Chapter 781 Rugby Is a Business
Moving the team from Charlotte is easy to say, but the key is where to settle. If the city to go to is not as good as Charlotte, it is better not to move.
But now the 32 NFL teams in the United States have basically covered most of the first-tier cities. Even New York already has two clubs, and it is absolutely impossible to accommodate the third one. Giants and New York Jets contend.
But Los Angeles can consider it. Now there is only one Rams team in Los Angeles. To be precise, it is still called the St. Louis Rams. The league has approved the official move back to Los Angeles after the start of the new season. Of course, this team’s performance is worth mentioning. It was cursed by the boss. Anyway, the team under the name of Stan Kroenke, regardless of whether it is football, basketball or rugby, has not won the championship of the league in the past ten years. It may be that he married the daughter of the Wal-Mart family. A lifetime of luck?
Originally, Yang Cheng also had the idea of the Los Angeles Rams, but the Panthers are a better choice right now. It would be great if the Panthers could be moved to Los Angeles to compete with the Rams. Anyway, with the current results of the Rams and the No. The reason for returning to Los Angeles for one season is that apart from the limited diehard fans, they are almost on the same starting line as the Panthers. Yang Cheng didn't even think about fighting for this part of the fans.
What is the biggest advantage of the Panthers? Naturally, it is their star quarterback Cam Newton. Of course, the advantage is not his skills, but his skin color. You must know that the league's quarterbacks are still dominated by white people. On the gram test, blacks did far worse than whites.
Therefore, many people in North America ridicule the essence of rugby as "whites directing a group of blacks to fight"!
Of course, Cam Newton's ability to stand out from a group of white people is not due to his "superior" IQ, but depends on the explosive talent of black people. Legs run out of murderous intent. On the rugby field, the sensory stimulation brought by running with the ball is far more vivid than the 60-ma long pass, and Cam Newton also makes full use of the subdivision of the running quarter.
This is why Cam Newton can attract a vote of NBA stars and rappers, most of whom are black.
Therefore, if Yang Cheng, who holds this trump card, doesn't know how to play, he would be too stupid. As long as he arrives in Los Angeles, he is fully capable of shaping Cam Newton into a new generation of Los Angeles kings after Kobe.
Finally, the car parked under the office building where the NFL headquarters is located. Looking up, a piece of glass curtain wall could not distinguish the floors. It is hard to imagine that the headquarters of a sports league is no longer a sports field, but is in the downtown of Financial Street. But like the NBA, in the final analysis, this is also an alliance of interests. The closer you are to capital, the faster you can earn capital.
Didn't say anything, walked quickly into the office building, there was already a special person waiting here, took Yang Cheng to the floor where the headquarters is located by elevator, Roger Goodell was already waiting outside the elevator door.
This scene seemed familiar. When I visited Adam Silver at the NBA headquarters, it was exactly the same as the scene in front of me.
It's just that Roger Goodell is more like a successful entrepreneur than Adam Silver's philistine face. This old man over 60 looks energetic, and his white hair not only doesn't look old, but is unique. There is some momentum.
I shook hands with Yang Cheng and exchanged greetings, and visited the headquarters as usual. Unlike the NBA, the NFL headquarters has a dedicated office for each team, and the exterior walls of the offices are also printed with the logos of each team and names, all kinds of rugby equipment are displayed in glass showcases in the corridor,
Under the illumination of laser light, it is like a piece of carefully crafted artwork, which makes people linger and forget to return.
Of course, Yang Cheng didn't have much interest in these things. He bought the team firstly for his TV station's broadcast plan, and secondly for investment and financial management. As for whether he can play or not, it doesn't matter, anyway, he knows the basic rules.
"Roger, my intention is very clear. Compared with other bidders, I am very confident in my own strength."
After a brief visit, the two came to Roger Goodell's office. Yang Cheng couldn't wait to speak without waiting for the secretary to deliver the coffee.
Roger Goodell spread out a document on the desktop, on which was the qualification certificate submitted by Yang Cheng for review. Undoubtedly, this is a beautiful report card, even the well-informed Roger Goodell Inevitably gasped, rich, other than that he couldn't find any other adjectives.
Of course, there are people who have more money than him, such as David Taber, a hedge fund tycoon, and David Taber is also a minority shareholder of an NFL team. Compared with Yang Cheng, everyone is more familiar with David Taber. Who doesn't like to work with acquaintances.
But Yang Cheng visited in person today, which can be regarded as full of sincerity. Roger Goodell forced himself to straighten the tilted balance in his heart, and stared aggressively at Yang Cheng, "Mr. Yang, as far as I know, your name has been With Liverpool and the Nets, if you buy another NFL team, do you have the ability to guarantee the financial support for the team every year?"
Yang Cheng's eyes were a little surprised, as if wondering why Roger Goodell, who is the president of the league, would ask such a naive question, but he immediately realized that this old guy was testing his knowledge of NFL teams.
He chuckled lightly and spread his hands, "Don't be kidding Roger, who in the United States doesn't know how profitable NFL teams are? Not to mention other teams, the Carolina Panthers alone made more than 300 million in revenue last year US dollars, the profit is nearly 80 million US dollars, it can be said that even if I don't invest, the team has enough ability to support itself.
Of course, since I bought the team, I naturally hope that the team will achieve results. It is not my pursuit to wander in the middle and lower reaches like now. The investment is certain. The specific amount of investment will have to wait for the team's new home stadium to be determined. "
He deliberately provoked Roger Goodell's interest and pulled the topic out of his own track.
Sure enough, Roger Goodell frowned subconsciously, "Are you going to build a new stadium? I mean if you succeed in the acquisition."
Yang Cheng shrugged his shoulders and looked confident, "The stadium must be built, and it must belong to the team, but it's not in Charlotte."
Roger Goodell was taken aback for a moment, and the volume immediately increased a few decibels, "Are you going to relocate the team?"
Yang Cheng buttoned his ears and blew, "Don't be so excited, you also know that my main areas of activity are in New York and Los Angeles. New York already has Giants and Jets, so naturally there is no place for me, so I can only Putting the target in the City of Angels, you must also be happy to see a new blood competing with the Rams, right? Besides, Los Angeles has ushered in a football team again after 20 years. The sensational effect caused by one and two teams is completely different. .
To be honest, there is only one Rams team in the Los Angeles market, which is really wasteful, and their performance is really difficult to improve. "
Seeing that Roger Goodell was as unbelievable as he expected, Yang Cheng smiled happily and continued, "As long as the Panthers move to Los Angeles, the NFL will have a few more ratings explosions in the future: the Los Angeles Derby, Los Angeles and New York matchup, could Cam Newton be the new King of Los Angeles?
The above gimmicks must be handed over to you professionals, and you will get the best play, and all I need is your nod.
As long as you nod your head, the alliance will not only get a huge transaction fee, but also have countless explosive points that can be tapped. I believe that David Taber will never be able to do this.
And I know better than anyone else how to manage a sports club, I have a lot of experience in it. "
Roger Goodell had to admit that Yang Cheng's words moved him, and the balance in his heart slowly tilted towards Yang Cheng's side, but he still kept his smile well and did not let Yang Cheng see the flaws.
Clearing his throat, he put the temptation behind him and asked the crucial question, "What do you think about player salaries."
As soon as the words fell, it was Yang Cheng's turn to frown this time. This question is not easy to answer. He is the owner of the team and belongs to the management, while the players are the labor. The more the merrier.
However, the model of the NFL and several other major leagues is slightly different, and the above theory does not fully apply.
You must know that even though the NFL is far ahead in the latest Forbes team value rankings and becomes the most valuable professional league in the world, the players may not be happy-they are engaged in rugby projects with higher sports risks, and their income levels are lower than Not in the NBA and MLB, this is a very cruel reality.
A data platform published a statistic that horizontally compared the salaries of the top 100 players in major professional sports leagues in North America.
The results show that in the past season, the average salary of top MLB players was US$16.3 million, ranking first among the four major leagues in North America; the NBA followed closely with US$13.3 million.
As the league's highest-paid and most valuable NFL, the average salary of its top players is only $11.6 million, which is only 71% of MLB and 87% of NBA.
Not only is the income of top players lower than that of professional players in other leagues, according to a survey by Forbes, the average income of all NFL players in 2014 was 2 million US dollars, which is far lower than that of NHL, NBA and MLB. In addition, The minimum salary in the NFL in 2014 was $420,000, which is also far lower than any mainstream professional sports.
Such a salary level obviously does not match the status of the league. Rugby is the favorite project of the American people and they regard it as a "national sport."
The NFL is also the most influential and appealing among the four major professional leagues in the United States, including the NBA. An intuitive comparative data is that the NBA's total season revenue is around 5 billion US dollars, while the NFL's revenue exceeds 9 billion US dollars, almost Twice that of the NBA.
Not only that, but the commercial value of the Super Bowl of the finals was estimated by Forbes at about 470 million U.S. dollars, even higher than the sum of the 230 million U.S. dollars for the Olympics and the 120 million U.S. dollars for the World Cup.
In particular, the ratings of the Super Bowl this year hit a record high, with 114.4 million people watching the most popular TV broadcast in the United States.
So the price of a Super Bowl commercial is an average of $4.5 million per 30 seconds, what concept? This is about RMB 940,000 per second, and the halftime show of the game is full of superstars. They all perform for free, and this exposure rate can be paid even if it is paid.
But the treatment of the players has not been taken seriously.
Therefore, the issue of NFL player salaries has also received widespread attention from the society. Now that Roger Goodell is raising this issue, he naturally wants to see Yang Cheng's position, whether he is on the side of the players or the side of the league.
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