On the fourteenth week of the regular season, the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals was originally full of highlights and excitement; but after the game, a series of topics emerged from the competitive showdown itself, attracting everyone's attention. The attention of industry insiders and senior fans has made this game stand in the spotlight and attract everyone's attention.
Now, the conflicts and debates outside the game have further put the topic under the microscope, triggering a chain reaction of waves. The Los Angeles Times, the leader in media public opinion on the West Coast, was the first to speak, and then also With the full support of the "San Francisco Chronicle", the impact was immediately detonated.
"Lu Ke-Skywalker" is once again on the forefront; but this time it is a bit special. People seem to think that maybe maybe... Today, for the first time, I really realized that Lu Ke is a Chinese player. .
This is a weird way to express it, because when he first entered the league, the first wave of controversy surrounding Luke was about Chinese descent and undrafted status; but as Lech-Steinberg said, this is like It's like the elephant in the room. Everyone knows it exists objectively, but until it gets angry, no one really cares.
Until today.
The "Los Angeles Times" special report stirred up a thousand waves with one stone and triggered an unimaginable tsunami in an instant. If there is no figure of Laihe behind this, I am afraid Lu Ke will never believe it.
…
Roger Goodell is only fifty-two years old, but he has become the most powerful person in American sports.
Goodell was born in New York State in 1952. He was an athlete. In high school, he was the captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams, and was elected the school's best athlete of the year. Unfortunately, at the age of seventeen, he was... A serious knee injury ended his sports career.
In 1981, he graduated from Washington and Jefferson College with a bachelor's degree in economics. This is a starting point.
Although he regretfully bid farewell to his sports career, Goodell always had a raging enthusiasm for football. He decided to realize his dream in another way; so he began to work tirelessly to the NFL office and the league's 28 teams. The team (later expanded to thirty-two) wrote, hoping to find a "rugby-related job."
After receiving forty rejection letters, Goodell was able to enter the NFL office, became an administrative intern, and was responsible for dealing with the media. This is the second starting point.
Diligent, hard-working, focused, pragmatic and sincere, Goodell's talent was quickly recognized. Both presidents praised him highly and tried their best to cultivate him, which made him grow rapidly. In 1984, he became He became a public relations assistant; in 2001, he became executive vice president and chief operating officer.
In 2006, the NFL faced a major historical change in the transition from old to new. Former commissioner Paul Taliabue was hailed as the greatest league president in history. He updated and refined the league rules with an iron fist. , supported the Super Bowl halftime show, redistributed the eight major divisions, truly laid the foundation for the glory of the league, and chose to retire gloriously.
At that time, five candidates competed for the president's seat. Goodell was not the most popular, but he was not the one with the most enemies either. After five rounds of voting, he won twenty-three votes in a thrilling and difficult manner. ——The owners of thirty-two teams participate in the vote, and more than two-thirds must be exceeded to officially take office.
At the beginning of taking charge of the NFL, the financial crisis around 2008 brought a devastating blow, followed by a tragic lockout. Not only football, but other sports and even other social fields were in a bleak situation, which made Goodell face a crisis. Under unparalleled pressure.
Under the tide of the times, some people are annihilated, while others become heroes.
Goodell falls into the latter category.
On the one hand, Goodell firmly holds the live broadcast, broadcast and reporting of the game in his hands, making it a golden hen that lays eggs, covering ESPN, CBS, NBC and Fox TV stations, and signed nine-year broadcast contracts respectively. This contract is not only the longest broadcast contract since the establishment of the league, but also the contract with the highest broadcast fees.
According to statistics, two-thirds of the top twenty-five most watched TV programs in the United States are NFL games. By the way, this is the most direct reflection of the commercial value of night games. Thirty-two teams are not Maybe give up the night game.
In addition, the diverse use of digital media and the steady growth of live audiences have become important achievements in Goodell's expansion of rugby's influence, far ahead of the other three major professional leagues.
On the other hand, Goodell has further made the Super Bowl an occasion for national carnival. The fans’ active investment and attention to the Super Bowl and the generous investment of major multinational companies in the game have created a culture dominated by the Super Bowl. special economic entity. Two sets of data are the best proof.
First, around the Super Bowl 45 that just ended at the beginning of this year, related economic and industrial chains drove the flow of US$10 billion in funds.
Second, the thirty-second advertisement for this year’s Super Bowl is priced at US$2.5 million, and the thirty-two TV advertising seats can bring in an income of US$80 million; this is only the TV part, if all other advertising boards are included At that time, the broadcaster's income will exceed 200 million US dollars.
The most important thing is that when Goodell first took over the position of NFL president, the league's annual revenue was only 5 billion US dollars. After the turmoil of the financial crisis, the league's annual revenue has now exceeded 85 billion US dollars. 100 million, the growth rate is astonishing, and other professional leagues can't help but envy them.
A few hundred words are simply not enough to summarize Goodell’s career and brilliant achievements.
In fact, Goodell is also one of the most unpopular presidents. His iron-fist approach to players and differential treatment of star players, his ambiguity in dealing with negative news and ethical issues, and his businessmanlike approach to putting money first and profit first. All have caused numerous controversies.
However, after repeated struggles and hesitations, the owners of the thirty-two teams chose to continue supporting Goodell. Because of interests, and only because of interests.
As a bachelor of economics, Goodell is indeed a businessman; as an intern with a background as a media operations officer, Goodell is indeed good at using the media——
Issues of principle are never ambiguous, and other minor issues are easily discussed.
Now, Goodell, who has experienced countless storms, faces another problem in his career.
It cannot be said to be a challenge, it can only be regarded as another ups and downs among many twists and turns; but if you take into account the global promotion strategy of rugby and the huge potential of the Chinese market, then the weight of this problem is completely different.
Since taking office, Goodell has never concealed his ambition to expand the world. Europe, South America, Oceania, and Asia, except for Africa, which has too many uncertainties, are all Goodell's goals. In his eyes, these are Regions are aggregations of interests where gold coins are piled up.
Among the four major sports leagues in the United States, the NBA is undoubtedly the leader in overseas marketing, and its market share in Europe and Asia is eye-catching.
In the past nine years, just one Yao Ming has successfully enabled the NBA to achieve unparalleled success in the Chinese market, enough to make the other three major leagues unmatched and envious; it has even indirectly affected the five major European football leagues. The introduction strategy for Asian players.
The lack of mass base, lack of star players, and lack of historical accumulation all make it extremely difficult to promote rugby in Asia, especially in China, Taiwan, and Taiwan. Although Goodell has created countless miracles after taking over the position of president, it is difficult for a good woman to make a meal without rice, and the promotion work in Asia has been slow to show results.
Until this year, the emergence of Lu Ke became an important turning point.
Goodell knows that this is a beginning, or in other words, this can be a beginning; but the question is, what kind of future can this beginning develop? What kind of story will this beginning itself unfold?
During this week's game, the discriminatory remarks made by Arizona Cardinals home fans came much later than expected.
There are really not many black quarterbacks in the entire league, let alone Chinese-American quarterbacks. Therefore, when Lu Ke became the starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, Goodell had already anticipated this day. Such a situation.
In fact, the San Francisco 49ers were forced to put Lu Ke on the starting stage. In Goodell's view, they didn't mean to give up on themselves. If they lost the game, they could completely put the responsibility on Lu Ke. A new coaching staff and a new roster of players are decompressing, and then waiting for Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick to return from injury.
Goodell is not the only one in the entire league who holds this idea.
Therefore, at the beginning of the season, the league expressed its welcome from an official position, but never took any further action. In fact, it was just waiting to see what happens. Similarly, commentators, commentators and industry insiders did not really have full firepower, and even more so with a general attitude. He looked at the whole thing in a joking manner, as if it were a joke.
So do the fans.
The identity of "Chinese" has never been truly felt. Even the three consecutive victories at the beginning of the season have not been able to fundamentally change the fixed concept.
Later development went off track. Not only did Lu Ke gain a firm foothold in the league, but his performance was simply jaw-dropping. After winning one victory after another, people were just immersed in shock. As for the impact of other additional factors, it was forgotten for a while.
It wasn't until the emergence of the Arizona Cardinals that the problem finally broke out due to the collision of various factors. It's too late when the season is about to end; so, how should we deal with it now?
