Michael Jordan Watched $173 Million Investment Pay Off in CFP Championship

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh famously fielded a call from a "Michael Jordan" in 2015 uncertain whether he was about to speak with one of the greatest basketball players in history or a teenage offensive lineman by the same moniker.

Harbaugh missed out on the offensive lineman, and adding salt to the wound, the lineman ended up at Michigan's bitter rival, Ohio State. But Harbaugh did end up with an apparel-brand deal: Michigan and Jordan Brand agreed to an 11-year deal worth up to $173 million.

"When we first took the job here, there was a shoe contract that was up," Harbaugh told Dan Patrick in 2018. "There's a lot of good shoes out there, etc. My son, Jay, came up with the idea. He's like, 'There's no Jordan football school. That would be pretty awesome.'"

That's why the Wolverines were sporting Jordan Brand jerseys and football apparel as they took on Washington in the CFP National Championship game on Monday, giving Jordan an enormous return on his investment. Nine years after Jordan's name popped up on Harbaugh's phone, Michigan claimed a 34-13 victory over Washington to clinch its first national title since 1997.

The Jordan Brand Instagram page got caught up in the action, posting a number of stories from the University of Michigan watch party at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. The day after Michigan's win, the Jumpman logo in the profile picture was Michigan's blue-and-maize colorway.

Jordan, who was in the middle of his final championship campaign with the Chicago Bulls the last time Michigan won a title, was in attendance along with a cadre of Jordan Brand ambassadors.

Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter was in the skybox near Jordan, which made sense for two reasons. First, Jeter is a Kalamazoo, MI, native who planned to play for the University of Michigan before the New York Yankees offered him an $800,000 deal that convinced him to walk away from college baseball.

Second, Jeter has been involved with Jordan Brand since 1999, and he got a signature baseball shoe—the Jumpman Turn 2s— in 2002. Jeter and Jordan forged a friendship before they entered into a partnership, and they continued to work together after Jeter retired from baseball in 2014.

Rapper Travis Scott, meanwhile, didn't need to travel far to attend the game: The event took place at the NRG Stadium in Houston, TX, which is Scott's hometown. He also has a lucrative partnership with Jordan Brand, producing several sneaker lines as part of a deal that earns him about $10 million per year. The Jordan Jumpman Jack Trainer, Scott's first signature shoe, is slated for release later this year.

Stephen A. Smith was also there, although it's unclear what connection he has to Jordan Brand other than simply being an entertaining presence at any sporting event.

The star-studded skybox took in a fun football game. Michigan and Washington locked horns for three quarters, and the Huskies had a chance to tie as late as the fourth quarter, trailing 20-13 with the ball on their own 33-yard line.

The Wolverines, however, got a stop and a touchdown to take a two-score lead before Michigan defensive back Mike Sainristil picked off star Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and returned it 81 yards to set up a final touchdown that sealed the win.