Howard White Reveals 30-Year-Old Michael Jordan’s Baseball Decision Ensured Nike’s $5,100,000,000 Revenue in 2022: “People That Believed”

Howard White is often said to be the chief architect behind the Jordan brand. Initially a Nike marketing executive for Michael Jordan, he eventually became his personal manager. White was influential in almost all the Nike marketing campaigns that centered around MJ. It was in 1994, during Jordan’s run in the MLB that he came up with the idea of a MJ-specific brand. Speaking to BoardRoom, White revealed that he ended up pitching the idea to Phil Knight after getting the support of both Larry Miller and designer Tinker Hatfield. They eventually gave birth to the Jordan brand, which was introduced in September 1997. The brand has enjoyed huge success over the years and has made the company $5,100,000,000 in revenue in 2022 alone.

While Jordan had announced his first retirement after winning 3 rings, Howard White’s idea helped keep his brand intact. People expected a decrease in MJ’s popularity, especially as a retired superstar. However, the Jordan brand and Nike’s marketing ensured that that did not happen. MJ eventually announced a return in March 1995, and the Jordan brand has since only increased in size.

Michael Jordan’s decision to quit basketball led to the birth of the Jordan brand

Michael Jordan retired in 1993 with no intention of returning. This should have meant that Nike saw a drop in sales and eventually popularity for his shoes dried up.

However, Howard White ensured that that did not happen. After MJ joined the MLB, Howard White still wanted Nike to continue promoting his brand. The idea was that Air Jordans would sell MJ’s inspirational story, even years after he ended up hanging up his own boots.

Of course, Jordan eventually returned from his sabbatical and Nike ended up announcing the brand in 1997. While White had every intention of continuing the Jordan brand even after his retirement, he revealed that he was not the only one who supported the idea:

“It wasn’t just me,” White defers. “Tinker [Hatfield] was on board, we brought Larry Miller on, and I knew perspective. There are so many things that are ridiculous to do, but there was a small band of people that believed.”

The Jordan brand continues to rake in billions every year, In 2020, the brand netted Nike $3.6 billion, with 2021 netting the company a whopping $4.7 billion. The revenue seems to be increasing every year, with a $5.1 billion return in 2022 alone.

Phil Knight once almost shut down the Jordan brand to focus on college teams

Phil Knight, just like Jordan, was initially expecting the hype around the Jordan brand to die down. As a matter of fact, according to Roland Lazenby’s Michael Jordan: The Life, Knight wanted to forget MJ and instead focus on college teams.

It was then Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro who convinced Knight that college teams would never bring in as much money as MJ could. Jordan was a global presence, considering the GOAT by the majority of fans, and had completely transformed the NBA landscape.

It was his unique image and personality that signaled the start of a legacy that would earn Nike billions of dollars every year. Even almost 30 years after his retirement, MJ continues to rake in billions and has completely exceeded the expectations of all the parties involved.