Listing Michael Jordan's top 3 endorsement deals

Michael Jordan has an illustrious resume in the NBA. Throughout his career, he won trophies galore, which increased his brand value manifold. To pursue the dream of his late father, Jordan even had a year-long stint with a Minor League Baseball team. His success in the NBA and international basketball made him a global icon. Everyone knew his name, and they all wanted to ‘Be like Mike’.

Jordan is estimated to have a $2.2 billion net worth. Apart from his earnings in the NBA, he continues to earn from his Jordan brand, under Nike. Jordan is still associated with the NBA in the form of ownership.

He has majority ownership of the Charlotte Hornets, and is often seen courtside during their games. Throughout his career, for obvious reasons, many brands wanted to be associated with him. He is said to have earned $1.7 billion from endorsements.

On that note, let’s look at Michael Jordan’s top three endorsement deals.

#3 Hanes

The partnership between Michael Jordan and Hanes started in 1989. He became their spokesman and participated in a lot of commercials for the brand. For their commercials, he has been on planes, golf courses and even posed with some underwear in his hands.

“Michael’s appeal is extraordinary,” said Sidney Falken, senior vice president of the Hanes brand. “He is able to appeal to such a wide range of people, men and women, young and old.”

In 2019, Hanes celebrated 30 years of partnership with Michael Jordan. To mark the anniversary, Hanes included bonus packs of promotional trading cards featuring ‘His Airness’ in more than 800,000 packages of Hanes men’s underwear.

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#2 Gatorade

Before signing Michael Jordan, Gatorade already had a partnership with the NBA. In 1991, after Jordan won his first NBA championship, Gatorade did not waste any time.

They inked a ten-year endorsement deal with Michael Jordan, averaging $1.4 million annually. One of Jordan’s most iconic advertisements was with Gatorade; he played with a bunch of kids, and the ad ended with the slogan ‘Be like Mike’.

For a long time, Jordan was Gatorade’s only athlete, but still had a solid impact on the brand’s growth. Before signing with Gatorade, Jordan endorsed Coca Cola in the early years of his career. He made the switch to Gatorade in 1991, which was later purchased by PepsiCo.

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#1 Nike

Nike have had a wide range of athletes under their brand for a long time before Jordan came around. However, their partnership with Jordan is what inflated their growth like no other.

In 1984, the initial deal Michael Jordan signed with Nike was worth $500,000-a-year over five years and an own sneaker line. Nike made an estimated $3 million in sales, but Jordan’s popularity and incredible display of talent on the basketball court helped take that number to a whopping $126 million in year one.

Michael Jordan is still a partner with Nike, and is said to have earned $2.1 billion from his partnership so far. The Air Jordan brand continues to make good money for Nike.

The current set of NBA players under the Air Jordan brand include Jayson Tatum, Zion Williamson and Rui Hachimura. Something that we are always wondering is, “What if Michael Jordan had signed with Adidas back in 1984?”

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