NBA players.
Nike aggressively signed NBA players throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and stars like Kobe Bryant and James helped build its business in the US and China. — Forbes.
