Eric stood up and left in a hurry, obviously to return and have a video conference with the headquarters of Finger Company to deal with the matter.

Zhao Xuming had to continue to keep an eye on the iCL competition venue and couldn't get away.

But he was also very curious, so he took out his mobile phone and searched for relevant information online.

It was evening in Los Angeles, the time when players were active on forums and live streaming platforms.

Zhao Xuming found that not only were some forums and websites in the United States discussing this matter, but several popular posts had also been taken to domestic forums by busybodies. Both GOG and IOI players were discussing it!

"The iCL hasn't officially started yet, and Finger Company has made another big announcement? I see the North American forums are going crazy, saying that Finger Company is charging sky-high seat fees over there?"

"It is said that the league spot for the North American division of IOI, iCS, is being sold for seven million dollars! It's too expensive, it's simply robbery!"

"It's okay, I heard that clubs in the United States are very rich, aren't they? They should be able to come up with seven million dollars."

"But GOG is also preparing for the league over there, and it is said that the way to obtain a spot is through free bidding, with a starting price of only one million dollars. In comparison, the difference is obvious!"

"It's not just a matter of price. The clubs in the iCS division are very dissatisfied with Finger Company's differential treatment. Because in the domestic division, iCL, the spots are half-sold and half-given away, almost at a bargain price; however, the iCS division has to spend seven million dollars to buy a spot! More importantly, Finger Company has extra subsidies for the teams in the iCL because of the previous public opinion turmoil, but the iCS division does not have them."

"Thinking about it this way, the clubs and players over there will indeed have a mental breakdown... They paid ten times more than the iCL division to buy a spot, but the various benefits are not as good. This is equivalent to cutting meat from yourself to benefit other divisions..."

"Thinking about it this way, it's understandable that they're mentally devastated."

"I don't know how Finger Company will solve this public opinion crisis. This wave, ah, this wave is just planning to expand its territory, but its house is on fire!"

The more Zhao Xuming read, the more confused he became.

How could this kind of problem occur!

The root cause of this incident is the different treatment between the iCS in North America and the iCL in China. In order to better promote the iCL league and save the IOI national server, Finger Company gave enough discounts on the league spots, and because of the GPL incident, it had to provide many extra benefits to the clubs in the iCL league.

But for the North American iCS league, Finger Company did not have this idea.

There are two reasons: First, Eric is in charge of iCL, but other senior executives of Finger Company are in charge of iCS. These two leagues are prepared at the same time and do not affect each other.

The iCS side will definitely earn the spot fee, so they can’t make the iCS spots half-sold and half-given away just because the iCL spots are half-sold and half-given away, right? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?

Second, the various compensation conditions for iCL league clubs, such as ensuring nutritious meals for players and daily fitness, etc., are stopgap measures. Eric doesn't want to spend this money at all, and it is even more impossible to share this condition with all foreign divisions.

How painful would that be!

Therefore, there is indeed such a gap between the iCL league and the iCS league.

In fact, this is very normal, Tenda has not achieved fairness either!

Tenda treats GPL like its own son, but for foreign divisions, it just finds a local company to cooperate with.

But Tenda will not encounter this kind of public opinion pressure at all!

The reason is that the two companies are in different positions and adopt different strategies.

Tenda is a domestic local company, and it is a matter of course to be responsible for GPL operations and improve various benefits. Although the major clubs spent money to buy spots, this money was returned, and everyone spent it willingly.

And the spots in foreign divisions are obtained through bidding, and the higher bidder wins. Whether the spot fee is high or low, the clubs will not complain.

As for whether the foreign divisions have the benefits of GPL, even if the clubs in the foreign divisions are dissatisfied, they will go to the league's agency company, not directly to Tenda Group.

What's more, these clubs don't actually care too much about these special subsidies for food or fitness, because they don't realize the importance. They have already saved money on the spot fee, so it doesn't matter if these benefits are not available.

But Finger Company is different.

Because they are a US company, they will be under greater pressure in their home country.

The US clubs see that the spot fee for the iCL league is so cheap, and Finger Company also pays money to give welfare to the clubs. But when it comes to them, they have no welfare and have to spend seven million dollars to buy a league spot?

Finger Company, are you still a US company?

It's okay if you want to promote IOI, but don't suck our blood to promote it!

After this public opinion was ignited, many players and viewers also felt indignant, especially since many people began to dig up old accounts.

Finger Company has a history!

Before, they priced skins differently in different regions, and they had already been sprayed with blood. This matter had already passed, but Finger Company couldn't change its habit of eating shit and got sick again!

Moreover, Finger Company has branches in all divisions across the country, and they take care of all the preparation work for all divisions themselves, so if there is any problem, the clubs and viewers will definitely point the finger at Finger Company.

With new and old hatreds added together, and with many clubs pushing the waves behind the scenes to put pressure on Finger Company, this matter was immediately hotly discussed on the foreign internet once it was exposed!

Therefore, the senior executives of Finger Company called Eric as soon as possible to let him solve this matter together.

As for how to solve it?

Zhao Xuming couldn't guess, but Finger Company would probably have to bleed heavily again this time.

Once this kind of public opinion crisis breaks out, it is impossible to quell public anger without bleeding.

Zhao Xuming couldn't help but feel nervous.

Just now, Eric confidently said that North America is Finger Company's home field, and the league will definitely be foolproof, and Tenda cannot interfere.

But what's the situation now?

He was slapped in the face on the spot!

Not only was there a problem over there, but it was also a big problem!

"Could it be that this was also arranged by President Pei? He deliberately chose this time node to give Finger Company a head-on blow?"

"That's not right, didn't President Pei just agree with us on cooperation regarding the iCL league?"

"Could it be..."

"That's right, this public opinion incident is a precise strike against the iCS league, and it has nothing to do with iCL, so naturally it will not affect the cooperation between our two companies..."

"This!"

Zhao Xuming was still wondering, shouldn't President Pei be an ally with them now? Why did this kind of thing happen again?

But on second thought, President Pei's cooperation with Eric is only limited to the iCL league, and in other divisions around the world, the two are still rivals and competitors!

President Pei doesn't seem to want to attack the iCL league and affect his own interests, but turned his spearhead to North America, directly using a tactic of drawing firewood from under the cauldron, hitting Finger Company's doorstep!

Zhao Xuming felt a chill down his spine.

President Pei gave people the feeling of being schizophrenic, cooperating with you with a smile on his face, while also seriously taking out a dagger from his arms, without saying a word, and very decisively giving you a knife!

Zhao Xuming suddenly doubted whether this cooperation with President Pei was right or wrong...

...

At 4 pm, the iCL exhibition match was about to begin.

The members of the two clubs had already arrived at the competition venue in advance, and the staff also began to make various preparations to ensure that the competition could proceed smoothly.

Zhao Xuming was backstage, watching the audience enter the venue one after another.

Today's venue will definitely be full, after all, it is the first day, and it is too ugly to have empty seats. Fortunately, the old IOI players in Shanghai, internal employees, and additional tickets have already occupied almost all the seats in the venue. There is no problem in hiring some people to fill the remaining empty seats.

Just then, Zhao Xuming noticed Eric returning.

"You're back! How did things go?" Zhao Xuming hurriedly greeted him and asked.

Eric's expression seemed very tired, obviously mentally exhausted: "The solution has been basically determined. The iCS spots will be bid starting from 3 million dollars, and the clubs in North America will also enjoy the same preferential treatment as iCL, mainly in terms of diet and fitness."

Obviously, the result of the discussion at Finger Company was to admit defeat!

It was already late at night in Los Angeles, and this video call had lasted for half the night, which shows how much the senior executives of Finger Company attached importance to this matter.

Tomorrow morning, Finger Company will issue an announcement to appease the clubs and players in North America, and the attitude will be very sincere.

Because North America is their base camp, the leagues in other places can be poorly organized, but the iCS league must be organized well!

Differential treatment between the iCS league and the iCL league will indeed give people a reason to criticize. Even if it is emphasized that the iCS league has more financial backers and the seats are more valuable, it is useless. This reason is difficult to justify.

Therefore, they can only admit defeat.

The league spot price has been reduced from a fixed price of 7 million dollars to a bidding price starting from 3 million dollars, and Finger Company will definitely lose a lot of money.

Although bidding can infinitely raise the price, there are only a few large clubs in North America, and there is no need to bid up the price of the spot. They definitely hope that everyone can get the best at the lowest price.

Therefore, the spot will most likely be sold for four to five million dollars in the end, and Finger Company will lose about two million dollars per spot.

And these subsidies for clubs in terms of diet and fitness, although not much in terms of amount, will be a continuous expense, and the key is that these clubs may not be particularly grateful!

They will feel that this is a right they have fought for, not a preferential treatment given to them by Finger Company.

That's why Eric felt so speechless, his iCL was doing well, but he was suddenly shot inexplicably!

Although this money has nothing to do with him, it is obvious that the senior executives of Finger Company already have a lot of opinions on his behavior. In order to promote the iCL league, he made the clubs and viewers in the iCS very dissatisfied. Eric has to bear a little bit of the blame for this.

If iCL is not well organized in the future, and the senior executives of Finger Company settle the accounts, Eric may not be able to bear it.

Seeing that Eric was not happy, Zhao Xuming dared not continue to dwell on this topic.

"It's good that it's resolved! After all, that's the business of iCS, and it has little to do with us."

"All the equipment here has been debugged, and the preliminary preparations for Tuwei Live have been completed. We are just waiting for the competition to start!"

Eric nodded, took out his mobile phone from his pocket, and opened the Tuwei Live App.

Although the Tuwei Live App is quite simple and even a little shabby, it gives enough recommendation slots to iCL. As soon as you enter, there is a large banner of the iCL league on the homepage, which is very eye-catching.

On the other hand, Tenda's own GPL league has not even started broadcasting on Tuwei Live.

Eric temporarily forgot the previous unpleasantness and began to look forward to the official start of the exhibition match!