After hanging up the phone, Pei Qian began to worry.
Why were those other unfamiliar companies also meddling in this?
Pei Qian quickly guessed the reason.
Look at the first few companies to enter: investment companies, real estate companies, rich second generations, game companies, and even giants like Shenhua Real Estate!
What level was Shenhua Real Estate? They were currently running football clubs where a single player’s transfer fee would be heading towards 20 million and up!
And it would be even higher a few years later.
At the beginning, domestic football leagues were also barely surviving, but after Shenhua Real Estate and several other large real estate companies entered, they began to spend money crazily, instantly creating brand recognition. Although the clubs were constantly burning money, the advertising fees saved alone were extremely profitable.
For Shenhua Real Estate, using one player’s transfer fee to buy an e-sports club to play with, and one that could directly achieve results, was quite cost-effective.
GPL was Mr. Pei’s project. If it succeeded, everyone would be happy; if it failed, throwing away the ten million plus wouldn’t hurt.
But Shenhua Real Estate’s entry instantly became a wind vane!
Earlier television programs had been calling for various enterprises to cooperate more with Tenda, saying it would be beneficial, so Tenda’s current actions were being watched by many large companies.
Once there was any movement, they would immediately gather around.
After all, Tenda had created so many business miracles and discovered so many industry trends, which weren’t fake.
In addition, famous economists had endorsed the “Tenda model,” so its influence was not to be underestimated.
When the news about selling GPL league spots and ready-made teams came out, these companies immediately felt they had caught the trend.
Although previous e-sports clubs didn’t make money, what kind of operations were those previous e-sports clubs?
Some were rich second generations playing around, some were internet-addicted teenagers organizing themselves, some developed from coaching studios… In short, none were regular armies.
But what kind of companies were bidding for GPL?
Shenhua, a domestic giant company, with Shenhua Real Estate being a top player in the domestic football circle.
Although Xue Zhebin was also a rich second generation, he was different from other rich second generations—his family was particularly wealthy.
Tianhuo Studio, a top-tier game studio in China, though its reputation might not be as good as Tenda’s now, still made considerable money.
What was this called?
This was called a regular army!
They weren’t on the same level as the bosses and capital behind those previous clubs—how could they be compared?
These people all thought GPL had potential, which meant it was profitable. Once they entered, there would be more capital following.
So, those companies that had been watching Tenda closely all moved with the wind, all expressing interest in bidding.
They didn’t care about the external public opinion at all.
Public opinion can be influenced and induced, and ordinary netizens don’t know any inside information—they’re just spectators and trend-setters.
What truly determined these companies’ choices was still these leading large companies!
Pei Qian instantly deflated.
Finished!
These companies all wanted to buy GOG divisions and join the GPL league, but there were only 6 clubs in total preparing to sell GOG divisions. Didn’t this mean they would all find third-party buyers?
In this case, Tenda would neither need to cover the bottom nor pay liquidated damages.
Bleeding heart!
A good opportunity to burn money, ruined again by these people!
Pei Qian had been looking forward to the bidding, hoping that no one would take over these GOG divisions, so he could happily collect them himself.
Now, he had lost interest.
Because whether these GOG divisions sold or not, it had nothing to do with him anymore. Tenda couldn’t bid against third-party buyers.
Pei Qian silently sighed.
Forget it, let it be, just consider it a waste of effort.
However, just as Pei Qian had taken a few sips of coffee, his phone rang again.
Looking at it, it was Zhang Yuan calling.
Pei Qian: “?”
He hurriedly answered the phone.
“Mr. Pei! I just told those six clubs about the bidding, and then… Ah, Mr. Pei, did you predict this already?”
Pei Qian: “?”
What did I predict? What did I predict?
Can you not speak only half of what you want to say?
Pei Qian was very frustrated: “Then what happened?”
Zhang Yuan excitedly said, “Then, three of the clubs decided not to sell anymore!”
Pei Qian was stunned.
Not selling anymore?
Could they have some sense of contractual spirit? They agreed to sell, but why were they changing their minds?
Wait, didn’t we already sign contracts?
Pei Qian was a bit puzzled: “Didn’t we already sign the intermediary agency contracts? If they don’t sell, they’ll have to pay liquidated damages!”
Zhang Yuan laughed: “So your move was brilliant, Mr. Pei!”
“Those clubs, at the beginning, really wanted to sell their GOG divisions at a high price, and then later buy back an internet café team at a low price to fight their way back.”
“It was precisely because of this that they signed the contract.”
“But now, the wind has completely changed!”
“With Shenhua and these companies entering, the bidding companies instantly increased to ten. Although official bidding hasn’t started yet, the value will increase by at least another 30-40%!”
“This isn’t a good thing. These clubs clearly understand that although they can sell at a high price now, it also means there are a lot of companies outside eyeing GPL spots!”
“Moreover, GPL hasn’t even started yet, and there are already so many people grabbing spots. In the future, when it starts, won’t there be even more competition?”
“They’ve thought it through. Once they sell their divisions and GPL spots for a bit over 10 million now, if they want to buy back in the future, even 30 or 40 million might not be enough!”
“But they can’t not sell, the contract is there.”
“So, they would rather pay two or three million in liquidated damages than sell! Because if they sell, they’ll lose more in the future!”
“Mr. Pei, with your small trick, another 10 million has been earned!”
Pei Qian listened to Zhang Yuan’s delighted voice over the phone and fell into a daze.
No, I added the liquidated damages clause in the contract planning to pay it myself!
I wasn’t trying to make money from these clubs!
But it was too late to say anything now. The contracts were already signed, and Tenda had no possibility of breach.
He could only tearfully accept 10 million from these three clubs!
For a moment, Pei Qian was speechless.
“Then… what about the other three clubs that still insist on selling? Is SUG still selling?” Pei Qian asked.
Zhang Yuan: “SUG is still selling! These three companies are stubborn, still gambling. They firmly believe that selling now means selling at a high point, and they’ll have opportunities to re-enter in the future.”
Pei Qian: “…”
He didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.
Hearing no response from the other end of the phone for a while, Zhang Yuan tentatively asked: “Mr. Pei, then… what about the bidding? Originally, we were selling six, now we can only sell three.”
Pei Qian felt somewhat lifeless: “What do you think?”
He had no thoughts now. It was already like this; just sell as it should be sold.
Or did Zhang Yuan have other ideas?
Zhang Yuan smiled slightly and said, “Mr. Pei, my view is the same as yours.”
Pei Qian: “?”
My view? What view do I have?
Zhang Yuan continued: “Did you predict early on that only a few clubs would remain?”
“Now, more than ten companies are bidding, but only three spots are left. These buyers will frantically raise prices!”
“After all, these companies aren’t short of money, and people have a mentality of buying when prices rise, not when they fall. The more scarce the spots, the more fiercely they’ll compete!”
“Three spots, first bid one round; then we have more GPL spots in our hands, release another two or three in the next wave, let them compete again…”
“Repeating this cycle will maximize GPL’s revenue…”
Pei Qian listened with alarm: “Absolutely not!”
Zhang Yuan: “?”
Just listening to Zhang Yuan’s description, Pei Qian had already foreseen his tragic fate.
Pei Qian sighed: “How many GPL spots do we have left?”
Zhang Yuan was stunned for a moment: “Uh, Mr. Pei, didn’t we originally plan to arrange 12-16 teams? There are a total of ten old clubs in Jingzhou, four aren’t selling, of the six planning to sell, three have backed out and are planning to pay liquidated damages.”
“So, besides the GPL spots from these three clubs that still want to sell, we have 2-6 spots left. How many to release, you decide.”
Pei Qian immediately said, “Throw out all 6 remaining spots! Don’t keep any!”
If we really followed Zhang Yuan’s suggestion, holding them and selling one by one, it would definitely become more and more profitable.
That definitely wouldn’t work!
These companies had already set their sights on GPL spots, and they couldn’t be persuaded to leave now. So, might as well take advantage of the fact that GPL spots weren’t too expensive yet and sell them all at once.
It would make more money now, but wouldn’t there be nothing to make in the future?
Of the two harms, choose the lesser one. Since both were profitable, he should choose the option that made less money.
Zhang Yuan was stunned: “Sell all? Then it won’t be easy to expand in the future, Mr. Pei.”
“Moreover, releasing so many spots at once will lower the price of each spot. It’s not very cost-effective.”
The more teams in the league, the more densely scheduled the matches would be. Sixteen teams meant there might only be one or two days off in a week, with matches on all other days.
For the current e-sports circle, this was a difficult thing to imagine.
Most games didn’t even have leagues, and even if they did, there might only be five or six teams playing back and forth.
But GPL was going to start with 16 teams from the beginning?
That seemed a bit unnecessary, right?
Zhang Yuan thought it would be best to start with 12 teams and add one each year, which would maximize benefits.
Pei Qian was resolute: “Don’t consider future matters. Sell all the spots now!”
Zhang Yuan: “Then… what’s the floor price?”
Pei Qian thought for a moment: “No floor price, whatever they bid is what it is.”
Zhang Yuan was stunned: “Mr. Pei, then we should extend the deadline, right? After all, we didn’t mention selling GPL spots before. Since we’re suddenly selling them now, shouldn’t we give everyone a few days to prepare?”
Pei Qian fell silent.
Plans couldn’t keep up with changes.
Originally, he hadn’t planned to sell GPL spots, but since the longer they waited, the higher the selling price would be, it was better to sell them earlier. The best would be to sell them at a low price when no one had realized how valuable they were.
This way, there would be fewer problems in the future.
“Then give everyone three days. After three days, start the bidding. These three clubs’ GOG divisions and the remaining 6 GPL spots will be auctioned together!”
“We’ll accept whatever they sell for, and we absolutely won’t raise the price ourselves!”