Chapter 716 - 641: Who Wouldn’t Want to Owe Chen Yu a Favor

Chapter 716: Chapter 641: Who Wouldn’t Want to Owe Chen Yu a Favor

Tang Hemin’s words struck a deep chord with Chen Yu.

Professional sports were, by definition, a profession. That meant they were about money, and money was the foundation of everything.

So many young people in the United States were fighting tooth and nail to get into the four major leagues. Why? For the money, of course. They knew it was a way to completely turn their lives around.

Take Durant, for example. He was just a kid, but he trained relentlessly for years. Wasn’t it because his family was poor and he knew that getting into the NBA meant big money and a chance to change his family’s fortunes?

His dream back then was simple: he just wanted to buy his mother a house.

But in Europe, with its high social welfare, you earned about the same whether you worked hard or not. Naturally, people had plenty of free time to pursue their hobbies.

In a small village or community, a few guys in a pub would get fired up after a few drinks, and just like that, a soccer team would be formed.

They’d pay their own way to play matches everywhere, not caring whether they won or lost. To put it bluntly, it was because they had the money and the free time.

But China right now was different.

Just as Tang Hemin said, adults were busy making money, and kids were busy studying to secure their futures. Everyone was exhausted. Who had the energy to play soccer, let alone watch it?

Su Jun had told him before that the United States’ model of campus basketball wouldn’t work in China, saying the education ministry paid no attention to the sports ministry. Thinking about it now, he was absolutely right.

’Everyone’s busy with schoolwork; who cares if you’re good at sports?’

Han Zhilu was such a promising talent, yet he ended up going back to become a top student. It was the same logic.

As he considered this, Chen Yu had a sudden realization. He’d figured out the core principle for making money from the team he’d bought in China.

’Forget about all that "sports for the masses" and "developing talent for the National Team" nonsense.’

’I should just stick to one thing: turning professional sports into entertainment.’

After working hard to earn a living, the audience wants to relax. The matches should be there to provide them with that entertainment.

It was that simple.

That’s why the games had to be exciting.

If the domestic players weren’t good enough and the games were boring, you couldn’t make the audience pay for a ticket only to be disgusted, all in the name of "developing talent."

’From a fan’s perspective, when I spend money on a ticket to a local game, I just want to see an exciting match.’

’Nothing more, nothing less.’

’As for winning championships, that’s a separate issue. For that, you should do as I’ve planned: spend big to cultivate a dedicated group of players specifically to chase those honors.’

With this in mind, Chen Yu knew what he had to do.

’It seems my strategy of buying star players is the right one. And I need to keep doing it.’

’Once the team is profitable, I’ll buy even more stars—more expensive ones.’

Yan Shiduo and the others had thought that raising the foreign player limit from two to five was already a huge leap and that they should slow down. But now, it seemed even that was too small a step. They should just get rid of the limit entirely.

Chen Yu decided he needed to give Yan Shiduo and the others a good push after the season ended.

Just as he was lost in thought, a goal was scored down on the field.

Pioneer booted the ball long upfield. Batty and Cannigia played a quick combination in front of the goal. As Batty created some space, he suddenly unleashed a chip shot. Huanghe Tower’s goalkeeper, Jiang Tao, couldn’t react in time and could only watch as the ball sailed into the net.

The entire Tianhe Stadium erupted as if a powder keg had been lit.

Batty was ecstatic. He sprinted to the sideline, roaring as he lifted his jersey, revealing a message written on the white undershirt beneath:

"For you, our most beloved fans!"

The jumbotron zoomed in, capturing the words on his chest.

The stadium erupted once more, and the name "War God" thundered across the stands like a tidal wave.

Chen Yu rose to his feet and applauded.

The undershirt, the message—it was all Chen Yu’s idea.

You had to stir up the fans’ emotions. Their business depended on it.

Thanks to his relationship with Batty, the star was very cooperative and would do whatever Chen Yu asked.

Batty’s goal put the perfect finishing touch on his debut.

In any case, the only thought on the minds of the ticket-holding fans right now had to be that their money was well spent.

And that was enough!

There were still 24 rounds left in the league, which meant twelve more home games. Adding in the Football Association Cup, that was roughly 15 home games in total. If they could maintain an attendance of 50,000 per game, at an average ticket price of 80 yuan, the club’s projected revenue from ticket sales alone would reach sixty million.

This was an astonishing figure.

Last year was the inaugural season of the Chinese Super League. As far as Chen Yu knew, Shen Hua had the highest ticket revenue at just over thirteen million, while the rest of the teams were generally below ten million.

The bulk of their income came from naming rights, jersey sponsorships, and their share of broadcasting rights and commercial development revenue distributed by the Football Association.

All together, a mid-tier club’s total season revenue was only twenty to thirty million.

And that was about how much it cost just to maintain a Chinese Super League team’s roster.

In other words, after a whole year of effort, the money they earned wasn’t necessarily more than what they could have made by investing that same capital elsewhere. They might even lose money.

This was why so many teams were frequently put up for sale, and why a team like the Guang City Club had reached the point where nobody wanted it.

Many owners were in it purely as a hobby, or they hoped to make their money back in other ways, like advertising through naming rights.

This year, the Chinese Super League had relaxed the foreign player limit to five.

But as far as Chen Yu knew, many teams still only brought in two to three foreign players.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to sign more; they just didn’t have the money.

If you can’t make money, who’s willing to invest?

And that’s not even mentioning pouring money into youth academies, which were a complete money pit.

This created a vicious cycle.

Looking at the surging crowd of fans, Chen Yu suddenly had another idea.

’Maybe after the match, I should publicize some of this. The ticket revenue, the fans’ passion, the commercial deals for players like Batty, the status of the naming rights sale...’

Take the naming rights, for example.

Guang City Pharmaceutical Group.

They were the parent company of Zhongyi Pharmaceutical, the previous sponsor of the Sun Hei Group team.

They had been in constant contact with Chen Yu, and their offer had already been raised to sixteen million.

And that was for secondary naming rights, not even the primary ones.

In truth, if it weren’t the team’s first year, Chen Yu would have sold off the primary naming rights as well.

By publicizing this revenue now, he could perhaps stimulate the other teams. He could show them, ’Look, bringing in Batty and Kaginya has been a massive windfall.’

Only by seeing the benefits would other teams be willing to invest.

If everyone invested, the entire soccer market would improve. The broadcasting rights could be sold for a much better price, and that’s where the real money should be.

Of course, some teams might complain, ’Sure, you’re Chen Yu, you have the clout to bring in players like Batty and Albertini. We don’t have that kind of pull. We can only scout for players in the lower-tier leagues of South America and Africa.’

’But that’s something I can help with,’ Chen Yu thought.

Chen Yu had always wanted to start a sports agency. After all, his network of connections was vast.

He could absolutely leverage that network to act as an intermediary, introducing star players nearing retirement or even younger players in their prime to the various teams in China.

The teams would get the stars they needed to grow the market, while unwanted veterans and young players without a spot on their current teams could earn some good money.

And Chen Yu could take a small commission as an agent’s fee. A win-win-win.

The only thing he’d be "sacrificing" was his connections.

And as it happened, Chen Yu had those connections in spades. In the world of soccer, who didn’t already owe Chen Yu a favor? And who wouldn’t jump at the chance to owe him one!