"The Fight of the Century: Kevin Taylor is back at the top!" 》
In the latest issue of boxing magazine, the cover is the photo of Taylor holding up the gold belt after winning.
"The photo is really good. The angle is very good. From bottom to top, it makes Taylor look like an emperor who has ascended the throne." Iris put down the magazine and asked Dai Li: "Think about what I told you last time. How's it going?"
"What did you say last time?" Dai Li didn't react for a while.
"Just find a dedicated manager." Iris said.
"That's the thing you're referring to! I've thought about it carefully, and you're right. I do need a dedicated manager here. In the future, I will expand the size of the training center, or open several branches, just by myself. People are not good at it." Li Dai sighed and continued: "But there are not many talents in this field. It is not enough to just know management. You also need to know something about sports. So you should look for it slowly, and you can meet it. But it can’t be asked for, and I’m not in a hurry.”
"If you need such a manager, I have someone I can recommend to you." Iris continued.
Dai Li was immediately interested. After all, Iris was a legendary boxing coach and had accumulated a lot of connections over the decades. The person he recommended was definitely more reliable than the person Steven recommended before.
Seeing Dai Li's interested expression, Iris continued: "One of my former disciples, his name is Randy Blake. I don't know if you have heard of him."
"Is your disciple a boxer?" Li Dai asked.
"Twenty years ago." There was a nostalgic look in Iris's eyes, and he continued: "In fact, Blake should be my worst disciple. The boxers I coach are more or less... Among the boxing champions who have won the gold belt, Randy Blake is the only one who has failed to win anything in his several-year career! Now that I think about it, I still find it quite embarrassing."
"Blake likes sports very much. He once wanted to play football, but his legs were a little short; he also wanted to play basketball, but his arms were not very long; he was also a little short-sighted, which also limited his ability in baseball. development. In the end, he chose to be a boxer, but unfortunately, he does not have amazing talent in boxing, and even I can't let him get a gold belt."
"After Blake retired, he worked as my assistant coach for a period of time. He hoped to transform into a boxing coach. This is the choice of many boxers after they retire. However, he has no talent in coaching. He cannot become an excellent one. coach. So he went back to college and got a degree in management."
"Later he became a sales agent for a certain brand of protein powder and health products, and he did very well. However, he still couldn't give up sports, so in recent years, he changed his career to commentating on sports games, although he was just a less famous one. Small commentary. Fortunately, he knows a lot about many sports, including track and field, boxing, basketball, rugby, baseball, tennis... so he has a lot of opportunities to commentate on games."
"I personally think that Blake is very suitable for your training center. He has experience in sales, understands various sports, and has certain connections in the sports industry. He may not be an excellent athlete or coach, but I think he will be a successful manager."
"And Blake's asking price shouldn't be very high. You know, professional boxers are very profitable. Even if he didn't win any gold belt that year, it didn't affect him from making a lot of money from professional boxing. . So salary is not important to him. He should now prefer to do something that interests him. He wants a stage to display his talents."
Dai Li nodded: "Sounds like a very good person. Since you recommended him, let him try! But the ugly words are ahead. If he is not qualified, I will drive him away. .”
…
Steven had a stack of sports magazines on hand, and he looked through them one by one. Almost every sports magazine would have a manuscript introducing Taylor, let alone those sports magazines that focused on boxing. .
"Kevin Taylor, he is 33 years old now. It is really hard to imagine that a 33-year-old boxer can return to the top!" Steven sighed softly and opened another magazine.
This magazine also has a whole page to report on Taylor, but the angle of this magazine's report is different from other sports magazines. The focus of this magazine's report is Taylor's income in this "fight of the century."
"Tyler's appearance fee for this game is as high as 20 million U.S. dollars. This is not surprising, his appearance fee ten years ago would have reached this price. The game prize money is 100 million U.S. dollars. According to the traditional practice of dividing the accounts, The winning Taylor can get 60 million US dollars! There are other sharing incomes, which is really a huge sum of money... Damn, not long ago, I almost became Taylor's agent. If I were really Taylor's agent, I would now Tens of millions of dollars can already be shared! Not becoming Taylor’s manager was truly the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life.”
Steven suddenly felt that he had lost the biggest income in his life. He had been Phillip's manager for so long and had only earned a few million dollars. It was not as good as Taylor's manager's share of a boxing match. many.
Steven felt very regretful. He really had the opportunity to become Taylor's agent, but when he learned that Taylor owed more than 20 million to the bank, Steven backed down. He thought that a man who was in the middle of his career The remaining commercial value of the late boxing champion is no longer enough to offset the debt of more than 20 million US dollars. But unexpectedly, Taylor actually rejuvenated and returned to the top of the boxing world, once again becoming the super boxing champion who can earn 100 million per game.
"Maybe I can try to make amends. So far, I haven't heard that Taylor has found a new agent. I should try again!"
…
Dai Li took Randy Blake for a walk around the training center and then returned to the office.
"Blake, what do you think of my place?" Dai Li said as he handed Blake a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
"Thank you." Blake took the coffee cup and continued: "To be honest, I don't think we have done enough in terms of marketing. Your training center has allowed Kevin Taylor to return to the top, so Taylor is your sharpest weapon, but you didn't use it well."
"I hung a poster of Taylor at the door and printed him on the flyer..." Dai Li explained in a low voice.
"This is far from enough. Let me give you an analogy. I give you a sniper rifle, but you use it as a stick. Maybe it will be convenient to use the sniper rifle as a stick, but that is not the correct way to use the sniper rifle, and it cannot Use the power of the sniper rifle," Blake said.
"Oh, I understand. There is a saying in our country that kills a chicken with a bull's-eye, which is probably a metaphor for my current situation." Li Dai said.
Blake continued: "The whole world knows Kevin Taylor, so you need to use his fame and his advertising effect to let more people know about your training center. This is not just about hanging a banner. It’s as simple as distributing flyers, but you need a series of promotion plans, including exclusive interviews with the media, online marketing, etc.”
"For example, the media can arrange an interview about Taylor for you. In the interview, you can introduce Taylor's training after his comeback and talk about how he returned to the top. This kind of interview, although it is an introduction Taylor, but unknowingly, you are also marketing yourself and your training center; for another example, you can post clips of Taylor's training videos online from time to time, and select some items that are more exaggerated and easy to attract attention. In the video, you can put something with the name of your training center in an inconspicuous position, which is a kind of advertising placement, so that when people watch the video, they will also see the promotion of your place."
"Also, you can..."
Blake talked endlessly about his opinions, and Li Dai was like a student, listening carefully and taking notes with a pen. At this time, Li Dai felt that this Randy Blake was really A very suitable candidate for CEO.
…
"Mr. Taylor, I know you haven't found a new agent yet, you might as well consider me!" Steven said with a smile on his face and handed a towel to Taylor.
"Steven, thank you for your kindness. To tell you the truth, I no longer plan to find an agent." Taylor said.
"Why? You really need an agent. You're back on top, you're now the most commercially valuable heavyweight champion, and I can help you find a bunch of top-tier advertising endorsements that can bring you Hundreds of millions in revenue," Steven said.
"I don't plan to accept any more advertising endorsements. My reputation is not very good to begin with, and you know this. I think advertisers will definitely have more complicated considerations when choosing me as a spokesperson. My history It’s not very glorious, maybe the sponsor will put forward some inexplicable conditions, and I don’t want to be bound by the sponsor’s various conditions.”
Taylor wiped the sweat from his head and continued: "Now I just want to take up boxing and make money. Boxers' income is very high. I can earn tens of millions of dollars in a game. Following this trend , I have saved enough money to spend the rest of my life.”
What Taylor said is true. In the eyes of sponsors, Taylor is a person with a "criminal record." Therefore, advertisers looking for him to endorse will definitely put forward some additional conditions. For example, he cannot do anything that affects the sponsor's brand image. Once Taylor does something that affects the sponsor's brand image, not only will he not get a penny, but he may also be sued by the sponsor and demand compensation for losses.
This kind of additional clauses doesn't matter to those good-natured athletes. They won't cause trouble anyway, but for Taylor, there is no guarantee that he will have a seizure one day and do something stupid again.
But now Taylor, in Steven's eyes, is good at taking away dollars. How could he give up easily? So he went on to say: "Taylor, no one will disapprove of the money. Your appearance fees and bonuses for playing games are indeed quite large, which is enough." Ordinary people spend a few lifetimes, but who doesn’t want a better life? A better life requires more money. Now that you have the ability to make more money, why not do it? In a few years, you will As I get older and retire, even if I want to make money, I no longer have the ability."
Taylor shook his head: "I am very satisfied with my situation now. I have planned to make some low-risk investments. I know several reputable financial advisors on Wall Street. If I give my money to them, they can bring in very good returns." I was once cheated of almost all my property by James King, so forgive me for being offended, but now I really don’t trust brokers.”
"I'm not a bastard like James King. I'm an ethical agent. I will only ask for my portion of the share. If you don't believe it, you can ask Philip. I have never blackmailed him for a penny. ." Steven continued.
"Forget it, I don't want to give any more part of my income to my agent." Taylor shook his head firmly.
"Split another part? What do you mean?" Steven caught the key point of this sentence.
Taylor smiled, shrugged, and continued: "Twenty percent of my current income must be paid to Coach Li as training fees. You see, I have already lost 20% of my income, so I don't plan to divide it any more." To the agent.”
"What? Coach Li can get 20% of your income?" Steven was shocked. He knew that it was tens of millions of dollars without even calculating.
So Steven immediately asked: "Why does Coach Li get 20% of your income?"
"I signed this contract with him when I was still suspended." Taylor said and laughed honestly: "At the time, I thought he was doing charity and was willing to help a bankrupt has-been. Boxer, but now it seems that his choice is correct. But this is what he deserves. Without Coach Li, I would not be where I am now. If he is willing to ask for it, I can give him more. .”
There was no dissatisfaction in Taylor's tone, and there was more of a sense of gratitude in his words.
Taylor is an understanding person. Although he doesn't know what method Li Dai used, he knows that without Li Dai, he would not be able to have a peak body. He also knew that if it hadn't been for Dai Li, "White Devil" Iris would have become Hopkins' coach long ago, and he would have no chance of defeating Hopkins and winning two world-class gold belts.
…
After leaving the training center, Steven sat in his car, feeling more and more uncomfortable the more he thought about it.
"Twenty percent income, that's 20%! How much is my share as an agent? 5% of athletes' competition bonuses and 10% of advertising endorsements. Oh my god, this Dai Li makes much more money than me! How could it be possible? Such a coach doesn’t want a fixed training fee, but a share of the athletes’ income!”
"By the way, in addition to Taylor, there is also Philip. 5% of Philip's income will also go into Dai Li's pocket! He is just a coach, doesn't he realize that he wants too much?"
At this time, Steven felt extremely unbalanced. Thinking of the income sharing of tens of millions of dollars, and even more sharing in the future, he felt that a large piece of cake taken away by Dai Li did not belong to him at all.
"I can't control Taylor, but the 5% of Steven's should belong to me! I have to find a way to get him back. Yes, I want to renegotiate the contract with Dai Li and talk about the 5% of the contract ! Otherwise..." Steven became more and more angry as he thought about it. He couldn't help but stop the car, then took out his mobile phone and looked up a phone number.
"Hello, hello, is this the AP Physical Training Center? My name is Steven, I am the agent of 'Blade Runner' Barron Phillip... Yes, it is the disabled athlete Phillip who lost his legs... That's it , Philip’s physical training contract is about to expire, and he is very interested in your AP Physical Training Center... Yes, I think we can make an appointment to sit down and have a serious chat... "