ANALYSIS : IS JORDAN REALLY WORTH $18 MILLION? YOU BET.

Byline: Bob Keisser Long Beach Press-Telegram 

Michael Jordan wants at least $18 million a year to play basketball for the Chicago Bulls, a rather lordly sum, but how often do you get to see someone devalue a Penny and tear down a Shaq?

There is no argument that Jordan deserves more money than any other athlete. No one has come along in this half of the century to rival Michael for pure athletic excellence, and that is said with all the healthy regard one can possibly have for Magic Johnson, Mario Lemieux, Ken Griffey Jr., Emmitt Smith or any of the Olympians headed our way. Not only is Michael the best at what he does, but he cares about winning, too.

There's still a problem, though, with the concept of the superstar athlete making the same kind of money as even your average superstar entertainer. Sports is something we're taught to try and enjoy as kids, and it is thus still considered a privilege for someone to be talented enough to be paid for it. How dare a baseball player command $400,000 for an ERA over 5.00 when we'd throw for free?

At least in Jordan's case, we may have to reconsider the question, and stage it the same way we might shine a spotlight on a Barbra Streisand, John Travolta or Jim Carrey.

Entertainment industry execs can't even put a figure on what Streisand made on her tour last year. On top of the box-office take at each of her 30-plus sold-out concerts, you have to add in her pay-per-view take, video sales, CD and cassette sales, and merchandise, and then factor in that all of this merchandise has a shelf life longer than anyone living. Long after we've all been turned to ash at the local crematorium, our great-grandkids will be able to buy a boxed mini-laser disc set of Streisand's performance at the Pond.

We should all have pipes like Streisand. But despite the best efforts of the Tigers' pitching staff, there is basically less quality control in entertainment than sports.

Jim Carrey, the comedian du jour, Ace Ventura himself, who is no more talented or annoying than Jerry Lewis, received $20 million from Columbia-Tristar for his upcoming ``Cable Guy.'' We should all make so much for the ability to grab our flanks.

Let's step up in class and grab our calculator.

John Travolta, who has come a long way from being a Sweathog, made the most of a great performance in ``Pulp Fiction.'' He received $12 million from 20th Century-Fox for the action film ``Broken Arrow'' and will receive $20,000,001.00 - a buck more than Carrey and Sly Stallone (who has a three-picture, $60 million deal for Universal) for the film ``Michael'' that is being produced by Turner Pictures.

According to Fox publicist Taj Tedrow, ``Broken Arrow'' has already earned in excess of $75 million in domestic grosses. Because of Travolta's international strength, it will probably earn $60 million-plus internationally.

And we can't emphasize enough that this kind of entertainment has almost an eternal residual value. When MGM/United Artists went belly-up, Tedrow noted, the first thing to be sold was its video library.

Now consider Jordan, who is all first-run entertainment.

He plays 82 games a year during the regular season, and another 20 or so in the playoffs. His 50-plus home dates at the United Center in Chicago fill the building, which seats 21,711. Ticket prices range from 100-plus $325 luxury seats to $15, with an average of $50 per. That's $1.1 million gross per home game.

The gross on road games would be less, since only Charlotte has a bigger arena and only New York and L.A. higher ticket prices. The Dallas-based Sports Marketing Group estimates that each fan spends an extra 50 percent of his ducat on parking, food and drink.

So the Bulls generate around $100 million in gross ticket sales per year, plus another $50 million in concessions.

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Photo: As the Bulls' main attraction, surely Michael Jordan is worth $18 million a year.

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