Chapter 678 - 603: The Price Is Too Low

Chapter 678: Chapter 603: The Price Is Too Low

「Yuehai Province Capital.」

The officials in the Yuehai Province Capital were extremely enthusiastic about the arrival of Chen Yu and his group.

Everyone knew that Chen Yu was coming with money.

And as for accepting foreign investment, the municipal government here had no issue with it.

In fact, they were desperate for it; their only fear was that the Sports Bureau wouldn’t be open to it.

During a previous inspection tour in China, Chen Yu had visited Yuehai. He had met with one of the city’s mayors and had also met once with the local Director of the Sports Bureau, Tang Hemin, so this visit didn’t feel at all unfamiliar.

At the dinner table, Tang Hemin and the accompanying officials didn’t dare try to get Chen Yu and his group dead drunk.

"Dr. Chen, why don’t you just buy the football team?" Tang Hemin said suddenly, raising his glass.

Tang Hemin was well aware of the purpose of Chen Yu’s visit.

Otherwise, why would Chen Yu have come straight here after leaving the Capital?

He had already found out that the Sports Bureau wanted Chen Yu to stay in the Capital, but Chen Yu hadn’t agreed.

No agreement meant he wasn’t interested.

That’s why he had just made his position clear, stating that the Yuehai Province Capital was in dire need of a professional basketball team.

He mentioned the great basketball atmosphere and strong economy here, and even stated outright that he could rent the Tianhe Stadium to Chen Yu at a low price.

As for the stadium, Chen Yu had given it serious thought. In the long run, he would have to build his own.

Ideally, it would be like in the NBA, a joint venture with the local government to co-fund the construction.

This would save on investment costs.

The reason he chose to build his own was that Chen Yu had already surveyed the situation. There wasn’t a single professional-grade basketball arena in China capable of seating twenty thousand people like an NBA Arena.

They generally only had a capacity in the high thousands.

For example, Chen Yu knew that Tianhe Stadium, which Tang Hemin had mentioned, was built many years ago and could only hold eight or nine thousand people.

At the same time, an NBA arena is also a commercial landmark, with numerous shops and entertainment facilities.

Take the US Airways Center, for example. The annual rent and revenue from the surrounding shops amounted to a considerable sum.

And that didn’t even include revenue from renting it out for commercial performances on non-game days during the off-season.

In the long run, even if operating an arena wasn’t profitable, it could at least break even.

"Oh?" Chen Yu raised an eyebrow slightly.

Calva, who was beside him, instantly perked up his ears.

But Chen Yu’s tone shifted as he said, "However, if I recall correctly, that club has already been relegated to the Jia-B league, right? And more importantly, the Chinese Super League has now canceled promotion and relegation."

The Yuehai Province Capital had a football team, and it was the first city in all of China to establish a professional, city-level football team.

After many ups and downs, it even achieved the great result of being the league runner-up during its Sun God era.

Then it was relegated to the Jia-B league once again.

This in itself was nothing special; they had long grown accustomed to being promoted and relegated.

The crucial thing was that in the last two years, Yan Shiduo had directly canceled promotion and relegation for the sake of the National Team’s performance.

So even if Chen Yu bought the team, it couldn’t play in the Chinese Super League.

’From this perspective, the football team holds no value for me.’

’But it has deep roots in Guang City, with a huge fanbase. Buying the team is equivalent to buying its fans.’

’So it does have some value.’

’As for the lack of promotion and relegation, not being able to play in the Chinese Super League... that isn’t a problem at all.’

’I’m holding a Chinese Super League expansion slot. I can just pull a switcheroo, give it a new identity, and that’s that.’

’The prerequisite is that Tang Hemin offers a favorable price.’

A flicker of embarrassment crossed Tang Hemin’s face, and he began to drone on about the football team’s long history.

Seeing Chen Yu just smiling without a word, listening but not speaking, Tang Hemin knew that just trying to sweet-talk him without offering something tangible wouldn’t work.

Chen Yu, a Chinese-American, understood China far better than he had imagined.

Tang Hemin held up one finger and said, "Dr. Chen, I can be frank with you. For this much, the team is yours."

Chen Yu quickly reviewed the club’s situation in his mind.

’Based on the team’s current assets, ten million would be a reasonable price.’

’After all, Zhongyi Pharmaceutical paid 6 million for the naming rights just this year.’

"Dr. Chen, I know you Americans like to be direct, so I won’t play games. One million, and you can take ninety percent of the team’s shares." Tang Hemin laid all his cards on the table.

Chen Yu was startled.

Calva, next to him, immediately turned and had his translator ask, "US dollars?"

Tang Hemin shook his head. "We’re in China, so of course we’re talking about Chinese currency."

Chen Yu was stunned once again.

One million RMB, just over a hundred thousand US dollars, to buy a football team... it was simply unimaginable.

"Director Tang, are you serious?" Chen Yu asked in a low voice.

Chen Yu could earn that much from performing just one surgery.

Tang Hemin nodded, then sighed. "To be honest with you, Dr. Chen, this football team is already a negative asset for us. Did you know? This summer, we just sold seventy percent of the team’s shares to the Sun Hei Group for this price."

He held up one finger again.

"One million?" Chen Yu asked.

Tang Hemin shook his head. "One yuan!"

Chen Yu was dumbfounded. ’Isn’t this basically giving it away for free?’

Tang Hemin gave a wry smile. "Dr. Chen must be thinking that this is just giving it away for free. And you’re right, it is. The team truly can’t continue operating. No businesses are willing to take over. Our municipal government has shares, but where would we get the money to run a team?"

"After searching high and low, we finally found Sun Hei. Their General Manager Lin likes football and is a responsible person. It took a lot of persuading before they were willing to take over."

If he hadn’t offered it for one yuan, Tang Hemin was afraid they wouldn’t have dared to accept it.

"I’m familiar with General Manager Lin. I know he wants what’s best for the team, but they’re a private enterprise and their funds are tight. So, if you could take over the team, I think General Manager Lin would agree."

"This one million can be considered compensation for Sun Hei Group’s investments over the past few months since they took over."

"So the team is still essentially being given to you for free."

"As for the naming rights, we can step in and negotiate with Zhongyi Pharmaceutical. We’ll just have them accept a partial refund at a low price. They’re a state-owned enterprise, so they’ll listen to us."

"As for the home stadium, after General Manager Lin took over, he moved the home games to Yuexiu Mountain Stadium. But I can make the decision to rent you the People’s Stadium for your use, free for three years!"

Tang Hemin held up three fingers.

He seemed to have a penchant for holding up his fingers, and he carried himself with an air of someone who takes charge and whose word is final.

"So, what do you think, Dr. Chen? If you feel the terms aren’t suitable, we can negotiate further." Tang Hemin looked at Chen Yu expectantly.

He knew what kind of resources Chen Yu had at his disposal and what he could bring to Guang City.

Top-tier players, top-tier training methods... as long as Chen Yu was willing to invest, he could definitely make the team a success.

European football, American basketball... they were so profitable. Who wouldn’t be envious?

That’s why, before he came, the leadership had already instructed Tang Hemin to offer generous enough terms to keep him in Yuehai, no matter what it took.

Chen Yu and Calva exchanged a look, their eyes filled with utter shock.

The price was simply too staggering.

’Originally, I had limited interest in this football team. If it were truly a quality asset, would Tang Hemin be trying to give it away for free like this?’

But in that moment, Chen Yu was genuinely tempted.

He couldn’t help it; the price they offered was simply too low.