Paying Homage to the Real King: Michael Jordan

My brother Steve raised an interesting point which got me thinking of the "value" of Michael Jordan to the NBA (and to the rest of the world, for that matter). I think the numbers really do speak for themselves. Indeed, Jordan's last playoff series was the high water mark for the NBA in terms of ratings. And then MJ left…

6/16-25/1999	NBC	5	11.3	21	11,205,000	16,014,000	San Antonio/New York
6/3-14/1998	NBC	6	18.7	33	18,336,000	29,040,000	Chicago/Utah

(data courtesy of Nielsen Media)

So give or take, the value – I mean the value that matters to the capitalistic system we live in is right in front of you. Roughly 7 million homes and 13 million viewers and, that's pretty huge. Said another way, if the delta between you being here and not being here is ~ 7MM homes and 13 million pairs of eyeballs, goodness we miss you Michael.

MJ isn't 50 yet, another comeback is not unthinkable, not because the talent is still there (though I bet he could still bring that sort of talent about 10 minutes per game) but because the value IS still there, even if the talent isn't. And believe me, capitalism (and Michael Jordan) won't be afraid to capitalize on that if there is an opportunity for enough capital…and it seems like there is (again, 7MM homes and 13MM pairs of eyeballs IS value in our world…huge, huge value).