Michael Jordan Net Worth: Endorsements Paid National Basketball Association Legend More Than $500M Since
Dominick’s did not get Jordan’s prior approval for using his name or number in the ad, and a previous judge already ruled that it was a misuse of Jordan’s identity.
However specialists employed by Dominick’s say the truthful market worth of Jordan’s picture in a single print advert is value far lower than these mega offers. One selected juror told Jordan, “I’m not a basketball fan, sorry!”, the Chicago Tribune noted.
In one light-hearted moment, Portnoy told jurors Jordan hasn’t played professional basketball since 1998 – “we don’t count the Wizards years”, she said, referring to Jordan’s brief stint with the Washington Wizards.
Former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan earned more than $536 million in sponsorships between 2000 and 2012, with more than $450 million of that total coming from Nike Inc.
Jordan has meticulously guarded his image and the suit was an attempt to thwart companies that employ praise to slip references to him in an ad. He’s expected to testify about why he so carefully controls his brand.
The ad at issue ran in a limited-edition issue of Sports Illustrated magazine published in 2009 to commemorate Jordan’s induction into basketball’s Hall of Fame. He said Jordan once let the toy company Mattel use his name and photo in a trivia game for as little as $5,000, though Sperling said the company was only allowed to use Jordan’s name as a trivia answer.
Because, he said, “if you don’t protect the use of your identity, then your value disappears”.
It also details Jordan’s authority to select athletes for endorsement contracts and precisely how Nike and Jordan share revenue and expenses.
That was the statement of Estee Portnoy, a marketing executive hired by Michael Jordan who interpreted a particular advertisement as belittling portrayal of the superstar’s brand according to bleacherreport.
In his opening, Dominick’s lawyer Steven Mandell suggested that plaintiff’s attorneys overvalued Jordan’s name.
Basically Jordan’s camp is saying that he would never do a deal for less than $10 million, matching up with how he’s done it in the last decade.
Likeness and branding rights are, unquestionably, a huge source of income for athletes and figures like Michael Jordan. Earlier this year, Forbes estimated his net worth at billion.