Michael Jordan’s legacy is one that
nobody has ever seen before in sports and we will likely never witness something
like this again. Michael Jordan went from being a man to a brand over the
course of his illustrious playing career. He has solidified himself as, almost
undoubtedly, the most prominent sports figure in history. By making the most of
his popularity through the use of multiple endorsement deals, Jordan has helped
to accumulate tens (perhaps hundreds) of billions of dollars in revenues for
various companies all while making himself a multi-millionaire in the process.
This does not even include his success on the court which brags six
championship rings, multiple scoring titles, and other accolades. Not to
mention that Jordan is widely considered to be the best basketball player to
have ever played the game.
One of Jordan’s most popular
endorsements, and one that continues to this day, is his partnership with Nike
shoes. Every few months or so, a pair of Air Jordans is released, or often
re-released with some upgrades done to them. These shoes easily sell out in
stores with people even reportedly being trampled over by others when stores
open up and people rush inside to get a pair. Long lines form outside of the
stores that are carrying the Jordans, or Jays for short, hours before the store
is even scheduled to open. It is very similar to a Black Friday sale in
November. Once a person has the shoes, it is not uncommon for him or her to
then turn to the Internet and place the shoes on websites like eBay.com to be
sold. Doing this allows the people who were not able to get into a store and
buy the shoes on release day to buy them conveniently from the comfort of their
own homes. Even online, a pair of newly released Air Jordans will sell quickly
so the sellers always take advantage of this fact by pricing the shoes pretty
high, even higher than what they initially paid. In no time, an online buyer
will check out the shoes on a website, place an order for them, and the person
who actually went through all of the craziness to buy the shoes upfront at the
store just made a nice profit.
Check out the clip below to see the
madness caused by the release of a pair of Air Jordans.
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ReplyDeleteI think it is absolutely nuts how people reacted towards a pair of shoes that are part of the Jordan brand in the short video clip. However, it is easy to see why so many people would feel the need to act and behave this way over Michael Jordan shoes. This incident shown in the video clip shows the economic impact that one individual superstar can have within an economy. This superstar’s impact was god-like because Michael Jordan’s image increased billions of dollars for companies and brands within the economy. Even Being a Chicago resident, if the Chicago Bulls would of signed Lebron James to a deal during his free agent period, who is thought to be one of the best players today. It was expected that he could of only impacted millions within the economy for Chicago compared to the impact that Michael Jordan had. It would be crazy to think that we would ever see an effect on the economy like this again from an athlete who has already been retired for ten years in our lifetime. If the next big star such as, Lebron James, can only increase the economy by millions.
ReplyDeleteBy Anthony Pape
Hey David, when I talk about Michael Jordan the next thing after basketball that comes in mind are Air Jordan shoes. There is just something about Jordan that separates him from other basketball players. Kobe has his line of shoes, LeBron has his shoes, and even Derrick Rose has his line. None of these players mentioned have come close to compare to the Air Jordan shoes. Jordan made this brand so big and people are crazy over it. I love his shoes but I will never be part of what is shown in the YouTube clip. I’ve always been a big fan of shoes and have quite some knowledge about them but it is too expensive to make it a hobby or collection. There is this group of people called sneakerheads, they are the people who would spend thousands, sometimes millions to collect shoes. Their passion for shoes is indescribable. There are cases when people are killed for their Air Jordan shoes. Sometimes, it is scary to think of what people would do to get these shoes. It is amazing what people would go through to get the new pair of Air Jordans. In the end, they are just like any other shoes.
ReplyDelete- Marcus Kok
Hello! I also feel as though Michael Jordan is the best basketball who ever played the game. There were a number of people before him, as well as after him, who are also great players of basketball. I think Michael Jordan stands out the most though. He has a "one of a kind" story and widely known for his basketball shoes. Its crazy that Michael Jordan's legacy still lives on through his shoes. I think its completely ridiculous that people get trampled and killed just to have these shoes. Michael Jordan is a very smart man, in my opinion. He has been making money off his shoes for decades, even years after he retired from playing. Still today, he re-releases the SAME shoes that came out years ago, and still manages to make billions off of them. He has a legacy that will never die. Michael Jordan has made a name for himself, where even babies born today probably know or heard about him.
ReplyDeleteAngel Akinkuoye
David, great article here about the greatest there ever was. It is insane to think about how much of an impact one man had one basketball, pop culture, and business. I credit most of Michael Jordan’s success off the field to timing. Michael Jordan could not have stepped into the lime light at a better time. MJ was drafted in the NBA 1984 and was able to build his NBA super stardom behind the scenes of what was still considered the “Bird and Magic era”. However, as Bird faded from the spot light and Magic announced his new battle with HIV, it was time for basketball to allow a new player to step up. In 199, MJ did just that by winning his first of six NBA titles. Michael Jordan would go on for almost a decade of dominance and it was the first time the NBA would have one player who was clearly just better than everyone else. There was not a Magic vs Bird or Kobe vs LeBron, it was simply Michael Jordan vs the rest of the NBA. I truly feel that this is why he will always be considered the best basketball player of all time and therefor the reason why everyone in our society is so obsessed with the Jordan brand.
ReplyDelete-Taylor Redd
Another aspect to this post that I think is really important to mention is the marketability Jordan had to other athletes within the sport of basketball. Today, we see a plethora of athletes not wanting to compete in special events because there scared of being injured within an event that means nothing to a Franchise’s organization. When Jordan was a professional basketball player he had a competitive edge to him to be the best and make it known he was the best. Just imagine if Michael Jordan chose not to do events like the Slam Dunk competition, which he became infamous for with his free throw line slam dunk. Yes, he would have still been marketed as one of the greatest players of all time because of his accomplishments. However, an event such as this slam-dunk competition helped his legacy continue to what is today and made his branding become so marketable. This is the reason why we will never see an athlete have an impact on the economy like Michael Jordan did. As a result of today’s basketball players having the mentality that they know they are the best so they don’t compete in a skill competition like Jordan did. No other player will seem as marketable or nearly as competitive ever like Michael Jordan was to the economy.
ReplyDeleteBy Anthony Pape