Michael Jordan has perhaps the most iconic line of sneakers in the history of athletics. The ‘Air Jordan’ line of basketball shoes was projected to make $3 million in profits over the course of a couple years when they dropped their first model. Instead, hype around the AJ1 spread like wildfire and they made over $120 million in a single year.
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Since then, ‘Air Jordans’ have become a staple in both performance sneakers and casual streetwear, with various models going for tens of thousands of dollars. Prior to Jordan signing with Nike, Converse All-Stars were the official shoe of the NBA, with guys like Magic Johnson, Bernard King, and Larry Bird signed to them.
However, one man changed the industry forever with a single signing. Michael initially didn’t like Nike as they were seen as a company that only made shoes for track-and-field athletes, leaning more towards Adidas. However, Sonny Vaccaro would soon change his mind.
Sonny Vaccaro on Michael Jordan starting up a massive industry
Sonny Vaccaro was the man who convinced Michael Jordan and the Jordan family to sign with Nike. While most of the other companies were pitching to Michael alone, Sonny realized just how important family was MJ and instead made a pitch that involved Deloris and James Jordan as well.
During a recent interview with Dan Patrick on his show, Sonny admitted that he doesn’t like to indulge in ‘crap’ like the ‘GOAT’ debate. Instead, he believes that players can be the greatest of their generation, not of all time.
He would then go on to talk about what separates Michael Jordan from others and that would be the fact that he started a ‘$1 trillion industry’. Nike has of course not made $1 trillion from the Air Jordan line but his argument does stand as before MJ, no athlete had ever revolutionized sneakers like he did.
How much does Michael Jordan make from Nike?
Michael’s current deal has him raking in 5% on each sneaker’s sale which could lead to him making around $100 million a year. Jordan brand brings in around $5-10 billion a year and has been doing so for quite some time now.
Magic Johnson even once said that he wishes he had signed with Nike because they were offering him $1 on each sale of a sneaker. If he had taken that deal, he would’ve made about $5.2 billion to date.
