In 1984, during a meeting at the headquarters of the sports equipment manufacturer, in Beaverton (Oregon), this extraordinary character suddenly proposed to devote to a single individual, Jordan, the entire envelope that Nike reserved for recruiting future players of the NBA.
“Air,” Ben Affleck’s fifth film as director, traces the chaotic journey of bringing that fantasy to life, signing Michael Jordan, a young potential fresh out of college who only has eyes for the contestants of Nike, Converse and Adidas.
Nearly 40 years later, the association has grown into an empire, which recorded $5.1 billion in revenue last year thanks to the Jordan Brand alone, the brand created around “MJ”.
“I saw (in Jordan) something that maybe no one had seen, and I bet my job” on it, says Sonny Vaccaro, now 83, whose place at Nike was, at the time, threatened.
“Michael had something different”, he explains, “the instinct of the killer. (…) Even following the end of the match, he was always in competition. And I do not know any other player who showed it that way.”
“The only one I might compare to that is Kobe Bryant,” adds this multifaceted man, both entrepreneur, salesman and talent scout. “Kobe had the same instinct, the same guts, the side: nothing to do, I want to be the best.”
In 1996, Sonny Vaccaro, played by Matt Damon in “Air”, will manage to sign Kobe Bryant at Adidas, his employer at the time, and he will come close to also recruiting LeBron James for the three-stripe brand, in 2003.
Released in more than 60 countries this week, the film “Air” will not be released in theaters in France but posted directly on Amazon Prime, on a date that the platform has not yet announced.
“Opening the Way”
The arrival of Michael Jordan at Nike transformed the sports industry, entering the world of marketing and mass consumption, with billions at stake.
“It paved the way for brands to start betting big on athletes rather than teams,” said Temple University professor Thilo Kunkel.
Before “MJ”, tennis players Stan Smith and Ivan Lendl, as well as basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, had already had their own Adidas model, as had NBA star Walt “Clyde” Frazier at Puma.
“Jordan was lucky to benefit from the trend that was taking shape before him”, according to Thilo Kunkel, “but he also contributed greatly to it. He accelerated it.”
Until now, promotional campaigns were limited to a full page in a magazine and a few radio broadcasts, recalls Sonny Vaccaro, for whom Nike caused a break in communication.
“We did national spots ‘in the United States,’ and Nike did the best ads in the world. They came up with something.”
Air Jordan imagery, named following the brand created around the player, celebrated a charismatic athlete who was both cool and fiercely competitive. All enhanced by urban culture, precursor of the “athleisure” phenomenon, which made sports shoes a fashion accessory, to be worn in all circumstances.
Although the kingpin of what remains, without a doubt, the biggest deal in the sports industry, generating tens of billions of dollars in revenue, Sonny Vaccaro did not benefit financially.
“It’s true,” he concedes, “but I made a good living. I’m happy.”
