Athletes & Their Business Endeavors

By: Candy Man

Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players of all time and also a talented businessman. It is said that his net worth is more than a billion dollars and he acquired that after decades of a Hall of Fame NBA career and a variety of business deals. He’s had sponsorships with Nike, Gatorade, McDonalds, Hanes, 2K Sports, Upper Deck & a host of other corporations. Those sponsorships included shoe deals, commercial appearances, being a spokesperson, & cover athlete of NBA 2K for a couple of years. He also has multiple business investments. He owns restaurants, car dealerships and is also the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets. He has earned millions on the court and even more millions off of it from his endorsement deals and business interests. More than anything, he made most of his earnings from Jordan Brand & his partnership with Nike. He makes more than $60 million a year from his contract with Nike. Jordan sneaker sales are still growing after all these years and generate more than $2 billion every year. Due to the massive popularity and influence his shoes have had, Jordan Brand owns more of the basketball shoe market in America than Nike itself.

MJ is the most influential example of athletes turning their career success into a profitable business of their own. There are so many NBA players today with their own shoe deals including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose & Dwayne Wade. Damian Lillard & John Wall recently joined the competition with sneakers of their own. Outside the NBA, some of the most popular athlete endorsement deals are George Foreman and his grills, and Tiger Wood’s partnership with Nike. While the highest paid athlete contracts come from baseball, some of the wealthiest athletes in terms of endorsements come from tennis, golf and soccer; Roger Federer, Phil Mickelson, Maria Sharapova, David Beckham, Rafael Nadal, Rory McIlroy, Serena & Venus Williams.

Besides endorsements, another popular option for athletes to increase their net worth is through franchising. Many athletes partner with corporations to own & operate their retail stores. Peyton Manning owns multiple Papa John’s stores in Colorado. Former NBA player, Jamal Mashburn, owns many stores across a variety of businesses including Papa John’s, Outback Steakhouse, Dunkin Donuts & a Toyota dealership in Kentucky. Junior Bridgeman, who spent most of his NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks, owns about 160 Wendy’s & Chili’s restaurant franchises around the country. Many professional athletes are also franchisees in Wingstop restaurants. Wingstop has become more popular due to Rick Ross rapping about their lemon pepper wings and all that good stuff. He and his sister, Tawanda Roberts, opened 6 new stores across the South and Rozay heavily promotes their chicken wings in his music.

If you’ve seen the ESPN 30 for 30 “Broke” documentaries, you know how fast athletes can make money and how fast they can lose it all. Athletes like MJ realized their power and influence and took advantage of it. With so many athletes going bankrupt and blowing their money away on gambling, splurging, or domestic issues, Jordan is a role model in the business world for developing the knowledge and network to turn his name into a billion dollar company. Many of today’s athletes are following his lead and creating their own brands. I just highlighted a few athletes but there are many more that are successfully building their own companies after retirement.