Michael Jordan when he entered the league for the first time, was rough. He was still a young man. Hardly out of his adolescent shell. And this led to Phil Knight and other executives at Nike to doubt their investment. However, at a pitch dinner, all of their hesitations were vanquished. Jordan’s million-dollar smile and charm were in full effect. Nike knew their $2,500,000 investment was about to be paid off.
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The gamble that Nike took in the mid-1980s is a lesson in risk-taking. If you are about to fail, don’t be afraid of the impossible. They took up a daunting task, to make a rookie the most marketable athlete in the league and they succeeded. These things don’t happen unless the athlete you are putting all your chips on is quite remarkable.
Michael Jordan was far beyond such a description. He was talismanic, his charm was so infectious it blew away everyone at Nike. When they met him for the first time during an executive pitch, they were simply stunned.
How could such a young man be so gracious and yet so charming? Michael Jordan blurred all racial divides and for guys like Phil Knight and Sonny Vaccaro, they knew they were about to be rich.
Phil Knight was skeptical of his $2,500,000 investment in Michael Jordan
As per the book, Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby, Phil Knight was stressed about his investment in Jordan. At the time, the UNC star did not have the aura he does now. But on a special evening, they realized that his charisma was going to take over the world. In an excerpt from the book, we can see the roller coaster of emotions behind the story,
As the meeting concluded, the Nike contingent had no idea how Jordan felt about the presentation. Afterward, he told Falk he was simply fed up with meetings. It wasn’t until later that night at dinner with his parents, Strasser, and other Nike officials that Jordan began to relax. The young star was impressive that evening, gracious and charming, able to move among the clientele in the upscale restaurant with ease. His persona that night reassured the Nike executives that they were making a wise choice, that indeed this young man had that certain special something, an ability to connect with people of all backgrounds. The term “post-racial” hadn’t entered the vocabulary yet, but it could have described what they sensed about Jordan.
Jordan’s demeanor and natural ability to talk to people were on full display. Phil Knight wasn’t squandering his investment. The deal was worth $2,500,000 over 5 years. The largest such deal in sports history at the time. Nike was all-in and it paid off.
Rather handsomely.
Nike’s high sales targets were humbled by Jordan’s infectious charm
So when you pay a rookie $2,500,000 you are expecting to use his brand to sell some shoes. Nike felt that if they sold $3 million worth of shoes in 3 years it would be considered a good return.
At the time such figures were considered high. This is 1984 we are talking about, color tv was not a household object yet! So the expectation was huge.
But Jordan delivered in an emphatic fashion. He was able to translate his charisma in person to the television screens. In the first year alone, Nike sold more than $126 million worth of shoes.
Talk about a return. Today, the Air Jordan 1s are one of the world’s most iconic sneakers if not the most iconic.
