Michael Jordan sees $173M return on investment in CFP Championship

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When Michigan State coach Jim Harbaugh got a call from “Michael Jordan” in 2015, he wasn’t sure whether he was speaking to one of the greatest basketball players in history or the teenage offensive lineman of the same name .

Harbaugh rubbed salt in the wound by missing out on the offensive lineman, who ended up at Michigan State’s arch-rival Ohio State. But Harbaugh eventually struck a deal with a clothing brand: Michigan and Jordan Brand reached an 11-year agreement worth up to $173 million.

“When we first started working here, the shoe contract was up,” Harbaugh told Dan Patrick in 2018. “There were a lot of good shoes and stuff. My son Jay came up with the idea. He was like, ‘There’s no Jordan Football School. That would be awesome.'”

That’s why the Wolverines got a huge return on their investment when they wore Jordan-branded jerseys and football apparel against Washington in Monday’s CFP National Championship Game. Nine years after Jordan’s name appeared on Harbaugh’s phone, Michigan defeated Washington 34-13 to win its first national championship since 1997.

J.J. McCarthy
JJ McCarthy #9 of the Michigan Wolverines gestures before the 2024 CFP National Championship game against the Washington Huskies at NRG Stadium on January 8, 2024 in Houston, Texas. The Michigan Wolverines won 34-13. McCarthy and the Wolverines wore Jordan Brand gear, and Michael Jordan was in attendance to watch their victory.
Photography: Alika Jenner/Getty Images

The Jordan Brand Instagram page also got in on the action, posting some stories from a watch party at the University of Michigan’s Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. The day after Michigan State’s win, the Jumpman logo in the profile picture was in Michigan’s blue and maize color scheme.

When Michigan last won a championship, Jordan was in the midst of his final championship game with the Chicago Bulls, and he attended the event along with a group of Jordan Brand Ambassadors.

Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter is in the skybox near Jordan for two reasons. First, Jeter is a Kalamazoo, Mich., native who originally planned to play for the University of Michigan before the New York Yankees offered him an $800,000 contract and convinced him to give up college baseball.

Secondly, Jeter began cooperating with Jordan Brand in 1999 and received a signature baseball shoe-Jumpman Turn 2s in 2002. Jeter and Jordan had a friendship before working together, and they continued working together after Jeter retired from Baseball in 2014.

Meanwhile, rapper Travis Scott doesn’t have to travel far to watch the game: The game is held at NRG Stadium in Scott’s hometown of Houston, Texas. He also has a lucrative partnership with Jordan Brand, producing several lines of sneakers as part of the deal that brings him in about $10 million a year. The Jordan Jumpman Jack Trainer is Scott’s first signature shoe and is expected to release later this year.

Stephen A. Smith was also in attendance, though it’s unclear what connection he has to Jordan Brand beyond just being an entertainment presence at any sporting event.

An interesting football match was held in the star-studded sky box. Michigan and Washington played three quarters, and the Huskies had no chance to tie the game until the fourth quarter, with the ball at their own 33-yard line and trailing 20-13.

However, the Wolverines took a two-score lead with a stop and a touchdown before Michigan defensive back Mike Sainristil caught Washington’s star quarterback Michael Pay Jr. Nicks (Michael Penix Jr.) and returned the ball 81 yards for a touchdown and sealed the victory.