Reporter | Luo Yingying
"Do you have a sneaker brand you want to sign?"
Michael Jordan replied: "That's Adidas, I really always wanted to sign with them, even if they followed up with a little offer I would choose, but unfortunately, in the end I signed nike, that's it." 」 ”
This is the dialogue of the fifth episode of Jordan's personal documentary "The Last Dance", which has received a lot of attention from the outside world.
In this episode, Jordan reveals more behind-the-scenes stories.
The film begins with a tribute to the recently deceased superstar Kobe Bryant. In the film, Bryant also wears a red sweatshirt, telling the story of him growing up watching Jordan's game on TV, Jordan is like his big brother, without him, there would be no five championships of his own.
This scene made many fans cry.
Also notable is that after 35 years of working with Nike, Michael Jordan was blunt in the interview, revealing some of the details of his year's exclusion to signing with Nike.
As we all know, in 1984, 21-year-old Michael Jordan had just left the University of North Carolina and was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the NBA draft. Subsequently, Nike signed Jordan to become the top player in the basketball field.
Since the official launch of the first pair of air jordans in 1985, the air jordan series has gone through 35 years. Jordan's signature boots are still popular with fans today, becoming a trump card for Nike to occupy the market.
Today, as a basketball shoe market giant, the Jordan brand has more than $3 billion in annual sales and entered the $1 billion club for the first time in revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2020.
It's a story that most people know, but behind this seemingly successful collaboration, Michael Jordan seems to regret that Nike is not actually his first choice for sponsor brands.
In The Last Dance, Jordan's first agent, David Falke, recalls, "I first met Jordan in 1984, when I went to North Carolina to chat with his family. ”
Subsequently, David Falke's main task was to help him find a sneaker sponsor. He first took Jordan to negotiate with the Converse brand, the official sponsor of the NBA at the time, and Converse in the 1980s was still the hegemon of the US basketball shoe market.
Since Converse has stars such as "Magic" Johnson, "Dr. J" Julius Irving, Bernard King and Larry Bird, they are not interested in Jordan as a rookie, only offering a $100,000 a year sneaker contract and making it clear that Jordan cannot become the brand's top brand.
At the time, Nike, founded in the 1970s, was only a fresh brand compared to established brands such as Adidas and Converse, and its popularity was far from comparable to the present.
Nike has a scout named Sonny Vacarlo who happens to be a good friend of Jordan University coach Dean Smith. When Vacarlo saw Jordan's performance on the court, he thought that the young man had great commercial value and suggested that Nike go all out to sign the rookie.
Subsequently, Nike directly increased its annual salary to $250,000, showing full sincerity.
Nike executive Howard White recalled in the documentary, "It only cost $100,000 to sign the best player endorsements, and we offered Jordan $250,000." To pay so much for a rookie who hasn't gotten any results? Everyone thought, we must be crazy. ”
In the 1980s, though, Nike's biggest business was athletics shoes, which were generally famous in basketball. So, even with some excitement in the face of a tempting offer, Jordan was initially reluctant to sign a contract with Nike.
Jordan has Adidas in mind, which is his favorite sneaker brand since he grew up, "I like the Lakers, I like Marquis Johnson, so I like Adidas, I like Adidas sneakers." ”
He even took the initiative to negotiate with Adidas with Nike's contract, as long as the latter can match Nike's terms to a certain extent, he will sign the contract immediately.
However, it backfired. At that time, Adidas focused mainly on the European market and did not intend to invest too many resources in the US basketball market, after all, the commercial value of the NBA at that time was not the same as today.
In addition, agent David Falke recalled, "Adidas was in a bit of a slump at the time, and they told me that the brand was willing to sign Jordan, but there was no way to launch an exclusive sneaker. ”
Adidas didn't even give a specific offer.
Even so, Jordan was still reluctant to accept Nike.
When he was about to go to Nike's headquarters for a visit and talks, the young man would not even get on the plane. Fark had no choice but to use Jordan's parental relationship to put pressure on his son.
Mother Dolores Jordan said, "You have to listen to me, you may not love to listen, but you must listen." ”
Jordan retorted, "Mom, I don't want to hear it. I know what I want to do, and tomorrow I'm definitely not going to Nike. ”
Fortunately, Dolores Jordan eventually persuaded her son to get on the plane. She said, "Michael, you have to give Nike a chance to hear what Nike has to say." ”
At Nike headquarters in Oregon, the Jordan family was warmly welcomed. To convince Jordan, Nike even made a basketball short film in hopes of impressing them.
Jordan recalled, "We went to that meeting that I didn't want to attend, and Nike offered me a very high price. My father said that such a big contract is a fool not to sign, and there is no better contract than this. ”
In this negotiation, David Falke also facilitated the birth of air jordan.
"I talked to Nike and told them, 'You're a small company, and if you want to sign Jordan, you have to launch a line of signature shoes,' Falk said. Nike has just launched running shoe technology, called air sole air cushion. Apparently, Jordan was playing in the air. I said yes, and we called him Air Jordan. ”
Nike scout Sonny Vacaro, who was also present at the negotiating scene between the two sides, said that only Nike was willing to fully support the player at that time, promising to launch autographed shoes for him. In addition, jordan can get a share of the product sales.
At the same time, Nike also proposed conditions, Jordan must complete the best rookie, selected all-star and average 20 points per game within three years, otherwise Nike has the right to terminate the contract. In the end, the basketball god achieved these goals ahead of schedule.
Nike executive Howard White said that when the two sides signed the contract, their goal was to sell $3 million in Jordan-related products in the fourth year. Surprisingly, in the first year of the partnership, Nike has sold $126 million in sneakers, and Jordan's ability to absorb money far exceeds the contract amount.
Since the last time in his career to put on his own iconic sneakers, the Jordan brand has sold more air Jordan series sneakers than all active NBA players have sold signature shoes.
In Forbes' latest 2019 sneaker contract revenue list, Michael Jordan ranked first with $130 million. LeBron James is second on the list, earning $32 million a year on sneakers.
The 2019 market report released by sneaker resale platform stockx shows that as the top brand in the sneaker collection industry for many years, Nike's sub-brand Jordan occupies the highest market share of second-hand sneakers, ranking first in the sales list without suspense.
From the perspective of specific products, basketball flyer Michael Jordan's brand sneakers also occupy the top spot - the classic air jordan 1 has an overall market share of 23% on the stockx platform, with an average resale price of 260 US dollars (about 1783 yuan).
This means that for every 10 pairs of used sneakers traded, at least two or three pairs are air jordan 1 series products.
According to John Kernan, an analyst at Cowen & Co, "the Jordan brand is expanding into a way of life with a commercial value far beyond its $3 billion turnover." ”
Adidas, who missed Michael Jordan, can only watch the business empire built by Nike and Jordan.