Michael Jordan claimed that it was never about the money Friday night after a federal jury ordered the owners of the defunct supermarket chain Dominick's to pay him $8.9 million for using his identity without permission in a 2009 Sports Illustrated advertisement.
Speaking outside the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after the verdict was announced; Jordan added that he would give the award to charities in Chicago. "It was all just about protecting my name and my likeness," he said, according to The Chicago Tribune.
During closing arguments, Fred Sperling, one of Jordan's attorneys, argued that the Chicago Bull legend had earned the right to demand astronomical sums from his sponsors by having the "fiercest work ethic anyone's ever had."
An expert hired by Dominick's had calculated that a hypothetical deal between the two sides could have been concluded for $126,900. Jordan's legal representatives brought in sports economist Andrew Zimbalist, who testified that Jordan's fair market value for the ad was $10 million, according to CBS.Sports.
If you use Michael Jordan's name without his permission, you will pay dearly for it. Safeway learned that lesson the hard way on Friday, for the ad for their now-defunct supermarket chain Dominick's that used Jordan's name without his permission, according to NBC Sports' ProBasketballTalk.
Before the case even went to trial, the court had decided that Dominick's was liable for running the ad without Jordan's permission. That meant jurors only had to decide how much Safeway should pay.
