In 1984, Oregon-based Nike, Inc. is on the verge of shutting its basketball shoe division due to low sales. In response to this, Marketing VP Rob Strasser, along with co-founder and CEO Phil Knight, task Nike’s basketball talent scout Sonny Vaccaro to come up with a new spokesperson for Nike basketball shoes.

While considering the basketball players chosen in the 1984 NBA draft, Nike’s executives think third pick Michael Jordan is off limits, being both a fan of Adidas and too expensive for the basketball division’s meager budget. However, once he watches Jordan’s highlights in conjunction with an Arthur Ashe commercial for his Head rackets, Vaccaro becomes convinced that Nike should pursue who he considers a generational talent, with both brand and athlete building off each other.

Following dinner with his friend George Raveling, who coached Jordan in the Olympic tournament, and asking for his support in courting the star, Vaccaro travels to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he convinces Michael’s mother Deloris that Nike would give Jordan all the attention that he would not receive from his preferred brands Adidas and Converse.

After receiving a negative phone call from Jordan’s agent David Falk regarding contacting his client’s family, Vaccaro learns that the Jordans have scheduled a meeting at Nike’s Beaverton, Oregon headquarters the following Monday. Vaccaro and Strasser start preparing their pitch while requesting shoe designer Peter Moore to prepare a prototype, which Moore names “Air Jordan” after Nike’s Air Sole technology. In the meantime, Knight agrees to assign the basketball division’s entire $250,000 budget to hire Jordan.

After the meeting with Jordan and his parents is successful, Vaccaro learns that Adidas matched the offer while adding a Mercedes Benz 380SL, and he thinks the deal will not go through. However, Vaccaro receives a call from Deloris, who states that Michael will sign with Nike on the condition he earns a percentage of every Air Jordan sold.

Even though Vaccaro thinks the company’s higher-ups would not accept this bonus, Knight goes with it, deeming necessary to ensure the endorsement. An epilogue reveals the Air Jordan exceeded Knight’s expectations of $3 million in sales, earning $162 million in one year and becoming a steady source of income for Nike.

~ Wikipedia (source)