On the first day of work after the Spring Festival, Li Jianhui came to the ABA headquarters to attend the ABA management and club shareholder representative meeting convened by Chen Zhiyong.
It is now the third season since the official operation of the league. The development of the league has been on the right track. Currently, the only one that can suppress the ABA is the NBA.
This is still talking about the strength of the league's players, but if it really comes down to reputation, in Asia, especially East Asia and Southeast Asia, the ABA is undoubtedly the undisputed number one basketball league, and the reputation of the NBA here is far from comparable.
This has resulted in major clubs making quite good profits from tickets, stadium advertising fees, media live broadcast fees, etc.
Interests have been attractive since ancient times, especially in the huge Japanese market where there are only four clubs, even compared to South Korea. How could several major Japanese consortiums be willing to do so?
After entering 1984, representatives of many Japanese clubs and the Japanese management of the ABA once again made suggestions for expansion to the league.
In addition, Charter King, who lost the Kowloon Basketball Club, also applied on behalf of the North, hoping that the North Basketball Club could also join this league. In this regard, it also received support from Japanese management and club representatives.
This period can be said to be the honeymoon period between the north and Japan. If Xiangjiang capital ranks first in entering the northern market, then Japanese capital definitely ranks second.
This time, Japan supports the charter king proposal, obviously hoping to increase its influence in the north. You must know that the four current Japanese club teams are all strong ABA teams, and the current two championship teams are Mitsubishi and Fuji. .
However, it is not without opposition, especially club representatives from South Korea and Baodao. They believe that the current thirty teams are quite reasonable and that the scale is too large and is not conducive to the development of the league.
As the honorary chairman of the ABA, Li Jianhui said: "I also know that many representatives hope to expand the influence of their players in the north so that their products can open up the northern market.
But we are currently facing several complex problems. If they are not resolved, I am afraid there will be some difficulties. You should be very clear about the current relationship between the North, Baodao, and South Korea.
Therefore, we must fully respect the wishes of all parties and avoid affecting the stability of the league. I support the expansion, but we must avoid things that may not be conducive to the development of our league.
I suggest that Mr. Chen Zhiyong, Mr. Bao Yugang, Mr. Gu Zhenfu, and Mr. Li Jianxi push the three parties to reach an agreement that is relatively friendly to our ABA, so that at least these club members will not be hindered from going to each other's home games.
We currently have 30 teams. If communication goes smoothly, we can add six teams next season, including two from the Japanese market, one from Taiwan, two from the northern market, and one from Indonesia."
Regarding Li Jianhui's proposal, there were some supporters and many opponents. The Japanese representative was very happy about this. With two quotas, two other consortiums can be allowed in this time. By then, the six major consortiums will have subsidiaries of each consortium. There is a club for everyone.
The Charter King, who is a special guest of the ABA League, is also satisfied. As long as the communication is smooth, the North can also join in, which will not only train the players in the North, but also provide assistance for the North's opening up to the outside world.
Other representatives were not so happy. The addition of six teams meant that six more teams would have to share the money.
In particular, several Japanese clubs are already strong and share relatively large amounts of money. Now that two more teams have been added, their shares will inevitably decrease again.
Representatives from various Southeast Asian clubs spoke one after another, all supporting northern basketball clubs joining the ABA, but expressed opposition to the addition of two clubs to the Japanese market.
The Japanese representatives were unhappy after hearing this, and Yasuda said: "Everyone, Japan is currently the largest market for ABA, and we should have the number of clubs that matches the market.
If you just want to make money from our market and are not willing to give us equal status, then I'm sorry, but we won't accompany you.
Not only will several of our major clubs withdraw from the ABA, but our market will also close the door to the ABA."
Those present were naturally aware of what was going on, and upon hearing Yasuda's threat, the opposition immediately weakened.
The parties finally quarreled and came up with a five-year league expansion plan. After five years, the number of league teams will reach 42. Next season, four more teams will be added: Kyoto, Taoyuan, Taoyuan, and Shanghai. , Surabaya, Indonesia.
The division will also be re-divided, and next season, the Xiangjiang Xinjian team will also become the southern division.
The competition system has also changed. In the regular season, there will be one home and away game for teams in other divisions. From two home and away games each for teams in the same division, there will be three games for teams in the same division. Among the 48 games played by teams in the same division, each team is guaranteed to 24 home games.
That is to say, next season, each team will play 82 regular season games, which is four games less than the 86 games in recent seasons.
As the number of teams increases in the future, the competition system will also be adjusted. Once the 42 teams are assembled, the regular season will consist of one game each for home and away, and the regular season will be 82 games.
This prevents players from becoming too tired due to too many games, and also reduces the risk of player injuries.
In addition, considering that there may be difficulties in communication between the North, Baodao, and South Korea, we have also come up with an alternative plan, that is, for the games between the Shanghai team and the South Korean and Baodao teams, they can borrow the Xinyi Pavilion, and even in the playoffs. The team’s main stadium is being built, which means that Xiangjiang Xinyi Stadium may become the Shanghai team’s second home stadium next season.
This is also the best plan that Charter King can come up with at present. The first club in the north is mainly invested by Charter King, and the team is named after Xianghua.
Lin Tingsheng funded the establishment of Datong Basketball Club, which plays its home court in Taoyuan, Japan's Sanhe Consortium established Sanhe Basketball Club, whose home court is in Kyoto, and Xie Jianlong established Hualong Basketball Club, whose home court is in Surabaya, Indonesia.
As for the next season, two are tentatively decided, one is Yangcheng in the north, and the other is Yokohama, Japan.
Not only did the Japanese representatives want to expand their influence in the north, but Li Jianhui also hoped to expand the influence of the Xianghua Association in the north through ABA.
In the past five years, the ABA has expanded to 12 basketball clubs, six of which are for the north. In addition to Shanghai Yangcheng, the plans include Tianmen, Jinling, Jingcheng, and Yuzhou.
As long as the north is brought in, Hongyu Clothing Group's products will have an advantage in occupying the northern sports and sports and leisure apparel market.
At the end of the meeting, the charter king specially approached Li Jianhui and hoped that Li Jianhui could personally come forward to communicate with ABA North and Baodao.
The door to the north is always open, but the main problem is still on the Baodao side. At present, Li Jianhui has much greater influence on the president than they do.
With Li Jianhui as the lobbyist, the chance that the president will be willing to let go of this aspect will be much greater.
Li Jianhui has not postponed this. He will soon lead many senior executives of the Xinjian Department to Baodao. At that time, he will personally visit the president. Liu will communicate with the president face to face about this matter.
In addition, Li Jianhui is also preparing to communicate with the president about the issue of cross-strait flights, especially since many coastal cities in the north are currently opening up to the outside world. If direct connections can be made, it will reduce a lot of costs for Xinjian-related enterprises, and at the same time, it can also promote the further development of Xiangjiang Airlines and Huangpu Shipping.
"Li Sheng, Huo Sheng and I are already old. After all, the future of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and the three places still depends on you, the younger generation. I hope Li Sheng will not let down what your uncle, second uncle, aunt, and even your father desperately protect.