Michael Jordan's marketing chief says the six-time NBA champion often receives millions for just lending his name to a product and doing nothing else.
Her remarks came Wednesday on the first full day of testimony in a civil trial in Chicago federal court examining the market value of Jordan's identity.
The issue is damages that the now-defunct Dominick's Finer Foods owes the ex-Chicago Bull for invoking his name in a steak ad without permission.
His attorneys say such use is worth $10 million. Dominick's says that's too high when only Jordan's name is used.
But Estee Portnoy testified that the XEl fragrance company paid $10 million for putting his name on cologne.
Asked if Jordan did anything other than lend his name, she responded, "Michael does not do anything for them."
Jordan's lawyer told jurors Wednesday that the market value of Jordan's moniker to the Nike sportswear company was at least $480 million. Each commercial use of Jordan's name is worth more than $10 million, he estimated.
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The price tag on Jordan's name is the central issue for jurors who will decide how much Dominick's Finer Foods should pay in damages for a 2009 Sports Illustrated ad that congratulated the basketball legend by name on his Hall of Fame induction. The ad also included a $2-off coupon above a photograph of a sizzling steak.
Court documents have conceded the steak ad wasn't a success, prompting just two people to redeem the steak coupons from the now-defunct Dominick's. In his remarks to jurors, Sperling broached the question of why Jordan would devote so much time and money to suing the grocery-store chain.
Because, he said, "if you don't protect the use of your identity, then your value disappears."
Dominick's acknowledged it wasn't authorized to invoke Jordan's name, so the sole issue for jurors is how much to award Jordan in damages.
In his opening, Dominick's lawyer Steven Mandell suggested that plaintiff's attorneys overvalued Jordan's name. It might be worth $10 million in some contexts, he said, but not necessarily in a one-off ad.
"The more you use, the greater the value," he said.
