MJ's Son's Air Jordans Costs UCF Adidas Sponsorship

[Bruce]

Air Jordans cost UCF future deal with adidas
Posted Nov 04, 2009 11:11 PM
By ANTONIO GONZALEZ
(AP)

ORLANDO, Fla. -A fight over the shoes Michael Jordan's son will wear at the University of Central Florida has cost the school any future sponsorship with adidas.

"The University of Central Florida has chosen not to deliver on their contractual commitment to adidas," adidas spokeswoman Andrea Corso wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "As a result we have chosen not to continue our relationship with them moving forward."

Freshman guard Marcus Jordan wore a pair of white Air Jordans during UCF's 84-65 win in an exhibition game against Saint Leo on Wednesday night, the Orlando Sentinel reported on its Web site. Jordan has said he will only wear his father's Nike Air Jordan shoes because they hold special meaning to his family.

UCF is in the final year of a five-year contract with adidas that requires coaches and athletes to use the company's apparel and equipment.
"We are disappointed to learn that adidas has chosen to discontinue its relationship with UCF Athletics," the school said in a statement Wednesday night released by spokesman Joe Hornstein. "Once we receive official notice we will be able to further respond."

[Mosiah]

Obviously, his father's company will pick up the slack.

[Gamma]

chupid move by adidas i think.

[Yuttie]

they already started...

Thanks to Marcus Jordan, did Nike just steal UCF from Adidas?

By Eamonn Brennan

By now, we're all familiar with Michael Jordan's son Marcus, and Marcus's shoe-related issues at UCF. According to Jordan, UCF told him during his recruitment that he'd be allowed to wear his father's Air Jordan brand. The only problem: UCF is an adidas school, and adidas schools only wear adidas, just as Nike schools only wear Nike. If Jordan wore Jordans, UCF would violate their agreement and jeopardize a $1.9 million deal with the German shoemaker.

Last night, Jordan took to the floor in his father's brand anyway. Adidas, none too pleased at this development, summarily canceled its deal with Central Florida.

This is not as disastrous as it might sound, because, duh, Marcus Jordan is Michael Jordan's son. I think we've covered this before. And being Michael Jordan's son, it seems likely that Nike would be willing to swoop right in and take over UCF's sponsorship, especially since Michael Jordan's son is now on the team. Sports By Brooks's Brooks Melchior has already talked to two "prominent sports marketing execs" who say the wheels on a Nike partnership are already turning. See? No big deal.

It is a big interesting from a purely marketing perspective, though. Nike gets to be the hero; adidas looks like a petulant corporate overlord; and Jordan Brand gets a momentary boost in profile, the sort of old-school brand-loyalty marketing gimmick -- Mickey Mantle prefers Viceroy! Marcus Jordan's feet won't touch adidas! -- dreamed up by the ad whizzes of yesteryear.

You could even go one step further (as Brooks does) and speculate that UCF knew, whether intuitively or through conversations with Nike, that if Marcus Jordan refused to dress in adidas, Nike would come riding in. It makes sense. What athletics budget can afford to drop $1.9 million in sponsor money? Not even elite programs can manage that; UCF certainly can't. And yet the school was all-too-willing to let Jordan walk right out onto the court last night in his father's shoes.Weird, right?

[Mosiah]

The Dagger
Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:53 pm EST
Jeff Jordan pointlessly suspended for victimless crime

By Eamonn Brennan


Last year, Michael Jordan's oldest son, Jeff Jordan, decided he no longer wanted to play basketball for the Illinois Illini. This made sense at the time: Jordan's entire life had revolved around basketball, and it's clear he wasn't going to obtain (and certainly didn't need) a professional basketball career. So he decided to stop playing hoops and focus on school. Then, this fall, Jordan changed his mind. He decided to rejoin the Illini, a surprise decision that took Bruce Weber and company a few days to mull over. Jordan is now back on the team. In the interim, Jordan played in a three-on-three tournament, a non-NCAA-sanctioned event. For this, he will be suspended two games. Fun!
Here's why this doesn't matter: Jordan wasn't technically breaking a rule, since he wasn't playing hoops at the time. The punishment is retroactive, no different than John Wall's, which punished Wall for his connection with Brian Clifton before his enrollment at Kentucky. But Jordan wasn't taking money from an AAU coach, or something; he was playing in recreational off-time tourney. There is no moral outrage or skeeviness to dredge up here.
Here's another reason why it doesn't matter: Jordan isn't exactly a major Illini contributor, and even if he was, the games he'll miss -- Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Northern Illinois -- aren't exactly barnburners for an improved Illinois team.
In other words, much as with John Wall, reading the words "two-game suspension" always raises the red flags. And much as with John Wall, there's nothing to see here. Off we go.