On the phone, Min Congda was vague with Silva. At present, he is not willing to share the resources of the Asian Youth Basketball Development Fund with the NBA - until he finds the logic and ideas of losing money.
Although the Basketball Development Foundation has not achieved any substantial results and consumes a large amount of funds every year, it has not achieved nothing. 33
As far as Min Congda learned when visiting the Goupu forum, the youth basketball training camps and summer and winter competitions organized by the foundation in some southeastern coastal cities have had a great influence.
Because of the large amount of capital investment, high-standard training camp specifications, complete event system and very professional event organization, as well as high bonuses, more and more young people who love basketball have joined, injecting into the development of the domestic basketball grassroots career. gained a lot of energy.
Daikin Video, the mastermind behind the foundation, has been booming in the domestic streaming media industry. After acquiring the online media broadcast rights for some NBA games during the offseason last year, it expanded its domestic business of sports live broadcasting and began to compete with traditional The TV sports live broadcasts in China are competing against each other, and they are rubbing the domestic trendy sports live broadcasts, Baodao's future sports, etc. to the ground.
YouTube even used the Basketball Development Foundation to carry out extensive advertising and was the only designated spokesperson for the event.
In commercial plazas in many cities, there are open-air stadiums built by oil pipelines and foundations, where some events are held to attract onlookers.
The foundation has also gone deep into primary and secondary schools, and organized some basketball games in primary and secondary schools at its own expense to formalize grassroots basketball games.
This year, YouTube has decided to increase the foundation’s sponsorship fee to US$20 million, allowing the organization to move towards cities in northern and western China and continue to expand its influence.
Min Congda is powerless to stop this. The good news is that there are still no basketball talents to be discovered, but there are some star players who are pretty good and have some influence in the small sports circle.
But according to NBA standards, they are far from qualified. According to Fan Chen, only Lu Yuan is qualified.
But Min Congda really didn't see what qualified him, but this guy was really interesting.
Now that Adam Silva sees that the foundation is developing well and impressive, he naturally wants to come in and get a share of the pie.
Min Congda didn't mind getting a piece of the pie, since he didn't expect to make any money anyway.
He is afraid that if the NBA officially gets involved and really makes it bigger and stronger, develops the Chinese market to a high degree, unearths talents, and gets some benefits to the Clippers, wouldn't it explode?
"No, I can't let Adam Silva cause trouble for me...unless he can promise me to help me get the financing for the new arena..."
The biggest headache for Min Congda right now is not the Clippers' soaring record, nor the booming basketball market brought about by Linsanity, nor the Asian Youth Basketball Development Fund that is on the right track.
It is the funding issue of the most important plan in his mind, the "Afang Palace Plan", which is the key to the bankruptcy plan.
At present, the Clippers have successfully acquired the Great Western Forum Arena, spending US$30 million in funds, and all previous employees have been retained and continue to pay them wages.
For the operation, development, and event hosting of the arena, the Clippers inherited the experience and model of the previous team, as well as the political resources of the Inglewood area.
Min Congda has taken the lead in establishing a new arena construction planning working group to prepare for the approval and construction issues of the new arena.
The preliminary work is mainly divided into two lines, one is the approval line, which is mainly to obtain a piece of land near the Great Western Forum Arena for venue construction.
Min Congda left this line to Ball and Richele. They connected with the original team of the Great Western Forum and discussed and negotiated with the Inglewood MPs.
The requirements given by Min Congda are very clear: solve all problems at any cost.
Of course, if you have money, you can talk about anything. You can open roads in the mountains and build bridges in the rivers. Moreover, Min Congda has made a promise that in the future, workers at the construction site will recruit local voters selected by the congressmen to create enough jobs for the Inglewood area, so this The line is not a big problem.
One is the funding line. The Clippers need to raise enough funds. The budget plan given by Rosser is 600 million US dollars, but Min Congda doubled this number - he requested a budget of 1.2 billion US dollars!
If you include various taxes, insurance, employee wages, operating expenses and other expenses, the budget may reach 1.4 billion US dollars.
The Nets' latest construction of the Barclays Center cost only US$900 million, and the number of seats in the Barclays Center is only more than 17,000, which is relatively small among many arenas.
Of course, the number of seats in an arena is not the only criterion for measuring the quality of an arena. In fact, some older and larger arenas often have more seats.
Some modern new arenas are reducing the number of seats and spending money on improving the quality of watching games and the arena environment. Too many people is not a good thing.
Min Congda doesn't want to, as an adult he wants both!
He has to spend the most money to build the largest and most luxurious arena in the league and make the Clippers indebted enough.
In Min Congda's view, 600 million is still too little. According to the current development trend of the league and the inflation trend, maybe by the time the arena is built, the debt of 600 million will no longer be considered too much.
Just like when I bought a house in the early 2000s, I needed a monthly loan of 2,000 yuan. It seemed like a lot, because at that time, I only had 3,000 yuan to work.
But after five, six, seventy or eight years, the loan of 2,000 a month was just drizzle, just water.
As a banker, Min Congda knows this, so he must fill up his debts.
However, how can it be so easy to borrow money? Your team's assets are only over 400 million. If you want to borrow 1.5 billion to build an arena, who would be willing?
Unless the Clippers can win the championship and show enough market potential.
But how could Min Congda let the Clippers win the championship? How could it be so messed up?
As a result, this has become an insurmountable contradiction, which has been bothering Min Congda recently.
Ballmer is rich, but his money doesn't come from strong winds, and he doesn't open a bank to make loan sharks.
And Ballmer is too rich. If he is introduced to the Clippers, it will be almost impossible for the Clippers to go bankrupt.
This series of problems troubled Min Congda. He couldn't help but think that if the league president could provide help, he might have a chance to get a loan of US$1.5 billion.
The league itself has a large sum of money as the team's common money. The team can borrow money if necessary, but the amount is limited.
Silva and Stern have numerous contacts in politics and business who may be able to provide sufficient resources.
After hanging up the phone, Min Congda thought carefully for a while:
"Now that Silva is the acting president, he definitely wants to achieve some development and achievements in his career, which is different from what Stern did before. In terms of developing the international market, Stern has done a good job. But to be honest in the Chinese market, after Yao Ming retires, the popularity will definitely continue to decline, and Silva will definitely want to do more in-depth promotion and cooperation. And Asia is not only China, but also South Korea and Japan. My foundation is affiliated to Asia. What’s his name?”
"So, I will use this as a bargaining chip to exchange interests with Silva and ask him to provide me with financial support? This is a good idea."
After thinking about this clearly, Min Congda called Silva again and told him about the foundation. They could have an interview if they had the opportunity.
Silva said simply: "No problem, I happen to be going to Oklahoma tomorrow to watch your game against the Thunder. Let's chat on the spot then."
"Okay, that's settled."
One habit that Stern left behind is to go to watch NBA games every week to observe and feel the heat of the NBA arena.
It has been uninterrupted for more than 20 years. As his successor, Silva naturally wants to maintain this habit.
The Thunder and Clippers were a focus game, and Silva chose this game to watch.
Of course, another purpose is to suppress Min Congda and give the referees reassurance.
With the league president here, Silva thought that Min Congda would not dare to make any mistakes, so he could just watch the game in peace.
The next day, Min Congda got up early and went to Los Angeles Airport to meet the players and head to Oklahoma City.
It has been more than a month since he took a plane to watch an away game with everyone, and he felt very warm in his heart.
When he got on the plane, everyone in the cabin applauded and high-fived Min Congda to celebrate his return from confinement.
Sitting in his familiar seat, Min Congda felt at ease. Sloan said to Min Congda: "Welcome back, Mr. Smart."
Min Congda smiled and said: "It feels good to be back. Everyone has performed very well recently. However, don't be too aggressive, don't work too hard, and enjoy basketball. Victory is not the only pursuit, do you understand?"
Hearing what he said, everyone didn't take it to heart. Mr. Smart was still so joking.
In fact, Min Congda was not joking. If you continue to win like this, I will have no pocket money at all.
Recently, Min Congda's salary for losing games has been pitifully low. There have been few games this season, and if he loses another few games, his salary is really worthless.
Fortunately, Apple's stock price began to enter an explosive period in February and March, rising directly to more than 500 yuan.
From the initial purchase price of more than 200, the stock price has doubled in two years, and dividends will be paid in August this year.
This investment is quite stable for Min Congda, giving him no worries.
The plane arrived in Oklahoma City quickly, and Sloan naturally arranged everything properly.
The players didn't have to worry about anything from beginning to end. When they got to the place, they followed the instructions to pick up their luggage, walk, get in the car, go to the hotel, get their room cards and rest.
Fool-like and high-quality service throughout the process, the money Min Congda spent on Sloan was really not in vain.
In the afternoon of the same day, Min Congda followed the players to the Oklahoma City home court. The Energy Center was also a familiar place for Min Congda.
Although it was the opponent's away game, Min Congda still felt very cordial.
At night, Min Congda and Adam Silva sat on the sidelines together, waiting for the game to start.
"Chesapeake Energy Arena can accommodate 18,203 people. It was built in 2002 at a cost of US$89.2 million. It was originally called the Ford Center. This arena is too shabby. It cost less than 100 million. No wonder I am sitting here watching. The ball didn’t feel good.”
Min Congda and Silva "complained" that it was uncomfortable to sit here and watch the game, and they didn't know what was wrong with him.
"Not every team has that much money to rent or build an arena. I heard that your budget for the arena is US$1.2 billion. Is it too much? Does Sterling have that much money?"
"Of course Boss Sterling doesn't have that much money, but we can borrow money, but we haven't found a suitable financing channel yet. Adam, can you provide some advice?"
"My suggestion is, don't build such a luxurious stadium. You are not a football team. The Dallas Cowboys Stadium only cost $1.2 billion."
The Dallas Cowboys Stadium was built in 2008 and is the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. It was once the home venue of the Dallas All-Stars.
When Min Congda went to watch the game, the stadium was really big. It could accommodate 100,000 spectators, which was five times the size of the NBA.
This is determined by the nature of the rugby game, and their stadium must be big enough.
The number of games in the NFL is much less than that in the NBA. There are only 16 games in the regular season, which is exactly one-fifth of the number in the NBA.
In this way, the box office revenue of 16 games is similar to that of an NBA team in 82 games.
Coupled with higher ratings, the NFL's production value is much higher than that of the NBA.
"The Dallas Cowboys only need 16 games to complete the box office revenue of 82 NBA games. That's because their stadium is big! Think about it, if our Clippers stadium is big enough and has enough seats, wouldn't we be able to earn a lot more revenue? ?”
Min Congda deliberately made nonsense here. 20,000 people is almost the limit of the number of spectators at a basketball game, because the basketball court is only that big.
No matter how old you are, the people above you won't be able to see clearly the movements of the players below. You might as well watch TV at home.
And how can an NBA team have that much influence, unless your team has five All-Stars and is extremely popular?
Silva shook his head and said: "The Clippers cannot support such a big arena and such high debt. Even if you can win the championship, it will be difficult to support such a high debt ratio and team funds." There will be big problems, and then bankruptcy will be a problem.”
Min Congda thought to himself, I just want to go bankrupt!
"Adam, do you think the NBA has only so much potential now? We still have a lot of room for development. As long as the increase is large enough, this liability will turn into an asset in the end, and it will be nothing at all!"
Min Congda pretended to lie to Silva, but that was indeed the truth.
During a period of rapid development, purchasing assets with high leverage and high debt will indeed greatly increase the value of your assets in the end.
This has been strongly verified in China's real estate market.
Min Congda's words really hit Adam Silva a bit. After he became president, his goal was to bring faster development to the NBA.
Let players and shareholders earn more benefits. This purpose will not change.
As for the fans? Any basketball dream, any pure basketball, just wait a little bit.
"Smart, actually I have always wanted to ask you a question." Silva thought for a while and did not directly reply to Min Congda, but changed the subject.
"I like women..."
"..."
"Don't be kidding, I'm asking you seriously. You are just the general manager of the Clippers. Why are you so keen on things that general managers shouldn't do? For example, building a new arena. This is something the boss should consider."
This question really stupefied Min Congda.
His motives cannot be revealed, and many of the things he does go beyond the scope of a general manager.
In addition, Sterling has been absent from various NBA activities for many years, and even the Clippers' daily operations cannot see his shadow.
So in the past two years, many fans have wondered, did Sterling sell the team to Min Congda?
Min Congda's power within the Clippers team is even greater, and he is no different from the boss.
Now the new Clippers employees regard Min Congda as their boss and do not know Sterling.
In addition, now that Min Congda is borrowing money to build the arena, it is normal for Silva to feel strange.
Min Congda sighed and said: "Mr. Sterling has entrusted me with the management of the team. Naturally, I have to work hard and think about the team. The Clippers are a small team. If they want to catch up from behind, they must invest heavily. Just look at the Warriors next door, the Hornets, and the Pistons. With a new owner, they are all moving forward. Of course, the Clippers must work hard to catch up."
Silva didn't believe Min Congda's plan.
He approached Min Congda and whispered: "Smart, just tell me, do you want to be the owner of the Clippers?"
Min Congda's tireless efforts to discredit himself on NBA-Batman are still effective.
Silva can't get rid of this account now, but feels that many of the things mentioned above make sense.
He is now very suspicious that Min Congda wants to usurp Sterling's position, but Silva doesn't mind this.
After all, Sterling doesn't have a good reputation in the league. He runs a bad Clippers team all year round and still loses money.
This kind of bad team gives the president a headache, because the revenue from strong teams is often used to subsidize bad teams, resulting in a deficit for the league.
If Min Congda can become the owner of the Clippers, with his talent and strategy, he might be the next star of the NBA.
Silva needed such a sign, so he tested Min Congda with words.
Min Congda didn't deny it, he just smiled and thought, I'm still the boss, am I going to let myself go bankrupt?
But if you think about it carefully, it is not impossible to be a boss, even though with his assets he can only be a small shareholder.
Because he once asked the system whether he could receive normal dividend income if he invested in the team and obtained shares.
The system says yes, and if the team goes bankrupt, these share investments will be returned along with the bankruptcy dividends.
This is also in line with the basic rules established by the system: income can only come from the team's three basic incomes and investments.
Investing in the Clippers is also an investment.
Min Congda once thought about investing in some technology companies.
In the end, I gave up. After all, it was an area I was not familiar with.
On the contrary, in the NBA, Min Congda is already an insider and is very familiar with the industry.
Seeing that Min Congda was silent, Silva smiled meaningfully. At this time, the game was about to begin.
"Smart, think about it carefully. If you become the owner of the Clippers, 1.2 billion may not be a problem. After all, your work in the past two years is still worthy of recognition."
As the game approached, the venue became increasingly noisy and no longer suitable for chatting.
Silva's words echoed in Min Congda's ears. He was obviously praising Min Congda and saying that he was a person worth investing in.
If he is just the general manager, many people will not be willing to lend money.
If he is a shareholder, there must be many people willing to lend money.
Listening to Silva's compliments, Min Congda thought to himself: "Why does it feel like he's scolding someone?"
Some people died, but not completely...
