Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time. Despite all his success on the court, it is his success and his brand outside the court that has carried on his name. Taking a look at a report recently shared, we take a look at the financials of the Jordan brand and compare it to other sports leagues and promotions including the UFC.
2023 was another record-breaking year for the Jordan brand. According to Joe Pompliano the Jordan brand generated revenues of $6.6 billion this year. The Nike brand has been expanding the Jordan brand over the last few years. This has resulted in astronomic growth for the brand. To put the enormity of the Jordan brand into perspective, Dana White led UFC recorded revenues of $1.3 billion in 2022. The Jordan brand is more than 5x bigger than an entire sports promotion.
Revenues in 2018 for the brand were $2.8 billion. Five years on, revenues have more than doubled. The Jordan brand is most famous for its line of sneakers. However, over the last few years, the brand has expanded aggressively into clothing as well. Regardless, the majority of the revenue is still generated by the sneakers.
The 1984 contract that Michael Jordan signed with Nike was a turning point for the sports sponsorship business. Jordan was offered a revolutionary five-year endorsement deal worth $500,000 yearly by Nike, who saw promise in his talent and magnetism.
The deal also included a 5% royalty on sales in perpetuity. Jordan’s 5% cut on $6.6 billion amounts to $330 million. With that being said, let’s take a look at how the Jordan brands stacks up against other sports organisations.
Michael Jordan dwarfs Dana White and the UFC among other leagues
2022 was a record-breaking year for Dana White and the UFC. The promotion generated revenues of $1.3 billion. This is extremely small compared to other major sports leagues. However, it is important to note that most of the UFC’s competitors are losing money while the UFC is generating revenues of $1.3 billion.
That being said, when compared to Jordan it is almost five times smaller as mentioned above. The NFL fares a lot better in comparison. In 2022, Roger Goodell led NFL generated revenues of almost $12 billion. It will be interesting to see if the Jordan brand can overtake the likes of the NBA and NFL in revenues.
