Nike is without a doubt the biggest athletics brand in the world today, and they have Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan to thank for giving them a much-needed boost during the 80s.
As it turns out, Jordan's agent, David Falk, played a pivotal role in how his client's marriage with Nike started, and how this would lead to one of the most profitable investments ever.
“When I negotiated the Nike deal, I said to them, ‘You’re a small company and if you want Michael Jordan, he’s gotta have his own shoe line’,” Falk says on the most recent episode of “The Last Dance,” via James McKern of Herald Sun.
“Nike had just come out with this new technology for their running shoes called Air Soles. And obviously Michael played in the air, so I said, ‘I got it, we’re gonna call it Air Jordan’.”
Falk went on to detail how not even Nike were expecting to rake in that much profit from their timely investment on a young Michael Jordan.
“Nike’s expectation, when we signed the deal, was at the end of year four they hoped to sell $US3 million worth of Air Jordans,” Falk says.
“In year one, we sold $US126 million.”
To say that the income that Nike gained from Jordan's shoes went way beyond their wildest dreams would probably be an understatement. Jordan had single-handedly put Nike on the map, and paved the way for the unmatched success this giant brand continues to soak in to this very day.
Follow Us
Subscribe