London – Sporting giant Nike has signed a lifetime endorsement deal with basketball
player LeBron James.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the sportswear brand said the
Cleveland Cavaliers forward provides “significant value to our business,
brand and shareholders”.
Nike signed James after he went pro out of high school in 2003. His first
contract spanned seven years and was worth 90 million dollars, according to
ESPN, with a seven-year extension in 2010. Nike has released at least 13
versions of James’s signature shoes.
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.”
His lifetime deal with Nike could eventually become something similar to
that of Michael Jordan’s. Jordan is the chief executive officer of the
Jordan brand, which continues to release new shoes. Sales of Air Jordan
shoes topped 2.6 billion dollars last year.