Michael Jordan not in game?

[TheTruth]

Is he not in any games this year or is he just in Live? I coulda sworn he was in ID last year. I may be wrong though.

[LrOn2k]

NO he's not, michael jordan for some reason never signs contracts to eb in games. Even on the bulls during those years he was replaced by player 99./......

[vertekal]

Jordan is kinda like the Lavar Arrington of basketball. Generally, players are covered by the group licensing agreement between the players' union and the league, but Jordan reached his own licensing agreement with the NBA in 1992.

Basically, his name or likeness can't be used unless he agrees to it. Let's say each NBA player gets $5,000 from their player's union contract when their likeness gets used in a video game. This covers everyone EXCEPT Jordan, who might want $100,000 to appear in a video game. Video game developers decide just not to include him, and save themselves the money. Will Jordan miss that money? Not really. Because on the other hand, when you buy a LeBron James jersey, his (LeBron's) contract states he gets 30% (example) of all merchandising. On the other hand, Jordan can get 100% of all merchandising. And we all know the vast amount of Jordan jerseys, shoes, etc that was sold over the years.

Oh, and another thing to consider. Let's say that a company DID pay Jordan $100,000 to appear in a video game. Who would cover that $100,000? We would. Would you pay an extra $10 for a video game just because Jordan was in it? Or would you save the $10 and just make him with the 'create a player' feature?

[Ice Cream Truck]

Quote: Originally Posted by vertekal

Jordan is kinda like the Lavar Arrington of basketball. Generally, players are covered by the group licensing agreement between the players' union and the league, but Jordan reached his own licensing agreement with the NBA in 1992. Basically, his name or likeness can't be used unless he agrees to it. Let's say each NBA player gets $5,000 from their player's union contract when their likeness gets used in a video game. This covers everyone EXCEPT Jordan, who might want $100,000 to appear in a video game. Video game developers decide just not to include him, and save themselves the money. Will Jordan miss that money? Not really. Because on the other hand, when you buy a LeBron James jersey, his (LeBron's) contract states he gets 30% (example) of all merchandising. On the other hand, Jordan can get 100% of all merchandising. And we all know the vast amount of Jordan jerseys, shoes, etc that was sold over the years.

Great explanation, I never knew that.

[vertekal]

Oh and it's my understanding that Jordan had an exclusive contract with EA sports (he DID, not sure if he still does) so that's why he appeared in NBA Live and NOT 2K5.

[sportsgeist]

Jordan can do what he wants. Him being in a game or not being in a game doesn't change my decision on what game I buy. Thats what create-a-player is for. Just create him and put him on the 90s East team. Whats the big deal.

[pietasterp]

I actually can't stand Jordan anyway, so it's almost a plus for me that he's not in the game...

[tenth]

Quote: Originally Posted by vertekal

Oh, and another thing to consider. Let's say that a company DID pay Jordan $100,000 to appear in a video game. Who would cover that $100,000? We would. Would you pay an extra $10 for a video game just because Jordan was in it? Or would you save the $10 and just make him with the 'create a player' feature?

Why would it be $10 extra? It's a fixed cost that can be spread out across all the copies sold. At an estimate of 200,000 titles sold for ESPN (I'm ballparking here, I have no idea on the exact number, but I know Live sells a lot more than that), that works out to 50 cents per title. Even using 100% markup from Sega -> Retailer's and Retailer's -> Consumers on the extra costs they'd incur, that's only $2 passed on to consumers. Of course if it was higher than your estimate (like $1 million), than it would dramatically increase costs per game sold and I'm sure no developer would even consider it.

It could be as high as $10 more is if Jordan wanted a fixed fee from every copy sold, and I wouldn't put it past him to do.

Also, someone can correct me if I'm off base here, but Jordan was actually apart of the regular licensing when he was a member of the Wizards. And, retired players are included as a part of the licensing for the season following their retirement, which explains why Jordan was in Live last year (and possibly ESPN). I could be wrong on this, but this is what I've read...