Aaron Judge Signs Endorsement Deal with Jordan Brand
Following in the footsteps of fellow Jordan athlete and former Yankee captain Derek Jeter.
Big #99 is the newest member of team #23, as New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has officially signed with Jordan Brand. Judge, the reigning AL MVP, single-season AL home run record holder and a five-time All-Star, will join other MLB stars like Vladmir Gurrero Jr., Jazz Chisolm Jr, Mookie Betts and Manny Machado on the Jumpman’s roster, and his signing is an undeniably fitting one — he’s the first Yankee captain since Derek Jeter, who was also Jordan Brand athlete.
Before signing with Jordan Brand, Judge had an endorsement deal with adidas in 2018 after hitting a then-rookie record 52 home runs (since broken by Pete Alonso, who hit 53 in 2019) in his first season. However, that contract expired before the 2022 MLB season and Judge mostly wore customized New Balance cleats with all the branding removed or covered over the course of the 2022-2023 campaigns. His batting glove choices were also all over the map, from Nike and Jordan Brand to adidas, though in recent months he’d been hinting at the signing by wearing Jordan Brand batting gloves exclusively.
There’s currently no word on when/if signature Judge product will begin rolling out, but it’s reasonable to think that it’ll be in the works: the aforementioned Jeter recieved a dozen signatures from 2002 to 2014. As far as Judge’s Yankees, they’re currently slogging through a disappointing season for a team with preseason World Series hopes and a $285M USD payroll, sitting in last place in the AL East with a 60-61 record. Judge, however, has been effective both before and after a June a toe injury caused him to miss almost 50 games. He’s currently sitting at a .281/.415/.615 slash line with 22 home runs, and FanGraphs notes that.427 wOBA ranks third among hitters with at least 250 plate appearances.
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