How Much Money Does Nike Make Off Jordans

Michael Jordan has made $1.3 billion from his 36-year partnership with Nike. He originally wanted to sign with Adidas before his parents made him listen to Nike's offer.

Michael Jordan was close to signing with Adidas in 1984, but his mother made him listen to Nike's offer before he put pen to paper.
"My mother said, 'You're going to go listen. You may not like it, but you're going to go listen,'" Jordan said during episode five of "The Last Dance," ESPN's docuseries about Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. "She made me get on that plane and go listen."
Nike offered Jordan a $500,000-a-year deal for five years, as well as his own shoe, the Air Jordan, something that Adidas was not prepared to do.
Nike sold $126 million worth of Air Jordans in the first year of the deal, according to TMZ, and Jordan has to date made roughly $1.3 billion from the partnership, Forbes said.
Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Michael Jordan has made roughly $1.3 billion from his deal with Nike since signing with the brand in 1984, according to Forbes.

"It is the richest athlete endorsement deal ever but also arguably the biggest bargain given that Jordan helped transform Nike from a scrappy underdog into one of the largest, most valuable consumer brands in the world," Forbes reported on Sunday.

However, the deal might not have happened at all had it not been for the NBA icon's parents.

During episode five of "The Last Dance," ESPN's docuseries about Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, which aired on Sunday night, Jordan explained how he almost signed with Adidas before his mother forced him to listen to Nike's offer.

"My mother said, 'You're going to go listen. You may not like it, but you're going to go listen,'" Jordan said. "She made me get on that plane and go listen."

Nike offered Jordan a $500,000-a-year deal for five years, as well as his own shoe, the Air Jordan, something that Adidas was not prepared to do.

"Nike made this big pitch," Jordan said, adding that his father told him, "You'd have to be a fool, not taking this deal. This is the best deal."

According to TMZ, Nike projected $3 million in sales of the Air Jordan in the first four years of the deal but ended up selling $126 million worth of the shoes in the first year alone.

Read more:
Photos show the rise and fall of Nike's iconic Air Jordan sneakers — and how the shoes are making a comeback 16 years after Michael Jordan's retirement
Director of 'The Last Dance' says he had to 'work hard' to get insight from Kobe Bryant about Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan played poker every night during the Dream Team Olympics, and he always took advantage of having more money than his teammates
Michael Jordan once added 15 pounds of muscle in one summer to prepare for a rival and changed the way athletes train
Michael Jordan said he would only appear in 'The Last Dance' docuseries if he always had the final word