The Godfather of Football

After entering July, Ye Qiu's schedule was packed and tight.

After returning to London, the first thing he did was to visit the completed Stratford Stadium, which is now called the Eye of God by many people. It is a masterpiece of art.

Many people say that the most attractive thing about coming to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London is nothing more than three buildings. One is the Stratford Stadium, known as the heart of London, which is also the main stadium of the Olympic Games. Another is the data cloud carefully designed by Leaf Technology outside the main stadium, and the other is the skyscraper Zhenhua Building, which has been in operation for a long time.

The three iconic buildings have stolen the limelight of the entire Olympic Park, especially the data cloud of Leaf Technology.

This 250-meter-high spiral building adopts a transparent glass curtain wall design. Anyone can see this towering spiral building from a distance. With the lighting, lights and clouds floating above, the whole building is like a dream, especially when entering the data cloud.

Visitors can go to the top floor in three ways: stairs, elevators and ramps. Cycling enthusiasts are even allowed to challenge the spiral ramp in the data cloud. The so-called cloud is actually a membrane-like structure similar to the outer layer of the Water Cube. The difference is that it can be used to display some color images and information data, which is very dreamy.

Climbing to the top of the data cloud, you can not only feel the beautiful data cloud above your head, but also overlook the entire London. Therefore, although the Olympics have not yet started, the data cloud has immediately attracted countless citizens and tourists to pay to visit and participate in some games and interactive programs as soon as it is open to the public.

The largest flagship store of Leaf Technology in Europe is located on the bottom floor of the data cloud, and it is also the data center of Leaf Technology in London, which can be called the European headquarters and heart of Leaf Technology.

Ye Qiu visited the data cloud of Leaf Technology accompanied by Peter Kenyon, Ron Gourley, Eliza Moon and Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the Olympic Committee, and then went to Stratford Stadium.

Unlike Ye Qiu's previous life, this stadium is more beautiful and artistic than the London Bowl in his previous life. The entire curtain wall is a display screen, and the ceiling adopts an adjustable hinge and cantilever design. Once it rains or snows, the ceiling can be completely closed. After the sophisticated ventilation design, even if the stadium is completely closed, hundreds of thousands of people watching the game in the stadium will not feel depressed.

This stadium finally cost more than 600 million pounds, which is about 750 million euros. It seems that it is only more than 100 million pounds more than Ye Qiu's previous life London Bowl, which is not much more expensive. But in fact, if Ye Qiu had not invested 300 million and other aspects gave appropriate support, the Olympic Committee and the London City Government would definitely not do it.

The London Bowl in the previous life claimed to have invested 500 million pounds, about 600 million euros, but this was the investment. After the Olympics, they dismantled all the detachable things and sold them, so the total investment was actually not that much.

But now it is different. Except for the bottom floor, which has some temporary stands because it will be temporarily renovated in the future, the entire stadium is a fixed permanent building structure. There are not many places that can be disassembled and recycled, so the investment is even greater.

But the biggest problem is still due to the British government and the Olympic Committee itself, because the current industrial manufacturing capacity of the UK has declined significantly, which has led to the continuous increase in the budget of this stadium in the past few years, and finally reached such an astonishing figure.

It is like the same skyscraper, Zhenhua Building is taller than the Shard, with higher technological content and technical level, but the cost is much less than the Shard. The reason is that almost the entire construction team and materials of Zhenhua Building are made in China, so it is much cheaper than in the UK.

Ye Qiu signed an agreement with the London City Government and the Olympic Committee. He paid 300 million to them for construction and borne the future renovation costs. After the Paralympics, he got a stadium. Therefore, he didn't care how much money the Olympic Committee paid for this stadium, and he never asked how much money fell into the pockets of certain people.

Because it has nothing to do with him!

As the Olympics approached, more and more tourists gathered in London and the Olympic Park.

When Ye Qiu and others visited Stratford Stadium, they also attracted the attention of many tourists, even many of them were from China. When they saw Ye Qiu and others, they were all excited.

For Ye Qiu and Tottenham Hotspur, visiting Stratford Stadium did not make much sense, because many things would be completely renovated in a few months. It was just that the Olympic Committee needed some news to build momentum, so Ye Qiu also cooperated with their plan, visited with the team, and inspected the future renovation.

"Mr. Ye Qiu!" Lord Sebastian Coe led a middle-aged man in a suit and tie to come over, "This is Andrew Altman, CEO of the London Olympic Park Heritage Development Company."

Altman, this is why Ye Qiu almost laughed when he heard this name. He really didn't expect that there was someone with the last name Altman. I wonder if he is from the Kingdom of Light?

"Hello, Mr. Altman!" Ye Qiu smiled and stretched out his hand, laughing in his heart, welcome to protect the earth.

"Hello, Mr. Ye Qiu!" Ultraman smiled politely and shook hands with Ye Qiu.

Ye Qiu knew what was going on. "I wonder what projects your Olympic Park Heritage Development Company is mainly responsible for? How can my team and I provide help?"

Ultraman did not expect Ye Qiu to be so generous. He felt good and smiled, "We are directly under the jurisdiction of the Mayor's Office of London City Hall. We are responsible for the operation of the entire Olympic Park after the Olympics, including the coordination and management of owners, developers, planning bureaus and investors. We are the only management department, and the term is 20 years!"

Ye Qiu is not interested in the term, but the word "only" means that they have the final say in the planning of the entire Olympic Park in the future.

What does this mean? This means that after the Olympics, the London government will continue to vigorously develop the area around the Olympic Park. If this place is favored by developers and they want to invest in some development projects, they must obtain the permission and support of the so-called London Olympic Park Heritage Development Company.

Even in the future, when Tottenham Hotspur enters Stratford Stadium, and YeZi Technology enters Data Cloud, plus Zhenhua Building, they are all within the sphere of influence of the Olympic Park, and they all need to deal with them.

"You continue!" Ye Qiu smiled and motioned him to continue.

The group walked slowly in the stadium, especially when they walked to the grass in the middle of the stadium. Ye Qiu felt that this grass was too bad. If Tottenham Hotspur came in, it must be replaced, all replaced.

"I believe Mr. Ye Qiu also knows that this was originally a highly polluted heavy industrial area, which was demolished for the Olympics, but the soil here was classified as highly polluted, so when we were preparing for the Olympics, we set up a special soil hospital to clean up the polluted soil through soil bioremediation technology, that is, through bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms, so that the soil can be used again."

Ye Qiu felt that this person was a bit long-winded, but he still put on an attitude of listening carefully and nodded constantly.

This piece of land has been a heavy industrial area for the past four hundred years. In the 17th century, textile printing was developed, and in the 18th century, gasoline factories were built. Later, there were waste, chemical products, glue factories, landfills, and auto repair shops. Not only the land is polluted, but the waterways have also become dirty, and even the sky is seriously polluted, especially those dense cables.

It must be admitted that the London City Government has indeed invested a lot of money and manpower to transform these.

But these have nothing to do with Ye Qiu. Who asked London to bid for the Olympics? Who asked London to vigorously develop the east?

Ye Qiu doesn't think he is a living **, and he doesn't need to worry about these things in London, right?

"Mr. Ye Qiu, the pollution situation of the entire Olympic Park has improved a lot in the past few years, but this is only temporary. You should know that if all governance stops after the Olympics, pollution will return again."

Ye Qiu also knew this and it attracted enough attention from him.

"Prime Minister Cameron has urged the government, and Mayor Johnson has decided to allocate funds through the city government. Both funds from the government will be used to continue to invest in environmental governance in the Olympic Park after the Olympics. We will gradually consolidate and improve the results of environmental governance by transplanting trees, flowers, and wetland plants. It is preliminarily estimated that 6,000 trees and plants will be planted in the next year."

What Andrew Altman said here is actually very obvious. I believe he must have said the same thing to several other large companies that have moved into the Olympic Park, including the supermarket at the exit of the subway station.

To put it bluntly, this is asking for money!

The British government and the London City Government have both taken the lead. You companies that have moved into the Olympic Park are also living on this land. It is also necessary and necessary to bear some expenses, right?

"I understand, Mr. Altman!" Ye Qiu smiled and nodded. He was smiling from beginning to end. "I can promise that Tottenham Hotspur, Yezi Technology and Huangtian Group will strongly support the Olympic Park Heritage Development Company. If you have any difficulties in the future, just tell us. As long as we can do it, we will support and help you!" Ye Qiu's words were also very nice, but there was a word in it, "to the best of our ability", which means that you just don't ask for too much. "Thank you very much for your support, Mr. Ye Qiu!" Andrew Altman was very satisfied to get such an answer. At least Ye Qiu was very generous and did not get entangled with them on these issues. Other companies and institutions basically complained when they heard that they needed money, as if their companies were so poor that they were about to go bankrupt and close down. Andrew Altman's next job is difficult, because they have no money, but they have to ask others for money. Among all the jobs, asking others for money is the most difficult. But now with Ye Qiu's words, at least things have turned around.

In the future, if other enterprises and companies continue to procrastinate, they can just say, Tottenham Hotspur and Yezi Technology have paid, do you still have the nerve to refuse to pay?

Thinking of this, Andrew Altman really wanted to hug Ye Qiu and kiss him. This Chinese is so considerate!

Ye Qiu originally thought that the Olympic Organizing Committee asked him to come to visit the stadium, but he didn't expect that he was asked to pay for it. His mood for visiting the stadium also dropped a lot. After all, he was also very busy, so after walking around, he casually After making an excuse and asking Peter Kenyon to remind them, a few people left first.

"I said, you don't look like such a generous person!" Although Peter Kenyon is British, he is now an executive under Ye Qiu. With Ye Qiu's salary, he naturally wants to stand beside Ye Qiu. Think and look at the problem from Qiu's perspective.

Ye Qiu smiled bitterly, "Am I usually stingy?"

Peter Kenyon and Ron Gurley suddenly laughed in unison. Fortunately, they were in the car and no one heard them except the company driver. Otherwise, they would have thought these two guys were crazy. As for laughing so hard, Recumbent?

"First of all, I think we really need to support the work of the Heritage Development Corporation, because our stadiums, shops and hotels are all in this park. It is our obligation to bear part of the responsibility."

What Ye Qiu said was indeed reasonable.

"And they have the planning rights for the Olympic Park after the Olympics. So, I believe that if we do them a small favor now, they will do us a big favor in the future. When it comes to business, isn't it just you helping me and I helping you?" Here you go!”

When Peter Kenyon and Ron Gurley heard Ye Qiu's words, their original noble image immediately became vulgar, and an adjective flashed through their minds, profiteer!

In fact, Ye Qiu has another consideration, and that is Stratford Stadium.

This stadium was indeed a huge loss at the time. It took 300 million yuan to invest, took five or six years to acquire, and had to pay for the renovation at my own expense. It was a loss no matter how you calculated it. But the problem is, if you start from now If you look at it from the perspective of tourism, you will find that you can make a lot of money, because the annual income from tourism alone is huge.

According to current preliminary estimates, the potential audience for football matches in London is 15 million. This includes not only the population of Greater London, but also surrounding areas, as well as foreign tourists, etc.

So there is a problem. If you look at the entire UK, among all the new stadiums, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium has the largest capacity, reaching 60,000, but it is in London, and there are basically no other places outside London. A new stadium with a capacity of over 30,000.

Therefore, Liverpool has been clamoring to build a new stadium for so long, why not do it? It is because of this consideration, thinking that spending money to build such a stadium will not bring much profit, and at the same time, the capacity cannot be increased too much. Not a good deal.

It's just that after the Indians took over Liverpool, they promised the fans, so they started construction. However, the capacity is only about 60,000, and it cannot be higher. No matter how high it is, there will be large areas of empty stands, which will affect the atmosphere of the stadium.

In the UK, one out of four people is in the Greater London area. Therefore, Ye Qiu had many choices at the beginning, including Aston Villa and some other teams, but he chose London for one reason. It can only be done here. Only by becoming bigger and stronger can we have the foundation to challenge super giants like Barcelona and Real Madrid.

What is the basis for Barcelona and Real Madrid?

In addition to a host of other reasons, a very important point is that the Bernabeu Stadium and the Nou Camp have a much larger capacity than other competitors, as well as the attendance that the team can guarantee, which can ensure that the two major Every game a wealthy team can generate millions more in game-day revenue than other wealthy teams.

The capacity of Tottenham Hotspur's Stratford Stadium was locked at 80,000, and space was reserved for the expansion of the third-tier stand. Everyone thought Tottenham Hotspur must be crazy. Because the Emirates Stadium only has 60,000 people and the Old Trafford Stadium has less than 70,000 people. How dare Tottenham Hotspur touch a stadium with 80,000 people? How to ensure attendance?

But a few years later, the facts proved that Ye Qiu's original decision was risky, but it was right!

After the stadium is built, it becomes real estate. Renovation consumes money and has a great impact. However, the performance and influence of the team can be improved at any time. In other words, after the stadium is completed, it is difficult for the capacity to change, but your football stadium The team's performance and influence can be improved through a series of operations.

Therefore, Ye Qiu decided to build a large-capacity stadium at the beginning, but now, Tottenham Hotspur does not need to worry about attendance at all. What they even need to worry about is, is the attendance of 80,000 enough?

From this point of view, Stratford Stadium has made a lot of money for Tottenham Hotspur. I believe everyone, including the British government and the London Municipal Government, knows it well, so Ye Qiu must Make concessions in some small areas. If he continues to argue with them over small areas, there is no guarantee that they will not give you small shoes in the future.

Instead of doing this, it is better to be more straightforward and try to cooperate and help in some details. Although some money is lost, where can the loss be? How much does six thousand trees cost per year? How much is the annual maintenance cost after planting?

But how much does Tottenham Hotspur's Stratford Stadium earn per year?

If there is an opportunity to help Huangtian Group acquire a piece of land for development in a good location around the Olympic Park, how much money can it make?

Therefore, Ye Qiu is very smart in his calculations. He firmly believes that people who can make money are not as good as people who can spend money.

Of course, as a boss, Ye Qiu is not convenient to say more about many things. His subordinates understand if they understand, and they still don’t understand if they don’t. It’s a good thing to maintain some distance and mystery.

“By the way, Peter, how is Alves’ transfer going?” Ye Qiu broke the silence in the car and asked.