The idea was that he allowed us to focus on the sidelines, and Gatorade was always there,” said Bill Schmidt, former Gatorade worldwide vice president of sports. Gatorade is the league’s most tenured sponsor, having first signed on in 1984.
The Jordan legend was growing he’d won his first NBA title that year after triumphing in the 19 slam dunk contests. The marriage between the two brands reached new heights in 1991, when Gatorade signed Jordan to a 10-year endorsement deal, averaging $1.4 million annually. As the NBA playoffs extended into the warm weather months - Gatorade’s prime selling season - and as the league grew its overseas presence, so did Gatorade. Gatorade was looking to grow outside of North America. Jordan was Gatorade’s first, and for some time, only endorser, and had just as profound an impact on the isotonic brand as he did with Nike. Still, Nike has always had many endorsers. Even 19 years after his retirement, Nike’s Jordan Brand has $4.7 billion in sales. That equation of Jordan + NBA sponsor always equaled green in the 1980s and 1990s.
