Jordan’s deal with Nike revolutionized the commercialization of sports (Wallace).
Nike showed that athletes could be commercialized and could be used by brands and companies to make big money. Nike made Jordan the most commercialized player in the game by creating a pair of sneakers that solely relied on his image. Through the creation of the Air Jordans, Nike realized that Americans would pay hundreds of dollars for a pair of sneakers tied to an athlete’s name (Duffy 52).
Nike and Jordan proved the power of commercializing an athlete when the Air Jordan 1 was released and sold $70 million worth (Duffy 67).
From this point on, the Jordan brand became synonymous with high earning potential. Jordan instantly became a “mass consumed product” of popular culture. Michael Jordan showed the whole world that athletes could be very profitable and were valuable as commercial partners for corporations and brand names. The Jordan brand chaned the entire industry of the commercialization of sports (Cortsen).
Jordan was not only commercialized through his deal with Nike, but the NBA star used his image and brand to make money through commercials and other forms of entertainment.
Jordan’s entertainment deals included:
- 1989 – Jordan partnered with Hanes to create promotions and ads for men’s boxers
- 1992 – “Hare Jordan” – an ad campaign with Looney Tunes featuring Jordan and Bugs Bunny
- 1993 – Jordan was featured in McDonalds advertisements
- 1996 – Jordan was featured in the film Space Jam (Duffy 62)
Michael Jordan even continues to be commercialized in today’s world as the movie Air was just released in April 2023. The film tells the story of how Jordan signed his first sneaker deal with Nike and how the game-changing partnership transformed Nike into the world’s largest athletic apparel company with the Jordan brand at the center of it (Kunkel).
The Jordan brand ultimately changed the relationship between athletes and commercialization. Jordan showed that athletes were able to partner with corporations and brand names and earn big money. Athletes were not just sports performers; they could be turned into products, commercials, and advertisements, which were sold to willing consumers to turn profits. These partnerships were not only with athletic brands but could be with any company that could sell an athlete’s name. Jordan forever impacted how sports and athletes are commercialized.
Phil Knight sums up this idea when he stated that he was not in the shoe business but in the money making business, and this was the mentality behind the explosion of Nike and Michael Jordan (Duffy 59).