LeBron James may not be Michael Jordan on the court but he’s proving to be ‘Like Mike’ off of it.
It’s just been announced that LeBron will sign a lifetime contract with Nike.
BREAKING: Nike has signed LeBron James to a lifetime deal. Largest single athlete guarantee in company’s 44-year history.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 7, 2015
LeBron has proven to be one of the smartest athletes in terms of marketing, branding, and overall business savy. This lifetime deal with NIKE shows that he’s willing to do what athletes before him have never done, while pushing to be the 1st active billionaire athlete.
Nike has never before announced a lifetime deal like the one they did with James today. Assume MJ has at least a de facto one. — Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 7, 2015
Nike has released a statement regarding the deal:
“We can confirm that we have agreed to a lifetime relationship with LeBron that provides significant value to our business, brand and shareholders,” Nike said in a statement. “We have already built a strong LeBron business over the past 12 years, and we see the potential for this to continue to grow throughout his playing career and beyond.”
LeBron’s longtime business partner, Maverick Carter, had this to say bout the new deal:
“LeBron and I have been in love and obsessed with Nike since we were kids,” said Maverick. “Having built a totally innovative, global business with them has truly been a dream come true. We are so excited to be taking the business to an entirely new level. For LeBron, he’s thrilled to know he’s a Nike guy for life.”
LeBron is known for having opt-out clauses and restructures built into his contracts, so it’ll be interesting to see how much the deal can change by adding a few rings to his collection.
