Chapter 147 Giving Me Money?

The three club owners exchanged glances, and finally Ding Gan spoke.

"President Pei, we will naturally honor the contract. We are businessmen, and we have a sense of contract. It is impossible for us to go back on our word."

"However… putting aside the small episodes before, we are indeed sincerely supporting the GPL league."

"How about this, we will offer the 15 million in full, and in addition, each of our clubs is willing to add another 5 million, for a total of 60 million from the three clubs, to re-buy the three GPL spots. What do you think?"

The three club owners had obviously discussed this before they came.

Having reached this point, they had very few choices left.

Breaking the contract was definitely not an option. It would be equivalent to falling out with President Pei and all the clubs that had just successfully bid for the GPL spots. They would lose both face and money.

Of course, the three clubs could also choose to take the money and leave, but in that case, it would be almost impossible for them to return to the GPL league.

Because judging from the current auction situation, the GPL league spots would definitely become more and more expensive. Selling the branch and the spot together for 15 million now, it would be impossible to buy it back in the future.

Therefore, the three clubs wanted to test and see if giving President Pei 20 million would allow him to come up with three additional spots.

To directly expand the number of GPL league spots to 19.

Because the relevant matters of the GPL league have not been completely finalized, there is still room for negotiation on the issue of spots.

But if another month or two passes, and the GPL schedule and competition system are all finalized, it will be impossible to add spots.

In this way, the three clubs are equivalent to subsidizing their own GOG branch and 5 million, to keep the GPL spot. They would still be losing money, but at least they could stay.

As for President Pei's side…

The 60 million at this time should be able to move President Pei a little, right?

As for how to arrange the schedule for 19 teams, how to appease other clubs… these trivial issues are not that important.

The three club owners looked at President Pei with expectant eyes.

The corner of Pei Qian's mouth twitched slightly.

They still want to give me money?

And they are giving 60 million at the drop of a hat?

Pei Qian was still racking his brains about how to spend that 100 million, and he had just made a little progress, but these three clubs wanted to send another 60 million!

"No!" Pei Qian said decisively.

The three owners were stunned.

President Pei… is so resolute?

60 million, and he doesn't even consider it seriously?

Ding Gan hesitated for a moment: "Uh… President Pei, as for the money, we can actually discuss it further…"

"How about we add some more?"

Pei Qian internally sneered.

Add more money?

He took a sip of tea and quickly thought of a reason to refuse:

"This is not about the money at all."

"The 16 spots were decided a long time ago. Adding more will make the schedule difficult to arrange."

"If we really add it to 19 teams, not only will there be matches every day, but the interval between matches for a single team will become too long, which is not conducive to maintaining the level."

"Tengda is a company that keeps its word. It has already told other clubs and viewers that there are only 16 GPL league spots. If we take the money and do it, it would be like slapping ourselves in the face."

"That's impossible."

The three club owners looked at each other, their expressions a bit bitter.

Who can they blame?

They can only blame themselves for being confused for a while. They originally had a script where they would easily obtain a GPL spot and watch others fight to the death to get in, but now it has turned out like this, and they have lost their own spot.

They got up early, but arrived late. Who can stand this!

Ding Gan was still not reconciled, and proposed a new plan: "Then, President Pei, how about this. The GPL league should have a promotion and relegation system, right? We will rebuild a team and fight our way back to the GPL. That should be possible, right?"

Pei Qian was silent for a moment: "The GPL league does not have a promotion and relegation system."

"There will be internet cafe leagues, there will be professional development leagues (GDL). The internet cafe league will select the GDL spots. But there is no promotion and relegation match, and the GDL champion cannot obtain a GPL spot either."

The three club owners were dumbfounded, their expressions extremely heartbroken, feeling as if they had lost 100 million.

Pei Qian had been constantly thinking about the overall structure of the entire GOG esports league ecosystem these past few days.

The internet cafe league and the GDL must be done, but the key is whether or not there should be a promotion and relegation match.

In fact, whether or not there is a promotion and relegation system has little impact on Pei Qian personally, because the official will not directly obtain income from it.

Therefore, Pei Qian is considering it from the perspective of the entire event.

After all, he also has the identity of an ordinary audience member of the GPL league. In order to see more exciting matches, and in order for the GPL league to win glory in the World Finals, Pei Qian must establish a better system for the GPL league.

Pei Qian's experience in his memory shows that a promotion and relegation system is something that looks good, but in reality, it is not very meaningful and may even have some negative effects.

Many people believe that the promotion and relegation match will put pressure on the bottom teams of the GPL, and at the same time give motivation to the top teams of the GDL, making the competition more intense, which is conducive to the improvement of the overall level.

But the problem is that this theory is too idealistic. In actual operation, the situation is completely reversed.

For the bottom teams of the GPL, the pressure of the promotion and relegation match is indeed great, because once they are relegated, it means that all their investment is wasted, and they will suffer heavy losses.

But in this case, in order to successfully retain their spot, more clubs will not train new players, but will choose to let those veteran players with rich experience in the arena continue to play.

Because there is a risk in using new players, and if they fail, they will suffer heavy losses; while veteran players, although they have no potential and no upper limit, are stable enough and are very good at beating weaker teams.

Even if the veteran players are beaten badly as experience bots in the GPL league, as long as they can beat the GDL leader, it will be enough.

And for the GDL teams, in order to grab the GPL spot, directly spending money to buy strong veteran players or foreign aid is the fastest way to succeed.

Therefore, a system that is intended to strengthen competition objectively makes all teams only focus on the immediate paper strength, while ignoring the long-term goal.

Some potential new players will be difficult to play in this utilitarian environment, completely violating the original intention of this system.

On the contrary, canceling the promotion and relegation system will allow various clubs to promote more new players, and the play style will be more aggressive. There will be no situation where both teams seek stability and dare not fight.

Therefore, after repeated consideration, Pei Qian felt that it was better not to have a promotion and relegation match.

Ding Gan said with a bitter face: "President Pei, doesn't that mean that our club will never be able to return to the GPL in this lifetime?"

"President Pei, our SUG has been deeply involved in the esports field for many years. Excluding us from the GPL is also a loss!"

Pei Qian looked at the three club owners and said, "This… it's not completely impossible to come back."

"To maintain a GPL spot, continuous investment is required. Once the club is at the bottom and loses streak, and cannot bring brand value to the parent company, but instead becomes a burden, there will definitely be clubs who want to withdraw."

"At this time, we will act as an intermediary to facilitate the transfer of the GPL spot."

"And the clubs that achieve good results in the GDL league will receive a 30% discount when purchasing a GPL spot."

In other words, when a club spends money and cannot achieve results, it can choose to use new players, train new players, and continue to persevere, or it can choose to transfer and stop the loss in time while earning a sum.

In this way, it not only guarantees the interests of the existing GPL league teams, so that they will not suffer too much loss whether they stay or withdraw, and can invest with peace of mind, but also provides certain convenience for the GDL league clubs.

Ding Gan and the other two club owners were silent for a long time, and could only nod helplessly.

"Okay, President Pei."

They had no choice. This was the best solution they could fight for.

At least they still have 15 million in their hands.

First go to the GDL, build a team, train players, and after achieving results, some excellent players can be sold to GPL teams at a high price. At the same time, when changes occur in the GPL spot, they can obtain the right to enter first and spend less money.

The club owners of the three companies never expected that they originally just wanted to put a little pressure on Tengda to make some concessions on the issue of the standard player contract.

But they never expected that they would lose everything in the end.

…

After the three club owners left, Pei Qian said to Zhang Yuan: "I have thought about the rules of the GPL league."

"Internet cafe competition, professional development league GDL, professional league GPL. Among them, the GPL spots, just like what I said just now, there is no promotion and relegation match, but they can be transferred."

"As for the money these clubs buy spots for, it will be divided into three parts."

"The first part will be returned to these clubs, so that they can use it for a special purpose, to maintain the youth training base. Each club must have a youth training base to absorb some young, potential, but temporarily not strong enough to play in the professional league, so that these new players can feel the professional atmosphere in advance, and face the matter of playing professionally earlier and be prepared."

"The second part will be used to support the development of the GDL league and the internet cafe competition. The professional development league has relatively low attention, so give these clubs more support and exposure opportunities."

"The third part will be used for the daily operation, maintenance and construction of the GPL."

Zhang Yuan was stunned for a moment: "Ah? President Pei, only taking this little money to maintain the daily operation of the GPL? Then the rent of the venue and various miscellaneous other expenses, I'm afraid it can't be covered, right?"

Pei Qian nodded: "Of course it can't be covered, and it was impossible to use this money to cover it in the first place."

"In the future, you can charge tickets for the competition, you can have sponsors and advertisers, there are many ways to make a profit."

"Tengda is the organizer, don't always stare at the immediate small profits, you must have a long-term vision. If there is not enough money, Tengda will pay in advance, and we will talk about it when we make money in the future."

Zhang Yuan couldn't help but feel awe.

Sure enough, President Pei still has long-term goals!

Although this money may not show anything in the short term, in the long run, it will definitely have a huge improvement on the ecology of the entire esports industry!

In fact, Pei Qian didn't think so much, he simply chose a plan with the lowest probability of making money at the moment.

This money only has three destinations: either invest it in the league and promote it vigorously; or invest it all in the clubs to transform the training base and environment; or invest it in the training system.

Investing in the league or the club is very easy to quickly improve the competitive level, enhance the viewing, and attract heat. If the surge in popularity attracts many big sponsors, then maybe it will not even be able to survive this cycle before starting to make profits.

Based on past experience, this possibility is not low.

Therefore, after thinking about it, Pei Qian still invested it in the training system, built youth training bases for the clubs, and supported the development of the GDL and internet cafe competitions. This takes effect more slowly and can last longer.