Patrick Johnson 
Could Michael Jordan‘s fight to protect his own image end up hurting a brand that was so heavily invested in helping to create it?
Jordan is having a tough time in court recently after losing his lawsuit against Chinese sportswear company Qiaodan for what he claimed was improper use of his image. Now Mike is back in court for similar reasons per Bloomberg Business, attempting to earn $10 million from Safeway, an American supermarket chain, for using his image in a 2009 advertisement without prior permission.
MJ claims that every time the name ‘Michael Jordan’ is used to market anything, it rightfully demands a hefty price. There’s a catch to this whole lawsuit though, as Mike’s attorneys are showcasing just how much an his product co-sign could be worth by opening up once private contracts between him and brands like Gatorade, Hanes, and most importantly Nike. All of Jordan’s sponsors would prefer that those documents stay sealed, especially the Swoosh, who holds a 42-page contract described as “one of the most competitively valuable documents in the industry” by Nike’s global counsel Gary Way.
Not only could every athlete’s salary under the Jordan Brand umbrella be revealed, but the agreement also details exactly how Nike and Jordan share profits, as well as the thought-process of Jordan’s ability to select athletes to sponsor with his Jumpman insignia.
This is potentially huge for rival brands like adidas and Under Armour because they could hypothetically see the exact specifications of Jordan Brand athletes’ contracts and could then lure them away once their contracts are up knowing the exact figures that they’d need to match. Competitors could also shape similar contracts based on the overwhelming success of Jordan Brand in the past to make for a more competitive outlook in the sneaker industry for years to come.
Safeway has pushed for the contracts to come into light as a competitive way to get Jordan to settle out of court. The question posed: would showcasing these contracts and giving up valuable information to competitor brands be worth the $10 million sought in court? Judge Blakely is keeping the contracts closed for now, and will only allow certain information out if it directly pertains to the court case. The trial is expected to last until August 20th, but with all of the risk involved in opening up Nike’s inner workings, perhaps MJ should have just settled out of court.
Source: Kyle Stock of Bloomberg
