A recent tweet from business historian Jon Erlichman talks about the massive growth Nike had when they saw Michael Jordan’s business potential back in 1984. This was way before he even started winning NBA rings with the Chicago Bulls, David Falk and Phil Knight had a vision when their company was only getting started during that decade.
They saw what nobody else did in Michael, a generational talent who would someday become the best basketball player in the world. However, they truly had no idea of the scope this man would reach even after his retirement. In their initial predictions, they hoped Michael Jordan would generate them $3 million in the span of 4 years with his first Nike contract. A lot has happened since then, it’s been truly a wild ride for both Nike and MJ.
Enter Jordan Brand
From the very first month of sales, Nike realized Michael Jordan was a brand all by himself and his shoes really sold like hot cakes. From that moment forward, he became a cultural phenomenon that made people around to world go crazy over his shoes. Today, Jordan generates those $3 million every five hours. Nike pays him $410,000 per day and he earns a staggering $150 million based on his 2021 earnings according to Forbes.
Michael Jordan makes 5% out of every single Jordan Brand item sold. Nike generates a total of $15 million in Jordan Brand sales every single day. Talk about making an impact. None of this would’ve been possible of Michael Jordan wasn’t as successful as he was inside the court, make no mistake about that.
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Jordan Brand’s impact in today’s reselling market
The sneaker reselling market has taken a life of its own over the last 20 years, it’s truly gone to unsuspected heights. What Jordan Brand generates on a daily basis pales in comparison to what it generates in reselling. In many cases, some silhouettes are making between 400% and 500% more than their retail price.
This is due to a combination of factors that include exclusivity of the model, demand and impact of the silhouette in question. Inadvertedly, Michael Jordan also generates jobs for millions of people around the world who decided to get into the sneaker and sports apparel business. But the question is, have you copped a pair of J’s yet?