Michael Jordan signed with Nike on October 26, 1984. The running shoe company took a big gamble on the University of North Carolina product. Jordan agreed to a $500,000 contract for five years.
Six months later, the Air Jordan line was born. “The Swoosh” projected that the Jordan 1 would earn roughly $3 million in four years after releasing the shoe. The brand, and likely Jordan’s estimate, was way off. The AJ1 hit a staggering $130 million in one year after it was launched.
From the estimated $3 million in four years, Nike generated $3 million every five hours in 2022 from the Jordan brand. Nobody expects the numbers to slack with the NBA’s ever-growing popularity and the way the Jumpman has become a part of American culture.
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Here’s what Michael Jordan has earned every year since 2018 based on his 5% royalty agreement with Nike (per Buster):
“Jordan Brand Annual Sales”
• 2018: $2.8 billion
• 2019: $3.1 billion
• 2020: $3.7 billion
• 2021: $4.8 billion
• 2022: $5.1 billion
• 2023: $6.6 billion
This means that for 2023, which will end in roughly a week, Michael Jordan added a cool $330 million to his bank account. The man who sold his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets for $3 billion will only get richer.
With the Jordan brand’s increasing sales, “His Airness” may one day hit this:
“If this growth continues, MJ may be making 1 Billion per year in royalties one day soon. It will then continue to his estate.”
Nike gambled big time in 1984. The bet hasn’t stopped winning in nearly 40 years.
Adidas must still be having nightmares with its decision not to aggressively pursue Michael Jordan
Adidas was a much more established and popular basketball shoe brand in the 80s than Nike. In 1973, 80% of NBA players were wearing the Superstar, one of the German-based company’s iconic shoes. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and George Gervin were two of the most popular players who regularly wore the said shoe.
Almost everyone knew that Michael Jordan wanted to wear the “Three Stripes” brand. Signing the 1984 National College Player of the Year would have been a cinch. Instead, Nike pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in sports shoe deal history.
The Chicago Bulls legend had this to say about his history with Adidas and Nike:
“You know what, the thing is, I never wore Nike shoes until I signed the Nike contract. All throughout college, we wore Converse, and up to that point, my favorite shoe was Adidas shoes. At that time, when everybody was trying to recruit me about what shoes to wear, I was pro-Adidas the whole time.
“But then I was very loyal. I went back to Adidas and said look; this is the Nike contract; if you come anywhere close, I’ll sign with you guys. Anywhere close to what they were putting on the table. … They didn’t feel that it was worth it, which in hindsight, was perfect for me because it made my decision much easier, and I ended up with Nike.”
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Edited by Michael Macasero