Michael Jordan trial: $10M without breaking a sweat

A grocery chain’s lawyer tried to bring Michael Jordan down to Earth Thursday, digging deep into the details of the $580 million in deals the basketball superstar claims to have made since he retired from playing with the Chicago Bulls.

Jordan’s handlers contend they aim for $10 million values when considering contracts that take advantage of Jordan’s identity. But Dominick’s lawyer Stephen Rosenfeld spent his afternoon at Chicago’s federal courthouse pointing out what appeared to be exceptions to that rule.

Meanwhile, longtime Jordan marketing manager Estee Portnoy testified to the ease with which Jordan makes his millions. For example, she said Jordan does nothing for fragrance company XEL, which has paid him $10.6 million since 2002 to sell Michael Jordan cologne.

And later, Portnoy downplayed Rosenfeld’s contention that Jordan must devote between 40 and 75 days a year to the promotion of the Jordan Brand at Nike — a company that paid Jordan $480.7 million between 2000 and 2012.

“I can’t remember when we’ve given 40 days a year to the Jordan Brand,” Portnoy testified.

Lawyers for Jordan and the now-defunct grocer Dominick’s have gone to trial over a 2009 Dominick’s ad in a limited-edition issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. It used Jordan’s name, his famous number “23” and included a $2-off coupon for a Rancher’s Reserve steak. Two coupons were redeemed.

Jordan sued because the grocer didn’t have permission to use his name. A judge earlier found that the company that owned Dominick’s, Safeway, violated the Illinois Right of Publicity Act, and now the lawyers are arguing over how much Dominick’s owes Jordan for the use of his name.

Jordan has attended every day of the trial — appearing Thursday in a blue suit and tie — and he is likely to testify next week.

In his opening statement, Jordan lawyer Frederick Sperling laid out $580 million in deals Jordan made in a 12-year period starting in 2000. That included the money from Nike, $18 million from Gatorade, $14.6 million from Hanes and $14 million from Upper Deck.

But it also included a deal with WorldCom potentially worth $12 million that fell short because the company filed for bankruptcy. It also included a deal with SiriusXM Radio to include Jordan’s image in a commercial. Sirius agreed to pay Jordan $500,000 — but Jordan’s team contends the exposure in the commercial was worth $25 million.

Under cross-examination by Rosenfeld, Portnoy conceded she didn’t perform any analysis to determine the value of the six-month ad campaign before she took it to Jordan, who agreed to it.

In fact, Jordan originally agreed to the ad campaign for as little as $350,000. Portnoy negotiated the payment up to $500,000 anyway.

Rosenfeld also pointed to Jordan’s deal with 2K Sports Inc. for a series of video games.

Jordan’s lawyer said in his opening statement that deal is worth $4.6 million — including $2.5 million in payments to Jordan and $2.1 million in benefits to the Jordan Brand and Jordan’s basketball team, now known as the Charlotte Hornets.

Jordan’s first contract with 2K included a $500,000 payment to Jordan, Portnoy testified.

It gave the company permission to use his likeness in the video games and on the cover of the box. It also required Jordan to participate in a telephone conference call and sign fewer than 10 autographs.

A later contract with 2K upped Jordan’s compensation to $1 million a year. But it also required him to participate in a 30-minute film shoot and included Internet and social networking games in the deal.

Rosenfeld pointed to a copy of the presentation 2K made to Portnoy when it tried to sell her on the idea. He highlighted a $550,000 investment mentioned in the presentation, as well as a line that identified the “total cost per consumer” as 65 cents.

Then he asked Portnoy to multiply 65 cents by 41,513 — failing to mention that the number represents the amount of Sports Illustrated magazines sold containing the infringing 2009 Dominick’s ad.

Not realizing his point, Portnoy told the jury the answer was $26,983.45.