Jordan Brand confirmed to SLAM this week that the Air Jordan XX9 will in fact launch at retail on Saturday, September 6, in both colorways (Black/White-Gym Red and Black/Team Orange-Dark Grey), despite reports earlier this month suggesting a different release date.
Before the XX9 hits retail, Jordan Brand is hosting a series of events across the country, to give players a chance to wear-test the sneaker. Because summer basketball is in full swing, and with Jordan having shifted the release of the next Air Jordan model to the fall, Jordan Brand’s summer of performance basketball officially begins this week.
“This year we shifted the launch of the game shoe to September to better serve performance basketball players, who are at the center of everything we do,” Brian O’Connor, VP Global Brand Jordan Marketing told SLAM on Monday. “Before consumers can buy the shoe on September 6, we wanted to create opportunities for them to try the shoe, and experience firsthand what it’s like to take flight in the Air Jordan XX9.”
This week, the first AJ XX9 trial experience will go down on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Chelsea Theater in the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, and it’s open to the public. In addition to an on-court testing experience, there will also be a Jordan Brand lounge.
SLAM will have exclusive behind-the-scenes access from Las Vegas, so keep it locked to SLAMonline.com and @SLAMonline, plus @NikeLasVegas and @Jumpman23 for even more from this weekend.
Later this summer, Jordan will be in Chicago for the World Basketball Festival on August 14-17 at the 63rd Street Beach House, where consumers will once again have the opportunity to test the XX9 on-court. The brand also has plans to come to New York City closer to the sneaker’s official release date in September.
The Jordan XX9 blends the first-ever performance-woven upper technology with the revolutionary Flight Plate for optimum comfort on the court.
“The Air Jordan XX9 is the lightest Air Jordan we’ve ever made—when you combine that with our industry-leading Flight Plate innovation, we’ve heard from our athletes that the XX9 not only helps take flight early in a game, it also helps them stay fresh all the way through the fourth quarter,” O’Connor said.
