The year is 1984.
Nike is dominating the athletic wear industry.
Nike was interested in expanding its share of the basketball shoe market and beating out its competitors, Converse and Adidas.
Nike had recently come up with the air sole shoes concept and knew it could be applied to basketball shoes as well.
David Falk, the sports agent that represented Michael Jordan for his career, came up with the concept of Air Jordan, along with an executive from Nike. Jordan and his parents flew to Nike headquarters where he was first pitched the idea of “Air Jordan”, a line of athletic clothing and shoes reflecting his own dashing style. Jordan was instantly sold (Patton).
The technology used in Air Jordans was borrowed from the air-cushion technology used in Nike running shoes. Basketball shoes were all about performance, and the Air Jordans were well performing shoes (Willigan).
Nike gave Michael Jordan a contract worth $2.5 million dollars over five years. This was the largest athlete contract ever. Up until that point the previous highest was James Worth’s contract with New Balance worth $150,000 per year (“How Michael Jordan’s Nike Deal Changed Sports Marketing Forever”).
His agreement also included royalties on items sold, a scholarship fund in Jordan’s name, and a twelve-day annual expense paid working vacation to promote Nike around the world. Nike also committed to spend a minimum of $1 million on promoting his products to ensure that the name “Michael Jordan” was widely publicized (Patton).
The Jordan Brand was born.