‘More than just shoes’: how Air Jordans kicked off a revolution in sport

I n 1984, Nike was in trouble. Growth had stalled, profits were down and a misjudged move into clothing left it with piles of unsold inventory. Rivals had beaten it to new crazes for aerobics and leisure shoes. Sales fell. “Orwell was right,” Phil Knight, who was chairman and chief executive, began his annual letter to shareholders. “1984 was a tough year.”

ButAir, a new film set in that same year, opens this week, and shows how Nike went on to become the world’s No 1 shoe and sports brand, a company whose revenue topped £37bn in 2022.

It’s directed by and stars Ben Affleck as Knight in all his shell-suit and mirrored shades-wearing, purple Porsche-driving 80s pomp. Air also stars Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, a Nike sports marketing executive in desperate need of a hit. But the real star of this story is the Air Jordan shoe.

Air tells how, against everyone’s advice, Vaccaro signed a sponsorship deal with the rookie basketball player Michael Jordan, luring him away from more viable rivals Adidas and Converse, by presenting him with his own sneaker – the Air Jordan. Even more controversially, at the behest of Jordan’s formidable mother, Deloris (played in the film by Viola Davis), he gave Jordan points on every pair sold, kicking off a revolution in the way sport and its stars were marketed around the world.

Nike officially released the Air Jordan 1 sneakers to the public on 1 April 1985 at the price of $64.95. It expected to sell 100,000 pairs in the first year. Instead, backed by clever marketing that suggested the NBA had banned the shoes for being too colourful (it hadn’t), it shipped 1.5 million in the first six weeks.

You’d have done well to hang on to a pair. Today, unworn Jordan 1s sell for north of $20,000