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Marketing and Sponsorship

Jordan's Publicist Details Sponsorship Business; Nike Seeks To Keep Contract Under Wraps

Michael Jordan’s business affairs officer detailed how Jordan "built a marketing juggernaut worth hundreds of millions of dollars" during the second day of a trial Thursday in Jordan's lawsuit against defunct supermarket chain Dominick's, according to Kim Janssen of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Jump DC VP Estee Portnoy said that "contrary to Dominick's claims," Jordan "didn't always have to make appearances, attend signings or do anything for his endorsement deals." She added that Jordan "protects his brand's value by selling his image rights and endorsements as a 'bundled' package -- not for a single use -- and he won't do business with anyone unless the deal will ultimately be worth" at least $10M. But lawyers for Dominick's claim $10M "vastly overstates the market value of their ad." Dominick's attorney Stephen Rosenfeld "got Portnoy to acknowledge that Jordan had agreed to multiple deals" worth less than $10M, "including a $500,000 deal with Sirius satellite radio." Jordan is suing Dominick's for "using his name and identity without permission" in a '09 print ad (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/14).

TRADE SECRETS: Jordan's attorneys said that he made more than $100M "in sponsorships last year," and about $536.6M from '00-'12. BLOOMBERG NEWS' Kyle Stock noted the defense team is "pushing for more details." But at the "at the heart of the friction is Jordan’s 42-page agreement with Nike," a document that Nike Global Counsel Gary Way has "described to the court as 'one of the most competitively valuable documents in the industry.'" Way argued that the document would not only "give its competitors an edge," but it would also "harm Nike’s relationships with its sponsored athletes." Nike is "joined by a host of other companies in its fight for secrecy." PepsiCo’s Gatorade, HanesBrands, trading-card maker Upper Deck and Take-Two Interactive, the company behind the NBA 2K video game series, have "all filed to intervene in the case to try to keep the details of their Jordan agreements under wraps." U.S. District Court Judge John Blakely has "agreed to keep the Jordan contracts close to his chest, releasing details requested by the defense on a line-by-line basis and only if he deems them germane to the case" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 8/13).

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