The tennis that changed everything. A myth built from a fine of the NBA. Michael Jordan began his business empire. Nike Air Jordan turns 40.
On April 1, 1985, Nike took over red and black tennis tennis that would change the history of basketball and sport in general.
The Air Jordan cost $ 65 (about 195 dollars today, taking into account inflation) and were the result of the agreement between the company based in Oregon (EU) and the ‘Rookie’ of the NBA Michael Jordan. But the influence and footprint that these new tennis would leave in the business world exceeded any forecast.
Jordan, then 22 years old, was in his first season in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls after being a university star in the NCAA and conquering Olympic gold in Los Angeles 1984.
As number three of the Draft, Jordan signed with Nike, who was not the sports giant that is now and that was under the shadow of other companies such as Adidas or Converse, a shocking and lucrative agreement of 2.5 million dollars for five seasons.
However, the first Air Jordan had a fundamental problem: they used the red and black colors predominantly and that was against the severe NBA dress policy.
What could have been the end of the road to Nike was instead the perfect springboard thanks to advertising.
“Nike created some new and revolutionaries of basketball tennis. The NBA prohibited them. Fortunately, the NBA cannot prevent you from carrying them,” said the unforgettable television announcement ‘Banned’ that, with Jordan looking at the camera in silence while driving a ball, appealed to rebellion in front of the obsolete rules of the league.
The company also had to open the portfolio since each NBA match in which Jordan was wearing them accounted for $ 5,000. But in the end it ended up being a very small investment for a spectacular return since Nike entered 126 million with the Air Jordan only in the first year.
Jordan, the phenomenon that does not turn off
That announcement was so influential that only a few months ago Nike launched a brilliant ‘spot’ tribute in parody tone imagining how the world would have been if they had not paid those $ 5,000 and the Air Jordan had fallen into oblivion.
Through a butterfly effect, with ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ by Queen in the back They even saw the light.
“Someone should have said (who did not pay the fine): ‘You cannot prohibit greatness,” the voice in’ off ‘ended relieved.
In the real world, the Air Jordan not only existed but became a huge success and gave rise to numerous models over the years under the Jordan Brand brand with the memorable silhouette of the 23 of the bulls flying to the basket.
Recently they were the source of inspiration from the movie ‘Air’ (2023) with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon playing Phil Knight (Nike co -founder) and Sonny Vaccaro (the executive who signed Jordan), respectively.
The Air Jordan contributed decisively to Nike becoming a titan of the sports industry and gave the starting gun to the career in a Jordan business that would be erected as a global icon and that, according to Forbes magazine, currently has a fortune valued at about 3.5 billion dollars.
With EFE information.
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