Jurors will determine how much money Dominick’s Finer Foods, a now-shuttered supermarket chain based in Illinois, should pay Jordan for its unauthorized use of his name and likeness on a 2009 advertisement for $2 off steak purchases.
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Dominick’s did not get Jordan’s prior approval for using his name or number in the ad, and a previous judge already ruled that it was a misuse of Jordan’s identity.
Dominick’s acknowledged it wasn’t authorised to invoke Jordan’s name, so the sole issue for jurors is how much to award Jordan in damages.
Nike and several of those companies that sponsor Jordan are trying to prevent the exact numbers they pay the former Chicago Bulls superstar from being revealed during a court case ongoing in Chicago.
In one light-hearted moment, Portnoy told jurors Jordan hasn’t played professional basketball since 1998 – “we don’t count the Wizards years”, she said, referring to Jordan’s brief stint with the Washington Wizards. Jordan made more than $100 million in sponsorships last year, according to his lawyers, and about $536.6 million from 2000 to 2012.
Jordan, 52, entered through the front doors of the courthouse Tuesday after Judge John Blakey denied his request to use a security tunnel.
“It compares Michael to a piece of steak”, she testified.
PepsiCo’s Gatorade; HanesBrands; trading-card maker Upper Deck; and Take-Two Interactive, the company behind the National Basketball Association 2K video game series; have all filed to intervene in the case to try to keep the details of their Jordan agreements under wraps. “It’s the use of his identity”.
Jordan protects his brand’s value by selling his image rights and endorsements as a “bundled” package – not for a single use – and he won’t do business with anyone unless the deal will ultimately be worth at least NZ$15m, Portnoy said.
Bottom line, Mandell said there is one guiding principle: “The more you use, the greater the value, the more expensive it is”. Partnership deals are typically worth $10 million or above, she said, though that’s not always in cash.
Regardless, she said Jordan’s team had begun “looking for ways to remind people that Michael had played”.
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The unsuspecting Sirius representative agreed to the extra $150,000 in five minutes.
