This ethical issue is about shoes. Recently there has been a shoe dilemma for Marcus Jordan, the son of basketball great Michael Jordan. Marcus Jordan is a freshman at University of Central Florida. Marcus signed to play basketball for the school. During the signing he stated the only way he would play is if he could wear Air Jordan’s when he played, so UCF agreed and said he would be able to play in his Jordan’s. This becomes an ethical issue because UCF has signed a contract with Adidas and as many know the Jordan brand is part of Nike. The university could lose up to $2 million if Marcus wears his family’s shoes. The contract between UCF and Adidas is an exclusive $1.9 million contract states the athletes and coaches are required to use Adidas shoes, appeal and game equipment. This contract right now offers discounted prices and does not give free stuff to the Athletes. The contract is set to end in 2010 but UCF and Adidas were talking about expanding the contract to 6 more years, this will also give the school more free shoes, appeal and equipment.The people at Adidas are not happy with the fact that UCF told Marcus that he could wear his shoes. They feel like since they are holding up their contract than so should UCF. The next issue comes between Marcus and his brand loyalty to a company that has supplied so much to his family. Marcus does not have a problem wearing the other Adidas sponsored items he just wants to wear the shoes.
I really know how Marcus feels about being loyal to his father’s company but I also feel that since Marcus has signed to play for an Adidas campus than he should have to respect that contract and wear all Adidas stuff. He has grown into a new world and new environment and should realize that not everything is about his needs. If he still wants to play ball than he should respect the contract and wear what all of his teammates are wearing. Marcus does not have a contract with Nike stating all he is going to wear are Nike’s he just feels obligated to because his father is the owner of the shoes. This does not mean Marcus has to lose ties with the Jordan brand, he can wear his Nike shoes everyday but when it comes to game days he should just put on the Adidas shoes like all of his other teammates. This is a tough issue to choose sides but what do you think? Should Marcus wear Adidas? Or Should Adidas just let him wear whatever is comfortable and also keep the contract with UCF?
-Megan Meade
Limon,L. (19 October 2009). Central Florida's promise to Michael Jordan's son jeopardizes school's lucrative Adidas contract. Retrieved from
Megan, this is an issue that will be continued to be brought up again and again. The Jordan family seems to love to continue their logo stir in public. Last May I was attending the Chicago Blackhawks playoff game versus Vancouver Canucks. Michael Jordan was being honored by the Chicago Blackhawks as the opening ceremonial puck drop. The Blackhawks gave Jordan an honorary Chicago Blackhawks jersey with "23" and "Jordan" on the back. However, there was a problem with the jersey. In the NHL, all jerseys are made by RBK a.k.a. Reebok. Jordan being a loyal Nike man had a Nike patch sewn over the Reebok logo on the jersey. This little logo swap created a controversial stir up in the local Chicago newspapers.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I understand Michael's reasonings but to have his son complain about a pair of shoes, come on now. Personally, I truly believe UCF is at fault. Jordan's son, Marcus, did make it clear he did not want to play for the school if he was not allowed to wear Jordan brand shoes. The school promised Marcus wearing the Jordan shoes were okay. Marcus then signed with the school to play basketball. Now by making a case against wearing the Jordan shoes, UCF has failed to live up to their promise and possible breach their contract with Marcus Jordan.
Now if the Michael Jordan was smart. He would be working out a deal for Nike to over at UCF after Addidas contract ends in 2010. On the other hand, Marcus it is probably not smart to cause all these minor problems in front of your new teammates. You want to start off your basketball career on the right foot.
I think this is a tough issue here. I feel like Marcus should honor the school and its contract by wearing the Adidas shoes that are provided to the team. However, UCF has agreed to let him wear the Jordan's, so I think most of the blame should be on the school for not holding up their end of the contract. Yet, I think Marcus should have done more research when deciding on his college of choice. If he knew the school had a contract with a brand other than Nike, then maybe he should have considered other schools or maybe worked out a deal with UCF before he signed to play there.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Nick in that maybe he should just abide by the contract and wear Adidas until the contract expires. In the mean time, Marcus and his father Michael could be working with Nike to extend a contract offer to UCF and convert the school to a Nike school. I'm not sure how difficult it is to develop a new contract with a new company. Also, Marcus is only there for a maximum of four years, so is a whole risk of getting a deal with Nike worth the risk of losing their 6 year extension with Adidas?
I remember reading this story when it originally came out, and thought "how stupid." Now here we are looking at the aftermath and UCF has officially lost its contract with ADIDAS. Talk about ridiculous. Pulling a contract because a child wants to honor, and follow in his fathers footsteps, by wearing his shoes. I think it will now be interesting to see how long it takes Nike to swoop in and offer UCF with a massive contract to sport Air Jordan.
ReplyDeleteI think UCF was at fault in this issue, because they broke their contract with Adidas. Just because Marcus said he would not play if he did not get to wear Jordan Nike shoes, does not mean UCF should just break their contract.
ReplyDeleteYes, Marcus should not be so stubborn about what shoes he wears, but UCF should not have agreed when they knew they had a contract with Adidas.
I do understand why Marcus would want to wear Jordan shoes, but he needs to grow up and learn how to act as a team player. If his whole team is wearing Adidas, then that is what he should wear as well.
I think that Marcus Jordan may have been wrong in this incident. I think Marcus should be able to wear whatever kind of shoes he wants so I don't mind him wearing the Nike's. The one issue is UCF had a contract in place with Adidas that all there players needed to wear their shoes. Once Jordan violated this Adidas broke off their agreement with UCF. Marcus should have been told and realized that he must wear Adidas like everyone else on the team. I don't think this is a huge issue though because it is only a matter of time until Nike offers UCF a contract.
ReplyDeleteMegan, this is truly a unique situation we have here. In a three way tangle we have UCF, the Jordan Family, and Adidas. It’s not every day that the son of the greatest basketball player picks to play for a school. I would imagine that UCF was ecstatic to have Marcus Jordan join their team. Because the hype, the television, and the media will be flocking to UCF to cover Michael’s son, it seems like a no-brainer for UCF to use Nike products to appease the Jordan family. Granted Marcus will only be at UCF for up to 5 years, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the basketball program. Even if he isn’t a mega-star like his father, he could bring record crowds to the university. It may seem unethical to not uphold a contract with Adidas, but UCF could be thinking about the money that Michael Jordan could donate to the program if he and his son are happy. This might be the one exception that the player, or his father, is bigger than the program.
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteI think Marcus should wear Adidas if they are still under contract. He is joining there team and should follow their guidelines. He should at least wear them while they still have a contract with Adidas. It is not going to make him any worse of a player if he has a different brand of shoe on. Also, just because his father is the best basketball player there has ever been doesn’t mean Marcus should gets special treatment because he is his own person. If UCF were to allow Marcus to wear what he wants that would be unfair to his teammates.
Also, if people see that they gave him special treatment, if UCF were to sign other players they ay ask for requests like this. It could turn into a domino affect. If Marcus was smart he would talk to his dad and UCF and see about switching sponsorship to Nike at the end of the Adidas contract.
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ReplyDeleteMegan- Apparently people have very strong opinions about this topic. My personal opinion is that when a student-athlete signs with a University, they are agreeing to abide by the rules, regulations, and policies of that University. UCF’s contract was in effect when Marcus Jordan signed with the University and that means he agrees to play the part, just like the rest of the team, and wear Adidas. His asking for special treatment is a bold move, but he knows that he has some pull because of who his dad is. I don’t know if the agreement between Jordan and the UCF representatives was a written promise or a verbal agreement.
ReplyDeleteBoth are valid under certain terms of the law, but it comes down to if either side will sue. Either, Adidas suing UCF for breach of contract or UFC for being dropped from the contract for other circumstances. I think everyone had really good points and views on the subject and gave some plausible situations about what is to come with this debate. I think UCF is calculating all the money they could bring in with Jordan’s son being at the school and the money that may be donated by the family. Money and exposure is a big factor for UCF to consider.