Basketball: Jordan the $10bn money machine

MICHAEL JORDAN, Chicago Bulls guard and National Basketball Association superstar, has had a transforming effect on the game. According to Fortune magazine, that effect is quantifiable: about $10 billion (pounds 6 billion).

That fantastic figure comes from adding up sales of sports gear and shoes by Nike and other companies, increased sales of NBA-licenced caps, shirts and jerseys, and generally increased attendances at games, television and advertising revenue. It puts Jordan in a class of his own, not only as an athlete but as a mini-economy. To give some idea of the comparison, that makes Jordan worth about as much to the US economy as the state of Vermont, and puts him on a par with the wealthy European mini-state of Luxembourg (population: 400,000, none of them remotely as good at basketball).

Jordan, who is paid $33m by the Bulls and makes $50m a year from other sources, is remarkably modest about the sea of cash he generates, the equivalent of pounds 100 for every man, woman and child in Britain. "That's speculation. I think the first line says that it's an estimation and no one really knows and no one can verify those numbers," he said as he arrived in Salt Lake City for the first game of the NBA finals against the Utah Jazz. And he told Fortune: "Even now, when I see kids wearing my shoes, it's wild. Sometimes I feel shocked. I just never knew there was that much business surrounding the way I play the game and the way I approach the game."

Merchandising is something most sports stars do, but few with the success of 35-year-old Jordan. His sports videos alone have sold more than four million copies, bringing in $80m. But his panache, athleticism and intelligence on the court have boosted the whole sport, especially since the Bulls won the first of five consecutive NBA championships in 1990-91. When they played the seventh game of their play-offs against the Indiana Pacers to get into this year's finals, over 20 million people watched because it might just have been Jordan's last game. He may be nearing the end of his playing career, though he has yet to decide on his future. He will not be hard up in his old age.