As the Chinese Super League teetered on the brink of collapse, Jiangnan Group’s internal league finally kicked off with great fanfare.
It was worth noting that while many active players from the Chinese Super League applied for positions, with the exception of a very few ordinary players, none of the others were selected.
Even the so-called star players, valued at five million yuan, were rejected. Jiangnan Group was quite direct about the reasons.
They told the interviewed players that the majority of Chinese Super League players had unhealthy habits; they didn't like playing football, preferring to eat sea cucumbers. Their bodies lacked muscle, instead resembling defrosted white cut chickens.
Most crucially, almost all of them were involved in match-fixing. While Jiangnan Group didn't have evidence to prove these allegations for every player, the presence of even one such individual would be like a rotten apple spoiling the barrel, leading them to reject these so-called star players outright.
But if they weren't taking players from the Chinese Super League, where would the league’s players come from?
Firstly, there were the five youth training teams that had returned from abroad, numbering ninety-one players. These were roughly distributed among the twenty teams, ensuring each team had three to five top-tier players as its core.
In addition to these, there were Jiangnan Group’s internal professional players.
For those who might recall, Jiangnan Group had once enrolled one thousand youths in its football training camp. A significant incentive for children to sign up was the guarantee of a job at Jiangnan Group if they were selected among the thousand.
Although only one hundred ultimately went to Europe to compete, the remaining nine hundred successfully joined Jiangnan Group after graduating from their studies, taking up positions in various departments.
Consequently, these youths hadn't touched a football for six to three years. However, their foundational skills remained. By selecting two to three hundred individuals from these nine hundred with favorable physical conditions and reintroducing them to conditioning training, they could once again participate in matches.
While it was unlikely they would ever reach the level of their one hundred classmates who went abroad to play, they were capable of playing alongside them and completing the matches.
It could even be said, without exaggeration, that the technical skill of these players far surpassed that of the so-called star players in the Chinese Super League.
Thus, Jiangnan Group’s internal employee competition commenced, with live streaming on the company’s official website.
To avoid any complaints from the Football Association, the match broadcasts were exclusively on the company's official website, not on any television channels or commercial video platforms. As a result, the company's official website saw millions of additional daily traffic as viewers flocked to watch the games.
This was understandable, as all of China’s hottest top-tier stars were playing in Jiangnan Group's employee amateur league. If fans still wanted to see their idols, they had no choice but to watch this internal company competition.
However, these fans soon discovered that this was no mere company amateur league; the quality of the matches far surpassed the Chinese Super League, even reaching the average level of the top five leagues in the world.
While the strength of each team couldn’t be called elite, their coordination was exceptionally默契 (mòqì - tacit understanding), and each player possessed solid fundamental skills. Centered around three to five top players, they executed various sophisticated offensive and defensive plays. The matches were a joy to watch, completely overshadowing the lackluster games of the Chinese Super League.
Even more impressive were the comprehensive hardware and software facilities. The stadiums were the most prestigious in each city, with freshly replaced turf. The staff surrounding the fields were equipped and organized according to the standards of world-class teams, making it indistinguishable from a World Cup venue.
Most importantly, watching the games on the company’s official website was seamless, with no buffering and no advertisements. Viewers enjoyed the highest definition match quality, with direct links to watch the games without any pre-match commercials, offering a complete viewing experience.
The only regret was the inability to attend the matches in person. As this was an internal employee amateur league for Jiangnan Group, only employees could watch, and ordinary fans were unable to enter the venue.
By the end of 2033, Jiangnan Group’s internal employee amateur league officially entered the playoffs, with eight teams competing for the ultimate "I Love Boss Huang Cup."
The number of concurrent online viewers for each match exceeded a staggering 20 million. The final match between Jiangnan Optoelectronics and Jiangnan Sports attracted an audience of 38 million viewers.
Concurrently, China GS Bank became the first title sponsor, reportedly paying 120 million yuan for the naming rights of the final match.
This set an unprecedented historical record: the final of an internal employee competition hosted by Jiangnan Group was named the "I Love Boss Huang Cup, China GS Bank Jiangnan Group Employee Amateur League Finals."
A single match featuring the names of two companies was truly a first.
However, it proved to be immensely profitable for GS Bank. Following the match, GS Bank was widely praised across the internet for its generosity and vision. Fan clubs even rallied their members to apply for GS Bank credit or debit cards to demonstrate the effectiveness of their sponsorship.
According to these fan clubs, Jiangnan Group’s employee league was certainly operating at a loss. The reason for holding it now was simply because Huang He’s son had not yet entered the World Cup.
Once Huang He’s son achieved his goal of entering the World Cup, Jiangnan Group would likely no longer be willing to invest so heavily in such an amateur league, and it would inevitably conclude.
But any fan who had watched even a single match understood that Jiangnan Group's employee amateur league surpassed the Chinese Super League in terms of professionalism, intensity, and entertainment value, leaving the latter completely in the dust.
If such an amateur league were to end, wouldn't that mean they would have to return to watching the Chinese Super League, a league no dog would watch?
To ensure such a league could continue indefinitely, the only way was to demonstrate to Jiangnan Group that the competition was profitable, attracting numerous sponsors willing to support the league. This meant making sure the first sponsor to take the plunge would experience tangible benefits and advantages.
After all, the cost of opening a credit or debit card was negligible. With a little effort, they could usher in a new future for Chinese football. So, why not?
As a result, GS Bank management was astonished to find that within a month of the finals, their card applications and account openings increased by about 30%, and the total deposit amount grew by nearly 120 billion yuan.
While this sum wasn't excessive for GS Bank, it was obtained with a sponsorship fee of only 120 million yuan, making the profit far too considerable.
Consequently, when the 2034 Jiangnan Group Amateur League commenced, the league attracted twelve new sponsors, with total sponsorship exceeding 1 billion yuan, nearly matching the total sponsorship obtained by the Chinese Super League in 2034.
However, the Chinese Super League and the Football Association were accustomed to this and chose to ignore it.
Yet, in 2034, the most anticipated event wasn't the Jiangnan Group employee amateur league or the Chinese Super League matches, but the final World Cup qualifiers.
In 2033, Team A...
In comparison, Team Am was at a disadvantage. Having lost the opportunity to train in top-tier world leagues and unable to participate in the Chinese Super League upon their return, they were forced to organize their own twenty-team competition. In such an environment, no one could accurately predict how much combat effectiveness Team Am could maintain.