Insider Reveals Michael Jordan’s $10 Billion Plans Amid George Raveling News

One of many successful ventures that Michael Jordan has had wouldn’t have been possible without George Raveling. Sadly, the friend, the former Nike executive, and college basketball legend passed away at the age of 88. On Tuesday, Jordan released a heartfelt statement after news of Raveling’s death went public. “I’m deeply saddened to hear about George’s passing,..I signed with Nike because of George, and without him, there would be no Air Jordan. He lived an extraordinary life, breaking barriers and paving the way for so many who came after him…”

In the movie Air, it was Marlon Wayans who played Raveling’s character and depicting the impact he had in the process. As MJ stated that it was a 4-decade-long friendship, and the Bulls legend called the former USC head coach a mentor. That’s why his Jordan brand stands today where it is. In fact, it has a lot to achieve.

The host of Front Office Sports Today, Baker Machado, was curious and asked if Caitlin Clark’s current Nike deal and impact should be compared to His Airness. “But I guess my big question is, is none of them are comparable to Michael Jordan and the Air Jordan brand. So I guess my question is, do these shoe deals still matter at the end of the day? And is Caitlin Clark a unique enough name that she becomes like a Jordan brand?” It’s been more than four decades since Michael Jordan and Nike came together to form the iconic partnership.

It opened doors for athletes all across the globe, whichever sport they excel in, to have a royalty deal. Yes, reportedly, MJ earns 5% of the total Jordan brand income. Currently, that figure would be north of three hundred fifty million dollars. That’s why Nick DePaula, footwear expert at ESPN, explained, “Well, obviously, Michael Jordan is trending towards probably $10 billion in revenue the next couple of years. And I think that’s I always say, that’s the biggest outlier and the hardest sort of lightning in a bottle to recapture.”

The $10 billion projection is not wrong. Since last year, the brand has reached $7 billion figure. The recent financial sheet might throw a dent in the plans. Since the worst-performing Nike segment was the Jordan Brand, where revenue fell 16% for the year to $7.3 billion. But past indicators have shown great signs of resurgence. For context, back in 2014, the revenue for the brand was just $1.9 billion. By 2020, it was almost 2x with $3.6 billion. Now, five years later, it has already doubled its revenue. That’s the unprecedented growth that we know about the MJ brand.

Impact of George Raveling on Michael Jordan

After retiring from coaching in 1994 following a serious car accident, Raveling took over as Nike’s global basketball sports marketing director. But he already brought in their biggest business a decade ago. In 1984, as Michael Jordan began his rookie year, Adidas, Converse, and Nike sought his signature. They promised a signature shoe that the others couldn’t. Since their roster was already stacked, as Converse had Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, while Adidas already had Kareem Abdul Jabbar, among others.

But betting on Nike was not an easy decision. But Raveling played his part, and the most integral one. In 2015, Michael Jordan said, “Sonny (Vaccaro) likes to take the credit. But it really wasn’t Sonny, it was actually George Raveling. George Raveling was with me on the 1984 Olympics team (as an assistant coach under Bob Knight). He used to always try to talk to me, ‘You gotta go Nike, you gotta go Nike. You’ve got to try.’”

The results for the Swoosh brand were historical. They expected to make $3 million in the first three years from the Air Jordan. Instead, the sales exceeded all expectations as Nike went on to make more than $100 million in its first year. That was the impact of Raveling on Nike, but for MJ, it was more personal.