Top of the big era

Logically speaking, Zhou Buqi really went too far in this matter.

"Magic" Johnson had already sold everything he needed to sell, and finally raised US$100 million, and then finally contacted two private equity funds that were willing to cooperate with him... The results were great, Zhou The big boss cut him off halfway!

Just cut off the beard.

There is no such thing as first come, first served in business.

But the problem is, everyone has sold out all their money!

Especially the 5% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers. This is not a listed company like Starbucks. The stock is rare and hard to come by. It is easy to sell but impossible to buy back.

This made Joe Lacob feel a little embarrassed.

He hopes that Boss Zhou can cooperate with "Magic" Johnson and buy the Los Angeles Dodgers together. When the time comes, you, Boss Zhou, will be the big boss and Johnson will be the small boss.

Zhou Buqi has no interest in working with a big fool who plays basketball. Not to mention Johnson, he even looks down on Jordan. However, he had to find a high-sounding reason to refuse.

Joe Lacob didn't just turn around. He really entered the basketball circle and participated in the strategic planning and management operations of the Golden State Warriors. It just so happened that "Magic" Johnson was a big figure in the basketball circle, so the relationship was entrusted to him. , he is not easy to handle either.

Zhou Buqi said bluntly: "I heard that Johnson's previous life style was not very good?"

"This..." Joe Lacob smiled, "It's much better now, and it's not a big deal. Most NBA players are like this. After playing, they go to nightclubs to spend money. In terms of personal quality, It’s indeed a bit worse.”

It’s just consumption, the key is the way of consumption, as vulgar as you want, as low-class as you want.

Usually I go there with a bag of cash, then throw it all over the box, and then have fun with the strippers in the box.

It's a complete situation where the poor suddenly become rich.

In comparison, football, baseball, and ice hockey are much better, with mostly white athletes. Therefore, the NBA's status in the American sports industry has always been low, and it is a bottom-level sport.

When parents take their children to play, they usually hold footballs or baseballs. Basketball is the mainstream in the slums.

Zhou Buqi said in a deep voice: "I am a feminist. What I hate most is that many men do mischief outside when they have a little money. I will never cooperate with him. If you are in trouble, just say, this is mine. manner."

Joe Lacob sighed secretly and said with a smile: "I'm just giving someone a message, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. There's no problem with the Golden State Warriors. I've strengthened team management and strictly prohibit any players or cheerleaders. personal contact."

Zhou Buqi said: "For the Golden State Warriors, we must strengthen the team's brand building. By the way, do you know David Gill?"

"Well, the executive of Manchester United."

"When you have time, you can chat with him more and see how he builds Manchester United's club brand. The Warriors are a team in the Bay Area, so they must pay more attention in this regard. Once there are players with bad records, they must be traded as soon as possible. Lose."

"Of course." Joe Lacob smiled, "This is exactly my idea of ​​​​building a team."

Zhou Buqi said: "Now is the Internet era, no different than in the 1980s and 1990s. The Lakers have encountered some troubles at the management level in recent years, and they are also deeply involved in Kobe Bryant's scandal. If I were the owner of the Lakers, I would definitely Trade him away."

Lacob said with a smile: "This is not the same as the mainstream business philosophy in the NBA."

Zhou Buqi said "Yeah", "I know, but the team should have higher standards. Moreover, I also believe that the league will make some changes in strategy next. The era of the Internet is the era of crushing the mainstream. "

The NBA is a business league, which is different from European football.

The ultimate goal of European football teams is to win the championship.

The ultimate goal of every NBA team is to make money. It doesn't matter if you win the championship or not, as long as you can make money. The same goes for fans. Going to the stadium to watch football is an entertainment party, and their desire to win is far less strong than that of European football.

Therefore, in order to make money, each team must retain those big-name stars who can attract box office. So even if Kobe's statistics are very poor at the end of his career and he can't even make the playoffs, the Lakers still have to revolve around him and use him as the core, because he can bring in box office, and fans buy tickets just to watch him. .

Another example is the Cavaliers, which were originally the most profitable team in the Eastern Conference. After LeBron James left, and no new stars with box office appeal joined, the ball market immediately slumped.

Between rebuilding and maintaining the box office, the mainstream model of the NBA is to protect the box office and focus on making money.

In this regard, Zhou Buqi was foresighted.

So he's not worried.

The current president of the NBA is old and will retire soon. The next president, Xiao Hua, is a genius in the business field and has brought great changes to the NBA.

Without James, the Cavaliers will lose their box office. This thorny problem must be solved!

The root of this problem is that the Cavaliers have not found a top player who can have the same box office appeal as James. In other words, there are actually too few top players in the NBA.

The source has been found, there are too few superstars.

That would be easy. As long as the NBA introduces more superstars, the league's earning power can be greatly improved.

However, what should we do if there are too few superstars and many players are not good enough?

You can rely on the referee to control the field.

For real superstars like James, Curry, and Durant, if their level is too high, just press them, don’t call them fouls, and control their scoring amount per game, which is about 30 points.

Some stars who are not as good as them can have the advantage of blowing the whistle. They will foul when others touch them, so that others dare not touch them. This allows them to get more leisurely shots and more free throw opportunities, which helps them every time. A game can also reach about 30 points.

Under the control of the league, these people are at the "same" level as James and Durant. As soon as public opinion supports them and the fans coax them, they become stars.

The truth is not important, appearances are. The better the field control, the more stars there will be, the more intense the competition will be, and the box office, broadcast fees and derivative revenue will increase.

The alliance can also make a lot of money.

At this stage in 2011, American football can earn about 10 billion US dollars a season, which is about the same as the five major European football leagues combined. The baseball league can earn 8 billion US dollars a season, and the NBA league can earn 4 billion US dollars a season.

After the NBA changed its boss and changed its operating strategy, its revenue every season almost caught up with the baseball league, and the gap was quickly narrowing.

With the great success of this strategy in the NBA, it will surely spread to all professional sports arenas around the world, and even football will start to use this strategy.

This means that the earning power of professional sports has huge room for growth in the future.

At this time, there was an opportunity to win the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Zhou Buqi couldn't miss it.

Joe Lacob is a Silicon Valley investor. He is very familiar with the changes in data analysis, business models and information transmission in the Internet era. In terms of the Golden State Warriors' team building strategy, he is surprisingly consistent with Zhou Buqi's philosophy. .

However, he still has a question: "By the way, the NBA will start a new round of labor negotiations. It may be more complicated. There may be a strike. Do you want to participate?"

Zhou Buqi said simply and neatly, "I won't go, you can do whatever you want!"

"Okay." Joe Lacob seemed a little unwilling, "The Los Angeles Dodgers...is that settled?"

Zhou Buqi said: "Well, it's decided."

Joe Racco Preached: "Why Don't You Buy the San Francisco Giants?"

"Ah?" Zhou Buqi was a little surprised, a little pleasantly surprised, "Are the San Francisco Giants going to be sold? If so, I will definitely choose the Giants!"

"I didn't say it would be sold. I'll ask."

…

Zhou Buqi left Changyou and went straight to a commercial hall within the second ring road to meet Boss Ma and several Zhejiang businessmen. On the way, he had already planned not to play tricks with them.

It's no different now than it was then.

At the beginning, Zhou Buqi needed to rely on various small circles to get ahead and use the resources in the circles to achieve success quickly. Now that everyone is successful and famous, there is no need for this kind of thing.

This is somewhat irresponsible.

He relied on the circle to get out. After he came out, he did not contribute to the circle and support more people. It would be an understatement to say he was ungrateful... This was very helpless. He only said that the more he climbed to the top of the mountain, the more he would become. Be careful when the wind is strong, shouting too loudly can easily disturb the immortals in the world.

On the way home at night, Ning Lu received an email from Senior Sister Zhen Yu on her phone, telling her about the Los Angeles Dodgers and that the loan had been obtained.

First take a loan to buy the team, and then repay the loan after Facebook goes public to cash out. This is a short-term debt and will not affect the Zhou family's main liabilities.

Ning Lu was very surprised, "Why don't you want to cooperate with Johnson? Isn't he a well-known figure in the American sports industry? Because he is black?"

Zhou Buqi glared at him, "Why are black people not black? I don't engage in racial discrimination."

Ning Lu said with a smile, "Why is that?"

Zhou Buqi said: "If you want to maintain long-term cooperation with someone, look for two directions so that you will not be easily deceived. First, the other party must be of high quality and good character."

"What about the second one?"

"The other party is a big boss and very rich."

"Ah?" Ning Lu was a little surprised, "Can there be any relationship between capital and morality?"

Zhou Buqi said: "You want to cooperate with someone to do a business worth 100,000 yuan. The other person has 10 million. Is it worth it for him to deceive you in this small business? Even if the other person has low morals, he doesn't bother to play small tricks. That fight Basketball's Johnson doesn't have high moral and character standards, and he doesn't have much money, so it's too risky to cooperate with him."

Ning Lu said thoughtfully: "Yes, it's just like what my schoolmate Gu Zanli told me that day. She said that you must have used Guan Nanqing and Mai Feixue, but she didn't mind. You are a big boss and you are so rich. Even if you are really a scumbag who likes to play with women, you will not lie to them like those low-level scumbags in society. So I won’t suffer a loss by being with you."

Zhou Buqi almost choked to death on her words.