Reborn Industrial Tycoon

Chapter 567 Lifetime Contract

Toronto's Rainbow Arena is still the home of the Raptors. Next season, the Raptors will move to the newly built Airline Center Arena.

Carter walked into the players' locker room with a gloomy face, sat down on a chair, took off his shoes and threw them directly to the ground. He complained: "These worn-out shoes are really uncomfortable to wear. I've had enough!"

The shoes Carter threw aside were the Cell Origin basketball shoes provided by Puma.

In order to re-enter the field of basketball shoes, Puma spent a lot of money to sign Vince Carter, hoping to use the star of hope to open up the basketball shoe market in the United States.

Carter was indeed very impressive, producing the best data of that rookie class. The Rookie of the Year award is no longer available, and he is worthy of the title of successor to Jordan of the new generation.

However, the shoes provided by Puma are not very good, and this pair of Cell Origin basketball shoes is really not good either.

Puma has not made basketball shoes for a long time. Their design concept of basketball shoes is still stuck in the 1970s and 1980s. The basketball shoes they designed are not fashionable at all, and they are also very bloated in appearance.

For a player with speed and bounce like Carter, wearing a pair of bloated shoes to play will not only make him feel uncomfortable, but also affect his performance.

The most important thing is that Puma’s basketball shoes have no technological content and are just an ordinary pair of basketball shoes.

Since the 1990s, the technological content of basketball shoes has become higher and higher. The design has begun to conform to ergonomics. The application of new technologies and new materials has also made the shoes more comfortable.

If nothing else, take shock absorption as an example. All sports brands have made great efforts. Nike has worked tirelessly to launch generations of air cushions, while Adidas has developed polymer materials and even installed springs in sneakers.

Puma obviously didn't realize this. They still make traditional basketball shoes, without air cushion, no feeling of stepping on shit, and without any remarkable advanced technology.

Probably because they have been making football shoes and running shoes for a long time, Puma's designers are no longer good at designing basketball shoes, so they can only deal with the problem with concepts from more than ten or twenty years ago.

Basketball shoes and football shoes are different. Basketball shoes focus on the feeling of the feet, while football shoes focus on not only the feeling of the feet, but also the football.

When basketball shoes are worn on the feet, the first thing is to feel comfortable, and the second thing is to have a certain protective effect on the feet.

When football shoes are worn on the feet, they need to be in contact with the ball, so the most important thing is to make it easier to kick the ball. As for whether the feet are comfortable or not, that is not the primary consideration.

If you want to pursue the comfort of shoes and improve the protective effect of shoes, then the upper must be soft.

However, if you want to improve the control and accuracy of shooting and dribbling, the upper must be hard.

If you want better cushioning and shock absorption, the soles must be soft and even have buffer zones, such as air cushions.

If you want the shoes to have strong grip and accelerate quickly, the soles must be hard, and they may even need to be reinforced with nails on the forefoot.

Therefore, basketball shoes and football shoes are completely two extreme products. Basketball shoes are soft and have strong cushioning, while football shoes are hard and have strong grip.

If you use the concept of designing football shoes to design basketball shoes, the results can be imagined.

So Puma launched a basketball shoe that was a failure.

Later generations of fans bought Puma's Cell Origin basketball shoes, almost all because of Carter's popularity. Otherwise, who would buy a pair of outdated basketball shoes.

The poor performance and poor comfort of Puma basketball shoes made Carter intolerable. Moreover, the shoes were ugly, and Carter felt very embarrassed when wearing them for playing games.

So Carter only wore Puma sneakers for dozens of games before switching to shoes from other brands.

In the historical All-Star Weekend in 2000, Carter was selected to the All-Star Game as the top vote-getter and won the slam dunk contest. Although he had a contract with Puma at the time, he was wearing the classic AND1 Tai Chi series.

And they didn’t ask for advertising fees from AND1, which shows how unpopular Puma’s shoes are with Carter.

…

Carter threw the sneakers aside with an irritated expression on his face. At this time, as Oudou, Tracy McGrady, of course, wanted to comfort Ounisang.

I saw Tracy McGrady walking over and said, "If you really don't like these shoes, just change them to another pair. I'll give you my shoes!"

"My stupid Ou Doudou, our feet are not the same size!" Carter thought to himself.

Tracy McGrady wears size 16 shoes, which is the American size. If converted to the standard size, it would be size 50 shoes. Carter wears size 47 shoes. Tracy McGrady's shoes are definitely too big for Carter.

However, Carter still looked at Tracy McGrady's pair of shoes with envy. These are the exclusive signature sneakers launched by Feiyue Company for Tracy McGrady.

As a sophomore who is still playing as a substitute, he has his own signature sneakers. This kind of treatment is the envy of any player.

Tracy McGrady then said: "Let's do this. I'll ask my agent to contact the sponsor, send someone over to measure your foot mold, and then ask them to customize a few pairs of shoes for you."

"Is this okay? How much do I need to pay them?" Carter asked subconsciously.

Americans regard everything as a transaction, so they have to negotiate the price before doing anything.

Tracy McGrady smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, it won't cost you anything! I have a good relationship with my sponsors, and they will try their best to meet my requests!"

…

Star players' sneakers are custom-made by sponsors based on the players' feet.

In fact, you don’t need to customize the entire sneaker. Generally, you only need a specially made pair of insoles, and the sneakers will still be the original normal size sneakers.

NBA stars often give away their sneakers to fans after the game, but they always take out the insoles.

This is not because my feet are too smelly, I am afraid that the original sneakers are too high and will smell to the fans.

But because the insoles are specially customized for your feet and even contain some high-tech shock-absorbing materials, this pair of insoles is more expensive than the shoes.

A few days later, Carter put on a pair of Tracy McGrady first-generation sneakers custom-made for him.

As a spokesperson for Puma, but he did not wear Puma shoes in the game, Puma was naturally very unhappy, but this incident did not attract too many people's attention.

Because everyone knows that Carter and Tracy McGrady are cousins, and the two are almost inseparable, so Carter wearing a pair of Tracy McGrady's signature sneakers is more like showing the affection between brothers, which is a very upright thing.

Moreover, the first-generation signature boots created by Feiyue Sports for Tracy McGrady are indeed better than Puma's Cell Origin basketball shoes.

James Bond was originally a fashion brand designer. The sneakers he designed are, dare not say anything else, very fashionable in appearance.

For a young man in his twenties like Carter, he would naturally not refuse a pair of fashionable-looking sneakers.

As for the technological content, although Feiyue's basketball shoes do not have the advanced black technology of Nike and Adidas, they are still quite satisfactory.

Second- and third-tier sports brands do not have the same research and development capabilities as first-tier brands, so they basically use some relatively mature technologies, and at worst, they have to pay some patent fees. The patent protection period of some sneaker technologies has expired, and even the patent protection period has expired.

All fees are saved.

…

James Bond reported Carter's situation to Li Weidong.

"Vince Carter is very satisfied with the sneakers we provided. He has worn these shoes for several games. Carter is very popular in North America. He wears our sneakers, which also increases our brand awareness.

Judging from the feedback from the market, the sales of Tracy McGrady No. 1 have increased a lot since Carter wore them." James Bond introduced.

From 1998 to 1999, the season was shortened due to the NBA lockout. Carter averaged 18.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.54 blocks per game, with a shooting percentage of 45%. For a rookie guard, this is already

This is the top answer sheet.

It is also because Carter's statistics are very good that his popularity in North America has begun to explode. Among young guards, there is a tendency to be on par with Iverson and Kobe.

The next season, Carter began to explode, averaging 25.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.34 steals and 1.12 blocks per game. His All-Star performance made him the All-Star vote king and the slam dunk contest champion, which made the young Carter cross the border.

Joined the ranks of superstars.

For a sophomore to become the All-Star vote winner shows his popularity.

More importantly, Carter led the Toronto Raptors into the playoffs, which made fans recognize him even more.

Before Carter arrived, the Toronto Raptors were still a weak team. After Carter arrived, he led the team to the playoffs the next year.

In the NBA, there are some players who have very good statistics, but cannot lead the team to victory. Even many All-Star players are like this, so they are often nicknamed data brushes.

Some players have average statistics, but they can always help the team win. Such players can earn high salaries, but they may not be very popular because their help to the team is not entirely reflected in their personal data.

The so-called popularity is high, personal data is good, but the team does not win, and it is inevitable to be criticized by fans. In this case, the better the personal data, the faster the fan base will grow.

That's why so many stars gathered together later, with the purpose of pursuing a championship to prove themselves.

A player like Carter, who can lead a team to great results in his second year, and has very good personal statistics, naturally his popularity has skyrocketed.

If Kobe hadn't won three consecutive championships and Iverson had led the team to the Finals with a single core, Carter's popularity would have definitely surpassed that of Kobe and Iverson.

"In my impression, Carter's sneakers have always sold well! Even if Puma designed such bad shoes for him, there are still people buying them."

Thinking of this, Li Weidong said, "Now that Carter is dissatisfied with Puma, and he is quite satisfied with our shoes, is it possible for us to poach Carter from Puma to be our spokesperson?"

"It's quite difficult." James Bond continued without hesitation; "Puma originally gave Carter a five-year contract worth 25 million U.S. dollars, which averages 5 million a year. We don't have such a big budget."

"How much money can we take out?" Li Weidong asked.

"We can spend at most 2.5 million a year. If I were Carter, how could I give up the 5 million and choose 2.5 million!" James Bond replied.

"Is it impossible to launch personal signature sneakers?" Li Weidong asked next.

James Bond thought for a while and said: "Although signature sneakers are a bonus item, they are not worth 2.5 million US dollars per year! What's more, with Carter's current strength and popularity, it is only a matter of time before he launches his own signature sneakers.

.”

"Then give him a lifetime contract!" Li Weidong said.

"You mean a lifetime contract?" James Bond's tone was full of surprise.

"Yes, a lifetime contract. I think this temptation should be worth 2.5 million US dollars per year!" Li Weidong said.

In the NBA, there are five people who have received lifetime contracts. The first one is of course the great Jordan. Not only did he get a lifetime contract from Nike, he also got an exclusive brand AIR Jordan.

Before the 21st century, only Jordan had a lifetime contract.

The other four people are Adidas who signed Tracy McGrady, Reebok who signed Iverson, Nike who signed James, and Li-Ning who signed Wade. Even Kobe didn't get a lifetime contract.

There are two main reasons why Kobe did not get a lifetime contract.

The first is that the sales of Kobe's shoes are not as good as Nike expected. Since the sexual assault scandal, Kobe has a lot more negative fans, and the better Kobe performs on the court, the more negative fans he has.

The season in which he scored 81 points in a single game, which was an average of 35.4 points per game, was probably the year when Kobe’s anti-fans grew the fastest. In that year, Kobe was criticized as the biggest stat brusher in the NBA. This also affected Kobe’s sneakers.

sales volume.

So Nike has been hesitant about giving Kobe Bryant a lifetime contract.

The second reason is that Kobe has his own business territory.

When the Lakers won the championship again in 2009, Kobe was definitely worth a lifetime contract.

However, at this time, Kobe has already built a huge business map. At this time, Kobe has the ability to operate on his own, and it is impossible for him to sign a contract with Nike for life.

This is something that other stars who have signed lifetime contracts do not have. Even Mr. Jordan only established his own business empire later. When he signed with Nike, he was just a simple player.

When talking about lifetime contracts, Li Weidong also thought of Kobe Bryant.

"Kobe Bryant has always been arrogant. Back then, Adidas gave Tracy McGrady a lifetime contract, but did not give Kobe Bryant a lifetime contract, which became the trigger for him to leave Adidas.

If I give Carter a lifetime contract this time, that guy Kobe will definitely be jealous again. I'd better keep a bowl of water flat!"

Thinking of this, Li Weidong said: "You should contact Kobe again and tell him that if he wants to sign a lifetime contract, we are always welcome!"

"Does even Kobe have to give him a lifetime contract?" James Bond paused, then asked, "What about Tracy McGrady?"

"As for Tracy McGrady, let's wait for a year! Wait until his data is better before asking him for a lifetime contract," Li Weidong said.

Oudou and Tracy McGrady had to wait until he was transferred to the Magic before he started to perform superbly. Now Oudou is serving as a substitute for Ou Nisang, averaging less than 10 points per game, and is indeed not worthy of a lifetime contract.

The update is delivered today. Thank you to all the parents for subscribing. Please ask for a guaranteed monthly pass. Thank you for passing the test!