The early stages of Nike and Jordan’s partnership have been fairly well documented within the world of sneakers, but when it comes to the financials behind partnerships, brands tend to be a little more cautious. After the end of adidas partnership with Yeezy, there was much talk about the financial implications of the split and the royalties concerned, but now the numbers behind another of the sneakerverse’s biggest partnerships have been reportedly revealed by The Sports Rush.
Jordan’s first deal with Nike saw the soon-to-be megastar take home around $500,000 a year for the first five years. After releasing the Air Jordan 1, the Swoosh predicted that the shoe would bring in $3 million over the next four years, but the model blew apart all expectations and brought in closer to $130 million in its first year. Now, The Sports Rush has reported that over the past five years, Jordan Brand has brought in over $19 billion for the Beaverton brand.
There are no two ways of looking at it – $19 billion is a huge number. However, Jordan himself reportedly only receives a 5% cut. Back in 2020, Jordan was reported to be Nike’s highest-earning athlete, with his contract earning him $1.3 billion.