Michigan's partnership with Air Jordan is beating Ohio State in the apparel race

Submitted by Maizen on

You're seeing more and more not-so-subtle reminders from Ohio State about its partnership with LeBron James because the Buckeyes have to have an answer for what Michigan is doing with its newly-signed agreement with the Air Jordan brand. 

When Michigan's agreement with the Jordan brand was announced last August, I wrote that college football's biggest rivalry could turn into Jordan vs. LeBron. That's actually happening right now. 

And Jordan is winning.

You can pretend all of this doesn't matter. That's been the preferred defense tactic for Ohio State fans. 

You can say, "It's weird that Michigan has a basketball player on its football uniforms." That's another popular one. 

But if you're saying those things, you're wrong. So wrong it hurts.  

Jim Harbaugh hit a home run that still hasn't landed yet when he spearheaded Michigan's partnership with Jordan. Michigan is continually winning the day, as it's been smart about keeping the Jordan stuff relevant by spreading out the news regarding new gear releases, the official uniform reveal and Jordan himself being an honorary captain. 

Ohio State has noticed what's going on up there. Which is why Ohio State's public relations/social media team has started responding directly to Michigan's momentum. 

 

There's a luster with the Jordan brand that not even LeBron -- fresh off that warm-and-fuzzy NBA title in Cleveland -- can match. Kids today may relate more directly to LeBron because he's playing right now, but the Jordan gear is unquestionably the elite sub-brand of Nike. 

When Ohio State walked into their Hyatt Place for fall camp on Sunday, Marshon Lattimore was wearing Air Jordan retro 4s and Dontre Wilson was wearing Air Jordan retro 11s. They weren't the only Buckeyes wearing Jordans.

Nobody was wearing LeBron's shoes. 

 

The biggest misconception about Jordans is that they're just shoes. No, they're a status symbol. They're rare, they're noticeable and they're collectors items. There's a cult following that simply doesn't exist for across the board for LeBron's brand yet. 

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2016/08/michigans_beating_ohio_state_i.html#incart_river_index

MGoBoard

Vengeful Barbarian

August 10th, 2016 at 12:18 PM ^

And it also = more money out of the fans pockets. $80 for a Michigan polo shirt with the Jordan logo on it seems ridiculous to me. This is just like with the mega TV deals that everyone is excited about until they see that their cable TV bill keeps going higher and higher. Unfortunately none of this money is going to the players who make it all happen either. It is just another example how sports fans keep getting fleeced.

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Leonhall

August 10th, 2016 at 10:47 AM ^

Haha, yep...I just think that's where osu will go or at least LBJ will push for it. He already gave like 200 pairs of shoes to them, read it the other day. My other comment was to just let it be known that Jordan will always be bigger in my eyes but wouldn't be surprised if the LBJ thing happened.



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Space Bat

August 10th, 2016 at 10:36 AM ^

I think Harbaugh has changed the tide of the rivalry. Hell people in Ohio are starting to believe him. Never in a million years would I have thought that. Selling Michigan jerseys is a good start.

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