The day after the game between the Celtics and Rockets, the temperature dropped suddenly and it started to snow lightly in Boston.
At nine o'clock in the morning, Jeff Schwartz, carrying a briefcase, stood at the door of Lin Yu's house, rang the doorbell, and waited for a few minutes.
With a click, Lin Yu, still wearing pajamas, opened the door and yawned heavily.
"Morning, Jeff."
Jeff Schwartz stepped through the door, stood at the door and dusted off the snow on his body, and replied by the way: "Good morning, Lin, have you just gotten up? Sleeping in is not a good habit."
Lin Yu rolled his eyes: "Come on, Jeff, today is a rest day. I only sleep in on rest days. Is there any problem with this?"
Jeff Schwartz smiled and started walking in.
Lin Yu blocked him: "Hey, Jeff, it's snowing outside today. You have to change into a pair of slippers before you can come in."
There was a little snow on the soles of Schwartz's feet. Only then did he react and smiled again, this time a slightly embarrassed smile.
After entering the door, Lin Yu had already gone to the bathroom on the first floor to brush his teeth. Schwartz stood outside the door and chatted with Lin Yu.
"Lin, you played very well in yesterday's game. Zeng called me and said that you gained a large number of fans in China yesterday alone."
At this point, Schwartz's mouth widened completely and he couldn't hold it back any longer.
The Zeng mentioned by Schwartz is Lin Yu’s domestic agent, whose full name is Zeng Rong. He is currently responsible for Lin Yu’s domestic affairs.
After yesterday's game, at least half of Lin Yu's anti-fans in the country have turned to non-fans, and among these half, at least one-third of the fans have turned to fans.
Taking into account the huge fan base in the country, Lin Yu's domestic fan base grew in one day, which is naturally very terrifying.
"What did Lao Zeng say?"
Lin Yu, who was brushing his teeth, couldn't help but ask.
Jeff Schwartz scratched his head: "He said... you have a Chinese guy named Pu... uh..."
"Putian."
Lin Yu reminded him, and Schwartz nodded repeatedly: "Yes, it's Putian. Zeng said that there are a large number of small factories in that place. Yesterday, they were all working hard to make your jersey. He said that from this point on
This proves that within one day yesterday, you gained so many Chinese fans that you couldn’t even sell enough jerseys on the market.”
Lin Yu couldn't help but rolled his eyes again. This guy Lao Zeng actually paid attention to those factories in Putian. The awareness of genuine products in China is still a bit low.
Lin Yu's domestic fans have increased significantly, which means that the domestic market behind him can finally be put to use.
With a lot of money right in front of him, it's no wonder Jeff Schwartz is so excited.
"This is just the beginning, Jeff, don't get too happy too early."
Lin Yu's words brought the maniacally grinning Jeff Schwartz back to his serious state.
Jeff Schwartz also reacted. He knew that Lin Yu's words were a warning to him.
As early as when Lin Yu joined the NBA, because Lin Yu's future was unclear, Schwartz only signed a three-year agency contract with Lin Yu, which expired at the same time as his contract with the Celtics.
At that time, Schwartz only considered one thing, and that was that once Lin Yu ended up in failure like Battle, he could just walk away after making the last sum of money, without being tied up by Lin Yu anymore.
But now, Schwartz has only one and a half years left in the agency contract. Seeing Lin Yu getting better and better, he can only make a lot of money with Lin Yu, but he only has the last year and a half left.
.
"I'm looking for an opportunity to renew my contract."
Schwartz thought silently, not wanting to let go of the money tree in his hands.
After Lin Yu finished brushing his teeth and washing his face, and sat down at the long dining table in the restaurant, Schwartz also sat down.
"Lin, regarding your sneaker contract, Nike, Adidas, Under Armor, and Chinese brands Li Ning and Anta have all responded."
Schwartz opened his briefcase, pulled out a pile of documents, and immediately got to work.
"Among them, the contract offered by Under Armor is the largest, at US$10 million over five years. This price has already caught up with the league's first-tier stars."
Under Armor offered an average annual price tag of 2 million US dollars. Lin Yu thought of Pierce, who was on the same team. The sneaker contract provided by Nike to Pierce only averaged over 3 million US dollars per year.
Under Armor's asking price is probably the highest price that Lin Yu can get at present. Of course, Lin Yu also knows that Under Armor will offer such a high price. It should be the "specified brand" in the system.
"Sneaker Contract" came into play.
Otherwise, he can only get an average annual price of about US$1.5 million at most. This is a slightly premium contract given the Chinese market behind him and his position on the basketball court.
With an average annual salary of US$2 million, this is already an extremely premium sneaker contract.
"Apart from Under Armor, the one with the highest offer is Nike. They have offered an eight-year contract worth US$10 million, which is considered a contract that is more in line with your current worth."
"Both Li Ning and Anta have only made tentative offers, with the average annual price being less than US$1 million. Adidas's asking price is US$5 million over five years, which is slightly lower than Nike, but the life span is shorter."
After such a simple introduction, Jeff Schwartz looked at Lin Yu: "Lin, it's up to you to choose."
Lin Yu took several documents from Schwartz's hand and read them carefully one by one.
Schwartz added a few words: "By the way, Lin, if you choose Li Ning or Anta first, I can help you negotiate. The final contract price should be slightly higher than Nike's."
He then saw Under Armor's asking price: "It's just Under Armor... I don't understand why they offered such a high price."
Lin Yu didn't say anything and secretly complained: Of course you don't understand, you are not a roundworm in my stomach.
For Lin Yu, his choice is definitely Under Armor. He is very satisfied with the contract amount, but Lin Yu is not satisfied with the length of the contract.
"Jeff, can the length of the contract be reduced a little?" He pointed to Under Armor's contract. "I'm talking about Under Armor's asking price."
"Under Armor? Five years is not a long time. If you want to shorten the period, Under Armor may not agree."
Lin Yu frowned. He knew that in the next few seasons, he would definitely make rapid progress. The length of the sneaker contract could be longer or shorter. This is related to how much more money Lin Yu can make in the future. One year is short.
, he will earn one more year of money.
"Try to reduce it to three years, Jeff."
Schwartz had no choice but to follow Lin Yu's advice: "Okay, Lin, I'll try my best, but are you sure you want to choose Under Armor?"
Lin Yu nodded: "It's Under Armor. They pay the most. Who would you choose if you don't choose them?"
Schwartz became even more helpless: "Okay, Lin, don't blame me for not reminding you. Under Armor is the leader in football and baseball shoes, but in the field of basketball shoes, their technology and technology are far inferior to Nike.
It’s not even as good as adidas.”
"I don't care, Jeff, sneaker technology is not that important to me. If it were really that important, everyone would choose Nike. Who would wear Peak, Reebok or even Anta or Li-Ning?"
After talking about the sneaker contract, Schwartz then pulled out two more documents from his briefcase.
"Also, Lin, in the past half month, because you have played for the Celtics and your popularity in North America has increased, I have received several endorsements. Take a look. If you choose one or two, you can make money.
A little money."
Lin Yu took the document from Schwartz again.
Lin Yu performed well in the Kai team's recent games, so he has been favored by some companies and merchants.
A local chain of Chinese restaurants in Massachusetts wanted to hire Lin Yu to be their spokesperson. They offered a price of $50,000 and only needed Lin Yu to provide his image rights.
An underwear brand in the United States wants Lin Yu to become their Chinese spokesperson. He needs to take a set of photos wearing only underwear. The price is one hundred thousand dollars a year.
A fashion magazine in New York invited Lin Yu to take a series of nude photos in the hope of promoting their concept of nudity, and only offered him a "up to" five thousand US dollars as a commission.
…
Lin Yu was almost reaching the end of the page. He really didn't see any good endorsement invitations, and he suddenly felt very boring.
Seeing Lin Yu turning to the end, Schwartz smiled and reminded: "Lin, the last one is the key, I think you must sign the last endorsement."
Schwartz reminded Lin Yu, who was already bored, but became curious.
Turning to the last copy, he suddenly saw a familiar logo, the logo of the Coca-Cola Company.
"The Coca-Cola Company wants you to be their latest Chinese spokesperson. The asking price is US$1.5 million for three years. You need to shoot three commercials for them, one for each year. Of course, you must also provide your image rights for the Coca-Cola Company to use.
"
Lin Yu also smiled. With the thick stack of documents in his hand, he finally came up with an endorsement that satisfied him.
"I signed up for the endorsement deal with this Chinese restaurant chain, and I also signed up for the endorsement deal with Coca-Cola, but I rejected all others."
Lin Yu quickly made his choice, and Jeff Schwartz nodded: "No problem, Lin, I'll contact you right away."