Michael Jordan's iconic brand went from a $3M forecast in 4 years to pocketing Nike $3M every 5 hours

Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan’s Nike “Air Jordan” shoes have long been the world’s most popular basketball shoe brand. However, the massive success of the brand was not a sure thing when the shoes first debuted back in 1985. In fact, the brand completely blew initial profit projections out of the water.

When Jordan got drafted by Chicago in 1984, Nike was not a powerhouse in the basketball shoe industry. Rival brands such as Adidas and Converse were far more popular. Meanwhile, Nike had a reputation for being more of a track athlete brand. However, Nike’s fortunes quickly changed after signing Jordan to a five-year deal worth $500,000 annually coming out of college.

As Jordan quickly grew in popularity, so did the hype for the release of his signature shoes. On April 1, 1985, the first Air Jordan shoes, called the “Air Jordan 1s” were released in stores. Nike hoped to be able to sell 100,000 pairs of the shoe model in the first year.

However, the company instead ended up selling 450,000 pairs in just the first month alone. Nike also forecast total sales to reach $3 million by the fourth year of Jordan’s deal. But the company instead made a whopping $30 million in test markets in just the first month.

After one year, Nike had already generated $126 million in revenue, up from the company’s $65 million in revenue the year before the shoe’s release.

Fast forward to last year and according to Bloomberg’s Jon Erlichman, Nike was generating $3 million from Jordan sales every five hours. So, it’s safe to say that the brand has come a long way since its initial projection of generating $3 million over four years.

How much is Nike worth today?

Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan

The Air Jordan shoe line undoubtedly revolutionized the basketball shoe industry and altered the course of Nike’s future. After originally not being a major player in the basketball shoe market, Nike reportedly had an 86% market share of the performance basketball market as of 2019.

Meanwhile, according to Macrotrends.net, Nike is now worth a staggering $156.61 billion as of September 2023.