‘Air’ Will Tell the Story of How Nike Landed the Michael Jordan Deal
One of the greatest tales of marketing and sponsorships is perhaps the legendary partnership between Nike and Michael Jordan. In 1984, Jordan was a rookie on his way to the NBA, still relatively unknown nor was anyone quite aware of his success to come… except Nike. The sporting goods company took a major chance at signing the rookie from North Carolina, arriving at a record-breaking, $2.5 million five-year deal.
As they say, the rest is history.
But not quite. Until now, there have only ever been minute details given over the Jordan signing. Of course, Nike co-founder Phil Knight went into some detail about the deal in his best-selling autobiography, ‘Shoe Dog’, but for the full story, you’ll have to rely on urban myth… until now.
To tell such a mammoth story involves some of Hollywood’s greatest minds, like the reunion of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The Oscar-winning duo are teaming up once again to play Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro (Damon) and Nike co-founder Phil Knight (Affleck), with help of Jason Bateman, Chris Messina and Chris Tucker. Viola Davis also joins the cast as Michael Jordan’s mother/supporter, Deloris Jordan. Collectively, the all-star cast unites under the directorship of Affleck to tell the epic story of how Nike landed Michael Jordan (and almost lost everything in the process).
The highly anticipated feature will focus heavily on the partnership between Michael Jordan and Nike’s basketball division, and how, through partnering with an unknown athlete at the time, let to Nike revolutionised the world of sports and contemporary culture, especially with the introduction of the Air Jordan brand.
“This moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time,” says the film’s synopsis.
With the trailer revealed today – and also set to appear during the Super Bowl – the Amazon-led AIR will premier across cinemas throughout America, followed by streaming accessibility in more than 240 countries.
From director Ben Affleck, Matt Damon stars in the true story of how Nike brought in Michael Jordan for the Air Jordans. Watch the #AirMovie trailer now: pic.twitter.com/Gt7bxBYRIO
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 9, 2023
The post ‘Air’ Will Tell the Story of How Nike Landed the Michael Jordan Deal was originally published on ICON.
