Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan are two of the most decorated and successful players in their respective sports. However, their aura did not just get marginalized in the field of sport. They also endured huge sums of dollars and helped various brands gain popularity over their time of association with them. One such brand is Nike, which gave them loads of endorsement money and generated quite an equivalent sum for themselves as well.
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As per Sportico, basketball legend Michael Jordan is the highest paid athlete of all time. He has garnered a whopping sum of $3.3 billion in his career. Meanwhile, GOAT golfer Tiger Woods is ranked second on the list with net earnings of around $2.5 billion.
How Much Have Tiger Woods And Michael Jordan Earned From Endorsements With Nike?
The leading sports apparel brand signed Tiger Woods when he was pretty young to the game of golf in 1996. His first deal was reported to be $40 million for five years. In his second term with Nike, he jumped to $100 million for another five years. Later on, he signed an eight-year-long deal estimated between $16o million and $320 million. Then in 2013, he signed his last deal which was reported to be around $200 million for another 10 years.
Meanwhile, Michael Jordan stuck an endorsement deal with Nike during his initial career days in 1984. As per a few reports, he has garnered a sum of over $1.8 billion through payments in over 40 years of association with the leading sports apparel brand.
Despite Woods being one of the most influential athletes of our time, he is far behind Jordan’s sensational endorsement deals with Nike. The 15-time major champion is estimated to have earned around $500 million to $660 million from the sports apparel brand which is almost half of the NBA legend.
How Much Has Nike Generated By Signing Deals With Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan?
Michael Jordan was the first to join Nike when it was barely a profitable company in 1984 with a revenue of $920 million. He helped the company turn $49 billion in revenue and have a market value worth $187 billion. Interestingly, the first deal between them offered only $500,000 with royalty money to the legendary basketball player. However, around 75 percent of MJ’s career earnings have come from Nike.
On the other hand, Nike had a revenue of around $6.4 billion before signing Tiger Woods in 1996. It jumped to around $51.2 billion in revenue in 2023 with the golfer being on board with them. He had been the face of the golf segment of tNike before ending his partnership earlier in January 2024.
Comparing Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan’s contribution to Nike’s growth is certainly not a wise choice. Although both charismatic players have been phenomenal in building up the brand value through their endorsements.
Jordan’s inclusion in Nike has drastically affected their revenue charts over four decades. He joined the company when it was very premature in the market. While Woods joined it when it already had a stable revenue. Both these legends have been the faces of Nike for decades and have changed the brand in their own personal way.
