No one knew what kind of telepathic communication had occurred between these buyers, but the situation took a sudden turn, and the script developed unexpectedly.
What had been three sweet prizes suddenly became hot potatoes.
From being highly sought after, they became completely ignored!
The managers of the three clubs were anxiously on pins and needles.
If possible, they wouldn’t mind bidding against each other, passing money from left hand to right hand—you buy me, I buy him, he buys you—creating a perfect cycle at the same price, at least to keep the GOG branches from being lost.
But the problem was that Mr. Pei seemed to have anticipated this point and had blocked this possibility in advance with the rules.
All the companies present had already paid a deposit in advance; without a deposit, they weren’t qualified to bid.
And these three clubs originally had no intention of playing such a trick of buying each other and hadn’t prepared in advance.
Moreover, to pull such a stunt now would be inviting ridicule, wouldn’t it?
Not to mention whether Mr. Pei would be happy or allow it, as they had probably already offended him when they decided to sell their GOG branches.
More importantly, if the three clubs pulled off such a trick as buying themselves, wouldn’t that become big news in the e-sports circle?
The clubs would likely be ridiculed to death by spectators. The club owners might accept a loss of a few million, but they absolutely couldn’t accept damage to the club’s reputation or becoming a laughingstock on the internet!
So, the managers of these three clubs looked at each other, and they all saw panic in each other’s eyes.
They were done for!
This problem was completely unsolvable!
No matter how they handled it, all three of them would take the blame, being scolded and having their salaries reduced, or being fined would be considered light punishment.
Chances were, forget about being fired, they might not even be able to stay in the entire e-sports circle!
Cold sweat seeped out on Manager Li’s forehead and those of the others.
Especially the two other club managers, whose eyes were filled with anger as they looked at Manager Li.
This whole thing had been Manager Li stoking the fire from beginning to end. If it hadn’t been for Manager Li’s insistence, they wouldn’t have inexplicably reached this point.
But at this point, Manager Li could hardly protect himself and could only silently lower his head, racking his brains to think of a countermeasure.
The bidding continued, slowly approaching the psychological price limit of all buyers.
As for Mr. Pei’s psychological limit, it had been exceeded long ago.
Pei Qian had originally thought that selling the three clubs’ GOG branches for 20 million each and each GPL slot for 15 million would be about right.
The e-sports industry was just getting started, and selling slots for over ten million was already quite a lot. Shouldn’t market principles be followed?
But now the problem was that the three clubs’ GOG branches had stopped at under 15 million, while the GPL slots were approaching 20 million!
Six slots, it seemed, would sell for 120 million, which was more than 30 million higher than Pei Qian’s previous psychological bottom line.
It’s worth noting that the breach of contract penalties from those three clubs earlier had brought in less than 10 million!
Pei Qian felt a bit light-headed.
Some buyers were frantically typing on their phones, possibly directing their subordinates to urgently raise funds.
Although everyone had a price limit for bidding in mind, in an auction setting, it was easy to get caught up.
Because the more people raised the price, the more valuable the slot seemed!
Lin Chang observed the reactions of others with interest, looking completely at ease.
Among all those present, he was the most relaxed.
Because he had the most funds at his disposal, no one could threaten him, and he wasn’t spending his own money, so he didn’t feel any pain at all.
However, seeing the atmosphere at the scene becoming increasingly heated, Lin Chang suddenly realized a problem.
“Hmm, could this current situation also be something Mr. Pei had planned all along?”
“This method of auctioning all slots together, although it doesn’t allow for the use of shills to raise prices, creates an atmosphere of ‘fairness, justice, and value for money.'”
“If they were auctioned one by one, people would choose to wait and see, and there would be differences in the bids between the various slots, inevitably leading to questions about bubbles or whether they were getting a bad deal.”
“But auctioning them all together like this, with the value of all slots rising simultaneously, no one can get a bargain, which makes people abandon their opportunistic mindset and recognize that these slots are indeed worth this much money. So companies that were planning to give up would grit their teeth and make an effort, thinking that adding another million would secure the slot.”
“In other words, it unconsciously establishes the subconscious understanding in the buyers’ minds that ‘the slots are indeed worth the value’…”
“Impressive!”
“From the selection of the auction venue to the auction method, everything seems ordinary but contains deep meaning!”
“But I’m not bad either. If I hadn’t given everyone a clear hint, how could they have understood so quickly that ‘the slots are more valuable’?”
Lin Chang couldn’t help feeling a little proud.
Coming to buy the GPL slot on behalf of his second brother Lin Zhou, he could say he had perfectly completed his mission!
However, as the saying goes, ‘of a journey of a hundred miles, ninety is but halfway,’ and he still needed to finish with a flourish.
How should he conclude this?
Lin Chang fell into deep thought again.
The frequency of people raising their hands to bid became lower and lower, and finally, the scene fell into a brief silence.
The prices of the three e-sports clubs finally had no more bids and were fixed at around 15 million, while those GPL slots behind basically all were maintained at 20 million.
The figure of 20 million had already exceeded the psychological expectations of most buyers, and many had raised their bids with gritted teeth.
Going higher would be difficult.
After all, the current e-sports industry’s popularity, traffic, and profit model were not mature enough, and it couldn’t be compared with some mature traditional sports leagues at all. It was entirely backed by everyone’s trust in Mr. Pei. The fact that it could be raised so high was already an astronomical figure.
No one doubted that as soon as today’s bidding ended and this number was revealed, it would immediately grab a hot search spot.
Even if the popularity wasn’t enough, everyone would spontaneously buy internet trolls to hype it up, because it aligned with everyone’s common interests.
Having spent so much money, of course, they wanted the whole world to know!
If some of the money spent could be recouped through attention, that wouldn’t be a loss.
When a GPL list was released and their company was prominently featured, wasn’t that a form of advertising?
As for those companies that really couldn’t afford so much money, they could only reluctantly give up.
Pei Qian felt a bit numb, and when he saw that everyone had finally stopped bidding, he let out a long breath.
It was finally over!
20 million for one slot was hard to accept, but at this point, there was nothing more to say.
However, just as the staff was about to announce the end of the bidding, something unexpected happened.
Lin Chang raised his hand: “21 million for No. 4.”
Everyone in the conference room immediately looked at him with surprised expressions.
Pei Qian was also surprised.
Because the No. 4 GPL slot was originally secured by Lin Chang at 20 million.
Having already secured it, why would he raise the price for himself? What kind of move was this?
Others were equally confused, and even the recording staff was stunned, not knowing whether they should write it down.
Lin Chang, the focus of everyone’s attention, spread his hands: “Why are you all looking at me? The rules only say that one company can bid for only one slot, but they don’t restrict you from raising the price for yourself, right?”
The staff thought about it and realized he had a point.
If someone wanted to raise the price for themselves, and it didn’t affect others, how could they stop someone from giving more money to Tenda?
They hurriedly adjusted the price.
So, among the GPL slots with uniform prices of 20 million, only No. 4 had Shenhua Real Estate bidding 21 million.
Mr. Li beside him instantly reacted, raising his hand and saying, “I’ll also raise to 21 million.”
Lin Chang couldn’t help but give him a thumbs up.
Well done, understanding my meaning so quickly!
Li Shi smiled faintly.
How could he let Lin Chang take all the credit for such a good deed?
A pure GPL slot could be raised to 20 million, while a GOG branch with a GPL slot could only sell for 15 million. A very important reason was that everyone trusted Mr. Pei and wanted to show goodwill toward him.
So the question arose: if everyone uniformly bid 20 million, how would Mr. Pei remember who was who?
Lin Chang proactively added an extra million meant standing out among all the companies that bought GPL slots.
When the hot search reports came out, the “top bidder” for GPL slots would have to include Shenhua Real Estate’s name.
In other words, adding 1 million not only made an impression on Mr. Pei but also secured the title of “first.”
Wasn’t that profitable?
Mr. Li also instantly understood this principle, so he too added 1 million.
As for why he didn’t add 2 million, it was because his available funds were limited, and 21 million was already his limit, especially since he knew very well that he absolutely couldn’t outbid Shenhua Real Estate.
Since that was the case, adding 1 million to show his intention was sufficient.
With Lin Chang taking the lead and Li Shi closely following, soon others were also raising prices, some adding 1 million, some adding 500,000, and all were raising the prices on their bids!
Because companies without money had already been eliminated, and the companies that still had money were all adding to their original bids.
Some companies wanted to add more but really couldn’t afford it, so they could only add the minimum of 500,000, as a token gesture.
Lin Chang raised his hand again: “22 million!”
His attitude was very clear: he was determined to be the top bidder.
Xue Zhebin considered for a long time, then gritted his teeth and added 1.5 million.
Yao Bo from Jinding Group, after long consideration, also added 500,000.
500,000 or 1 million compared to the original 20 million was only a small figure.
But the key was that this small figure would affect everyone’s ranking order.
Adding 500,000 or 1 million could move oneself forward three or four places from the bottom ranks—that was a good deal!
On one hand, it could demonstrate that one’s company had strong finances, attracting attention from spectators, and on the other hand, it showed an attitude of “I’m emptying my pockets to support you” to Mr. Pei.
Having already spent 20 million, who would care about an extra 500,000 or 1 million?
Of course, some companies had no more money, or they felt that being in a lower position was fine—after all, they had already bought the GPL slot, and the ranking wasn’t that important. These companies automatically gave up.
But the two or three companies with the most money continued to add 500,000 or 1 million until the highest price stopped at 26 million before finally stopping!
As Lin Chang made the final bid of 26 million, the scene finally quieted down, with no one following.
The bids from various buyers had originally been a uniform 20 million, but after Lin Chang’s disruption, they instantly became varied.
From 26 million to 20 million in descending order, the differences between each might only be 500,000 or 1 million.
The difference seemed small, but in reality, this ranking was the most authentic.
The vast majority of buyers had already broken through their psychological bottom line, and they truly couldn’t squeeze out another 500,000.
But no matter what, whether it was a momentary impulse or the belief that it was worth the price, the bidding had ended, and everyone was tied to the same boat.
If GPL ran well, everyone would make money together.
If GPL didn’t run well, everyone would suffer a big loss together.
Although the bidding had ended, the preparatory matters for the GPL league could be said to have just begun. How well this league could be run and whether the money invested by these buyers could be recouped would depend on future performance.
In any case, this stage had concluded!
Pei Qian looked at the numbers on the projection screen, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
The three GOG branches sold for an average of about 15 million each, while these GPL slots sold for as high as 26 million and as low as 20 million.
Added together, it was 180 million, and just counting the GPL slots, it reached 136 million.
This was an unexpected windfall!
Pei Qian had originally thought that selling all the slots together for about 70 million would be quite optimistic; his psychological bottom line was selling for 90 to 100 million.
But now, it was nearly 40 million more than the worst-case scenario Pei Qian had imagined!