Chapter 371 Rejection of AND1's Lifetime Contract

At noon, He Zhongqiu attended the launch ceremony of AND1's latest generation of Wolverine sneakers at Madison Square Garden.

One generation per year, this is the fifth generation of Wolverine sneakers.

Last year, his sneakers sold as much as Jordan's in the U.S., and this year they started to surpass him. Outside the U.S., his sales are outstripping Jordan's.

So in the basketball world, Wolverine brand sneakers are truly the number one brand.

AND1's president Ingram attended the launch of the fifth generation and discussed the next contract with He Zhongqiu.

The contract is supposed to be for 8 years, but less than 4 years have passed since it was executed. There are still more than 4 years left, which is far from the time to discuss the next contract.

But AND1 was worried that if it didn't show sincerity, Wolverine would switch to other brands or create his own basketball shoe brand, and AND1 would lose its largest and most valuable basketball shoe brand, so it decided to discuss the issue in advance.

In fact, what Ingram is most worried about is that He Zhongqiu may create his own brand. Since He Zhongqiu has founded many companies, it is not impossible for him to create his own sneaker brand.

With He Zhongqiu's current global influence and economic strength, there will be no problem for him to acquire a basketball shoe company and develop his own brand after acquiring certain technologies.

Ingram said: "Wolverine, AND1 will go public on March 2007, 3. Before that, the company hopes to negotiate the next contract with you."

He Zhongqiu said: "This is good news, congratulations. But the next contract is still a long way off, isn't it too early to discuss it now?"

"Choosing you as the spokesperson is the best decision for the company."

After Ingram said this sincerely, he asked, "Wolverine, the company hopes to reach a lifetime contract with you and intends to terminate the current contract with you early. I wonder what you mean?"

"End the current contract early?"

He Zhongqiu was stunned. Is AND1 afraid that he won’t renew his contract in the future?

Ingram continued: "Just like Jordan and Nike, the company will also set up a separate brand company for your brand, allocate some production lines, and you will own equity in the brand company."

He Zhongqiu didn't bring his agent Mike Johnson today, and Frank Zhang wasn't there either. He didn't quite understand some things, so he asked, "So how much equity does Michael have in the MJ brand?"

Ingram said: "He originally owned 4.5% of Nike, and when he founded the brand company, he used that share to convert it into 66.7% of the brand company.

Wolverine, we can also do it this way, you will have two-thirds of the profits of the brand company as dividends. "

"sounds good."

He Zhongqiu thought about it, but shook his head and said, "But this brand is limited to basketball shoes, which is too monotonous for me."

Ingram's heart skipped a beat, knowing that something was wrong. Wolverine was indeed planning to set up his own brand company.

He Zhongqiu continued: "In addition to basketball, I also engage in boxing and combat sports, and now I am starting to develop track and field sports. I think my brand should not be limited to basketball. That would be a waste of my influence."

Ingram sighed inwardly, AND1 has developed very well in recent years thanks to the influence of Wolverine and is now about to be listed, but it is still an exclusive brand that only operates in basketball and does not involve other sports.

It’s also personal for him, as he’s an avid basketball fan.

"Feel sorry."

He Zhongqiu officially rejected AND1's lifetime contract.

Although there are still more than four years left in his eight-year contract with AND1, this will not affect him from establishing his own brand, because he can also create personal brands in other sports.

Even if it is a basketball sports brand, he can actually do it because he only endorses AND1 basketball shoes and not jerseys and other products.

The martial arts school is now developing rapidly, and it may even reach the scale of 100 branches next year, and then it can be listed on the stock market.

There are also two film companies and a martial arts school. After these three companies go public in the next two years, I can concentrate my funds on developing my own personal sports brand.

By then, I should be able to achieve something in track and field events, and then develop my own sports brand in boxing, fighting, track and field, and basketball.

There are also several sports brands in China now, such as Li Lin.

However, these companies are not investing much in basketball shoes at present, because his Wolverine shoes are the dominant brand in China, accounting for 80% of the sales of basketball shoes.

Li Lin's company is also making basketball shoes. This year, a mid-range pair of basketball shoes is sold for 480 yuan, which is not a low price, but the technology is not good and the sales are very poor, so the cost invested cannot be recovered.

In this situation, it is easy to fall into a vicious circle. Li Lin’s company dare not continue to invest in basketball shoes, and it is very likely to withdraw from the basketball shoe market in the future.

He Zhongqiu is full of confidence in the domestic sports brand market. With his influence in the country, once he creates his own personal brand, he will definitely be able to get a big piece of the pie.

On the 27th, Zhang Heli and Yang Yi arrived in New York with two two-person photography crews.

Not only them, but also reporters from three Internet companies, Penguin, Wangyi and Moulang, plus a large number of media reporters from China, including those from Hong Kong, the total number of people is 72.

"Everyone, enjoy your meal and don't be polite to me."

In the evening, all the reporters were invited by He Zhongqiu to a restaurant in Chinatown.

He needs the support of the media, and will probably need the support of these media friends even more in the near future, otherwise his voice will not be heard.

After the meal, He Zhongqiu asked, "Brother Zhang, you arranged two photography teams, but only one commentary team?"

Zhang Heli added: "It's like this. We're changing the commentary method this season. Yang Yi and I will only be doing the front-line interviews, and the commentary room will be in the back. Yu Jia will partner with Teacher Xu in Yanjing."

"Is that so?" He Zhongqiu finally understood. Zhang Heli introduced: "CCTV purchased 50 regular season games this season, two games a week, sometimes three games. The Knicks have 12 games and the Lakers have 8 games.

The reason for doing back-stage commentary is that front-line commentary costs a lot. Look at American TV stations like TNT and ESPN, they all do back-stage commentary.”

"None of you three companies have a photography team. Did you purchase the satellite signals directly?" He Zhongqiu asked the three penguin companies sitting at the same table.

"Yes, Wolverine, we all bought satellite signals, and the rear will provide commentary. The front line is only responsible for interviews, and no photography is arranged."

October 2006, 10, the Knicks' new season media day.

Many TV stations will broadcast the event live around the world, including CCTV's four international channels.

More than 200 reporters and photographers gathered in Press Hall 1 of Madison Square Garden, all of them were from major media outlets. The Knicks did not invite any small or medium-sized media outlets because there was simply not enough space.

Including Xiangjiang, there are at least fifty domestic reporters and photographers, ranging from Xinhua News Agency and CCTV to reporters from several major portals and Penguin Sports.

Penguin, Sina, and Wangyi have all reached online broadcasting rights contracts with the NBA, and the new season's regular season will be broadcast live on the domestic Internet.

This has caused some impact on CCTV, but fortunately the scale of the domestic Internet is not too large and the real impact has not yet come.

Moreover, these Internet companies do not have the power to monopolize the market now, otherwise they might really have an impact on CCTV's NBA programs.

"Wolverine, are you confident that you can win four consecutive championships this season?" asked a reporter from the New York Times.

"I can't think of any team in the entire league that can beat us." He Zhongqiu said confidently.

"What about injuries?" the reporter asked.

"At present, there are no serious injury risks in the main lineup," said He Zhongqiu.

The next questioner was from the Washington Post, who asked, "Wolverine, you've been training in track and field throughout the offseason, so what level are you at now?"

He Zhongqiu said: "My team told me that I already have the athletic qualities of a top sprinter, but I still need to work on the technique."

"Oh!"

There was an exclamation in the press hall.

Although He Zhongqiu trained in track and field for several months, he did not make it public to the media. His team and those self-funded professors did not disclose his training situation to the public, so the outside world did not know about it.

Now, everyone is surprised to hear him say that he has the qualities of a top-notch sprinter.

No one doubts He Zhongqiu's physical fitness, but that is the physical fitness for basketball, boxing and combat sports, while sprinting is a completely different quality.

Some of them even couldn't imagine the sight of a giant with a naked height of 211 cm running on the -meter track.

The next person to ask a question was Yu Jia, who asked, "Zhongqiu, which sprint event are you training for?"

"I rarely practice 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, long jump and high jump," said He Zhongqiu.

In the lounge of a track and field training facility in Jamaica, Bolt was watching the live broadcast with his agent Rick Simmons sitting nearby.

He was born in August 86 and just turned 8 years old, three years younger than He Zhongqiu. Jamaica is just south of the United States and has been greatly influenced by the United States. He is also very familiar with Wolverine.

"100 meters. Wolverine wants to run 100 meters?"

Hearing Wolverine's words, he was stunned. He was 196 cm tall, but he only dared to run 200 meters. How could Wolverine dare to run 100 meters?
Rick Simmons exclaimed: "Wolverine's athletic talent is really too strong. He is good at basketball, boxing, fighting, and martial arts. I didn't expect that he is also so talented in sprinting. He is so tall, it's incredible!"

Bolt has been a bit silent. After running a good result in 04, he fell into a slump and has been suffering from injuries until now.

Fortunately, the injury has now healed and his sprinting career has taken a turn for the better.

However, when he heard that a guy as tall as Wolverine dared to run 100 meters, his heart began to move.

Seeing that Bolt was silent, Simmons asked: "Usain, what are you thinking about?"

"Rick, I not only want to run 200 meters, I also want to run 100 meters." Bolt suddenly said seriously.

Simmons was startled, but he didn't think much about it and nodded, "Since Wolverine can do it, so can you. I believe in your potential."

"Okay, Rick, it's decided then. Next time I race, I'll sign up for the 100 meters," Bolt said excitedly.

Simmons hurriedly said: "Usain, I'm just an agent. Whether you can run or not, you still need to discuss it with the coach."

"Oh, okay, let's go find him right away." Bolt said anxiously.

The two quickly found coach Glenn Mills who was preparing outside and told him what had happened.

Mills did not refuse and said, "Wolverine can run. Usain, I believe your sprinting talent is stronger than his. Of course, you can run too."

"That's great!" Bolt and Simmons said excitedly.

Mills continued, "The 07rd Wadi Noianya Games will be held in February 23. Usain, I will sign you up."

"Thank you, Glenn." Bolt said excitedly.

(End of this chapter)