Nine Hundred and Twenty. Under Armour, the Price-Raising Expert
The All-Star weekend is over, and some fans have expressed an opinion online that this year's All-Stars lack the charm of the past.
People always find reasons, so Sun Ce and Kobe, James, Randolph, Nash, and Wade did not perform, which became the focus of "regret" for netizens.
Therefore, the performances of Sun Ce and others in the past two years have inexplicably become a "tradition". Under the enthusiastic requests of fans, some media have called on the league to maintain the "tradition" of All-Star players bringing pre-game performances to fans...
On the morning of February 28, when Sun Ce, who returned to Memphis, learned about this, he didn't know how to describe his feelings.
Say he was moved... a little, and this can be considered a change in the NBA?
It's just that the angle of change is a bit tricky.
But Sun Ce felt that the reason why the All-Star Weekend didn't have that feeling this time was because everything was too tight. In the past, the All-Star Weekend for each team lasted 8-9 days, but this time it was compressed to 6-7 days. Although it was only two days, it was very important for the All-Star Weekend. Players could use these two days to complete their business activities and devote all three days from Friday to Sunday to the fans, but this time it was not possible.
There was no way. In a shortened season, it was good to have an All-Star Weekend. When the labor-management agreement was reached, a large number of owners applied to stop holding an All-Star game like in 1999. It was David Stern who insisted on keeping this year's All-Star Weekend.
On the first day back in Memphis, Sun Ce didn't arrange training or work. He went home in the morning to catch up on sleep, and then watched TV and played games leisurely for an afternoon...
This felt a bit like a holiday during the All-Star Weekend, but it was only that day...
The next morning, Sun Ce wanted to sleep in, but was woken up by Zugoose at 7 o'clock. There was a team meeting and tactical training this morning, and he had to go to AJ to formally discuss the new contract in the afternoon.
I got up from the bed with difficulty. After a rare day of relaxation, I had to start working again.
But life is like this. Sun Ce patted his face, got up, washed, and had breakfast. Lily Collins will join the crew to film in another month. Now she is memorizing the lines and reading the script. Occasionally, she needs to call her agent to discuss and find the screenwriter to change the script.
After breakfast, Sun Ce sent Zugoo to school and came to the team to attend a tactical meeting.
This All-Star Weekend passed in a flash. Sun Ce felt that the season was going on straight without much change.
But most of the teammates still had a good rest.
Sun Ce clearly felt that many teammates were radiant.
This is a good thing.
Tomorrow we will play against the Mavericks. In the first game after the All-Star Weekend, the league has arranged a major event for Chinese fans.
The coaching staff has also made full preparations for the next three regular season games with the Mavericks. Tomorrow's game is mainly to test the strength of the Mavericks after half a season.
The next two games in April will be a strength contest before the playoffs.
At present, the Grizzlies have 28 wins and 6 losses, and have just won 7 consecutive games. They are unwilling to give up. Therefore, in tomorrow's game, in addition to testing the opponent's strength, winning the game is also crucial to make a good start in the second half of the season after the All-Star Weekend.
If they can beat the Mavericks, the next game will be against the Raptors at home, and then the next 4 consecutive away games, the first three are the Pistons, Warriors, Suns, and Nuggets, and it is possible to get a wave of 12 consecutive wins!
Coach Hollins wants to play the momentum of a strong team after the All-Star Weekend. If he can get at least 10 consecutive wins, it will definitely lay a huge foundation for confidence. After all, no team has won 10 consecutive games this season. The longest is the Knicks' 8 consecutive wins.
On the Mavericks side, Sun Ce saw that the opponent's record was 19 wins and 15 losses, seventh in the West. After 5 wins and 8 losses at the beginning, the Mavericks slowly returned from the bottom to the playoffs. Before the All-Star Weekend, the record of 14 wins and 7 losses was excellent.
Moreover, this was achieved when Nowitzki rested for 7 games and Yao Ming rested for 12 games.
As for the Mavericks' rest, Sun Ce felt that it was not easy for opponents like them to understand how Nowitzki and Yao Ming, who are one year older this year, can perform and how they can cooperate.
After the tactical meeting and tactical training against the Mavericks in the morning, Sun Ce returned home and joined Bill Duffy who came to Memphis to discuss the contract with AJ.
…
Compared to before, AJ felt that he had nothing to fear with 20 million a year, and no other sneaker brand could offer a bigger contract.
But who knew that Under Armour would raise the price!
This made AJ very passive. They did not think that other brands would offer Sun Ce a bigger offer for a reason, because Sun Ce had been endorsing the replica sneakers, and it was impossible to accurately count how many sneakers were sold by Sun Ce, which would definitely make other brands that wanted to offer a bigger contract hesitate.
This was AJ's conspiracy to squeeze the market value of the endorsed star.
But Under Armour's price increase made AJ unable to remain calm.
Sun Ce’s joining made AJ’s sales increase by 8% year-on-year in the first year after signing Sun Ce in the 09-10 season. Most of this increase in sales came from the increased sales of the replica sneakers endorsed by Sun Ce. The sales also increased year by year in the following two years. In comparison, their sales increased by 15% from July to December 2011 compared to July to December 2009.
Of course, these sales increases were not only brought by Sun Ce alone, but also by Tyrannosaurus Griffin, Anthony who played in big cities, Wade who had a much higher exposure rate after forming the Big Three, and Paul who played in the Big Apple and then went to Los Angeles... But that was after 2010. The sales that soared by 8% in the 09-10 season compared to the 08-09 season was real.
They could not afford the sales plunge that might be caused by losing Sun Ce. Not to mention a plunge of 8%, even if it dropped by 5%, AJ’s market value would also plummet.
In the afternoon, Sun Ce listened to the intense discussion between Bill Duffy and his team and AJ’s negotiators.
In the end, there were no surprises. With the strong support of Under Armour, the price-raising expert, Sun Ce and AJ reached an 8-year contract extension of 320 million US dollars.
If it was a 20 million per year contract, AJ wanted to sign for 10 years, but at 38.5 million per year, they were only willing to sign until Sun Ce was 30 years old to avoid Sun Ce's collapse at 30, but in contrast, Bill Duffy fought for an endorsement fee of 1.5 million US dollars per year higher than Under Armour.
Sun Ce did not participate in the negotiations. He would not negotiate at all. He just listened to the results.
Seeing that the contract was shortened to 30 years old, Sun Ce had no objection. When his position in the league was higher and his name was on the historical ranking, the price would be raised!
The increase of 1.5 million US dollars per year was a pleasant surprise.
As for the composition of the 40 million per year, it is still based on 20 million US dollars. The three incentive clauses in the contract are to be selected as an All-Star, play at least 65 games in a normal season, and be selected as the best team or enter the playoffs. Each of these three items is worth 6 million US dollars.
This is not a request made by AJ, but an incentive clause that is included in the offer given by Under Armour, and it is not a big problem for Sun Ce.
The remaining 2 million is an allowance for promotional activities. Under Armour gives 500,000, and Bill Duffy talks AJ into 2 million.
In terms of signature shoes, compared with Under Armour, AJ is much slower. Under Armour has one signature shoe per year, and Sun Ce can also ask for his own design. AJ will give Sun Ce sneakers in even-numbered years and will also refer to Sun Ce's opinions, but in odd-numbered years, Sun Ce has to endorse Jordan's replica sneakers.
After all, more than 80% of AJ's sales come from Jordan's sneakers, and others only account for more than 10%.
Sun Ce listened to Bill Duffy's talk about AJ's sales and felt that there was nothing wrong with AJ's arrangement for signature shoes. That was their sales strategy. As long as he could get the money he deserved, it would be fine. He was an excellent spokesperson for a pair of signature shoes every two years.
…
…
The agreement was reached, and Sun Ce officially renewed his contract with AJ until June 30, 2020.
After signing the contract, AJ rushed back to publicize the fact that Sun Ce had renewed his contract with AJ for a large sum of money, so as not to let Under Armour touch porcelain again. Under Armour issued a quotation contract, which may have cost several thousand US dollars to hire a water army to promote it, and may not have used 10,000 US dollars, but it still won the headlines for several days. After the All-Star Weekend, the media were all hyping up the fact that Sun Ce was going to sign Under Armour.
Under Armour was not famous in basketball shoes, but with this operation, it began to emerge...
Indeed, the price AJ gave was simply a grandet compared to Under Armour, which had a significant impact on AJ. Now that it has paid 1.5 million more per year, AJ needs to do a good job of publicity.
As for Sun Ce, he had no control over how AJ would regain the limelight. Anyway, he admired Under Armour very much. After two years, when Durant's contract expired, AJ's parent company would still be hit by Under Armour.
Sun Ce was very grateful to Under Armour. Without Under Armour, even if he finally signed a three-year endorsement with AJ, he would have to get 20 million less per year.
After the big part of the commercial endorsement was settled, Sun Ce didn't need to be busy with the remaining scattered endorsements. Just like more than two years ago, when he signed a contract with AJ for 21 million, Sun Ce didn't care too much. It was enough that the term and price were right. This time, the main reason was that the price was too high, so he had to participate, and he also wanted to understand it clearly.
After that, Sun Ce no longer cared about endorsement matters. Commercial activities, signature shoes, etc. were all discussed by AJ and Bill Duffy. He was responsible for publicity and didn't have to worry about it.
He only needed to play well. The endorsement fee skyrocketed, not because he cared or participated, but because of the game. Under Armour wanted to take advantage of the popularity. Sun Ce probably thought it was related to his recent competition with Lin Madness. There were too many coincidences to get 40 million a year in endorsement fees at the beginning of his career. The unexpected 45-point slaughter of the Thunder made it possible for him to compete with Lin Madness for the spotlight, which was very important.
In other words, the game itself was more important. Now, Sun Ce's goal was all on the Mavericks who came to Memphis yesterday.
The Mavericks have maintained most of their lineup from last season. Although their regular season record so far is average, which is not comparable to the Grizzlies' 28 wins and 6 losses, no one dares to underestimate the Mavericks. The Mavericks' record is so average that they are regarded as one of the strongest teams in the playoffs in the eyes of fans. Anyone who meets them will have a headache.
Sun Ce's scalp tingles when he thinks that the Mavericks may enter the playoffs in the fifth place in the West. The scene of last year's playoffs is vivid in his mind. Nowitzki is invincible.
However, this is also an opportunity, an opportunity to avenge the Mavericks in the playoffs!