Another holiday season, another blockbuster Air Jordan 11 Retro. Tradition continued last December with the launch of the “Jubilee” Air Jordan 11, a colorway designed to celebrate the model’s 25th anniversary. Like many of the Jordan 11s that came before it, the sneaker did significant sales, despite any slowdown in spending related to the coronavirus pandemic.
In Nike Inc.’s conference call for its third quarter fiscal year 2021 earnings, CEO John Donahoe covered the company’s recent accomplishments and its forecast looking forward. The “Jubilee” Air Jordan 11 was cited specifically, with Donahoe touting it as one of Nike’s “largest and most successful footwear launches ever,” although he did not elaborate on exactly how many units were sold. He did however note that it generated over $175 million in revenue. At $220 retail each, that would land the amount of pairs at just under 800,000.
Previous holiday Air Jordan 11 releases have been given similar distinctions. In 2016, the brand called the “72-10” colorway the largest launch ever in nike.com’s history. Likewise for 2017’s “Space Jam,” which was called Nike’s largest launch period. 2018’s “Concord” retro set the bar even higher, with sources calling it the largest in industry history. And in 2019, Donahoe said the “Bred” Air Jordan 11 became the largest launch in company history. Based on the language used in the latest conference call, it’s safe to surmise that the “Jubilee” did not set a new record despite the staggering sales.
Readers can find out more about Nike’s Q3 2021 earnings here.
