American winner takes all

Chapter 225 Media Rights (22)

"It was the Education Group that got in touch with Bo Williams and secretly smoothed the relationship. He was afraid that he would be implicated in the media's entanglement." After the press conference, Ethan and Grace sat in an empty venue.

No wonder Bo Williams was so panicked. It turned out to be because he was afraid of getting angry.

"As for the reporter from NPR, he did not appear on the invitation list. I made a mistake and should not have let him participate in the press conference before..." Grace shook her head. She felt that she had messed up everything, and she showed everything at this moment. regret.

"You didn't do anything wrong. If it were me, I would have allowed these media to attend the press conference." Ethan shrugged, feeling that this matter was nothing.

"I have sent my men to investigate, but the reporter chose to leave Shreveport immediately. Someone must have been secretly instigating it." Grace came to the same conclusion as Ethan.

"Who do you think it could be?" Ethan asked.

"Who else, of course, is the NCAA." Grace blurted out after hearing from Ethan about the overt and covert struggles between the NCAA and the five major leagues, especially the SEC.

"I don't think so..." Ethan said his guess. The answer was completely opposite to what Grace thought.

"How is this possible?" Grace looked unbelievable.

"Of course it's possible. Let's put that aside, how are the negotiations for media rights going?" Ethan asked about another thing. The turmoil in public opinion will not interfere with his preparations for the game.

"Originally, there will be a conference call with several major news networks in two hours, but now that this has happened, I'm afraid..." Grace did not continue.

These "revelations" and "scandals" will undoubtedly cast a pall over the game, which will affect negotiations for media rights.

"It's okay, Grace, I will take care of it all." Ethan raised his arm and grabbed Grace's hand.

Feeling the warmth coming from the back of her hand, Grace suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of stability.

"I believe you, Ethan." Grace nodded heavily.

Before the negotiations with the media rights began, Ethan chose to temporarily separate from Grace. He came downstairs and saw Ashkenazy driving the old Lincoln Continental waiting for him in the parking lot. The deputy His nephew was sitting in the driver's seat.

"The money is in the backpack in the back seat, sir," Ashkenazy said.

Ethan looked at the backpack at hand. It was bulging with cash, at least hundreds of thousands. Those who didn't know thought that the uncle and nephew had just looted the store.

Ethan pulled out two wads of relatively new bills and handed them to the front row.

"Take it, you two deserve this."

Ashkenazy's nephew was stunned for a moment, then carefully took the banknote.

Ever since he was beaten and kicked by Ethan last time, he had some instinctive fear of Ethan.

"Why don't you say thank you quickly?" Ashkenazy reminded.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Mr. J." The nephew said in a confused manner.

Ethan did not let the two call him by his name directly, but had the code name "J". From now on, Ethan O'Connor's name will only appear on the court, and in the darkness outside the court, he is J.

As for why this letter is used as a representative...it's purely Ethan's bad taste. Judging from the shape, it looks like some kind of totem, doesn't it?

"Where are we going, sir?" Ashkenazy asked as he started the car.

"Hampton Hotel." Ethan said.

That's where the media people he invited stay. Accommodation, meals, and daily leisure and entertainment are all included. This is part of Ethan's media reception activities.

As for why these reporters are not allowed to live in the Hilton, it is not because the price in the Hamptons is slightly cheaper.

On the way to the Hampton Inn, Ethan saw that the billboards on the telephone poles on both sides of the road had all been transformed into the Independence Bowl logo, and the large advertising boards at the bus stops even had his own photo on them.

It can be said that the whole city has entered "game time".

Ashkenazy, who was driving, hummed softly: "Sing, Song of the South. Sweet potato pie told me to shut up and go with the wind. No one looked back. No one said anything about Wall Street." Fallen, we are too poor to be worth mentioning..."

None other than the classic song Song of the South by the band Alabama.

In the past few days of contact with Ethan, he also fell in love with Wujiwu and began to like this band called Alabama.

You can make money easily without any investment. This is the advantage of following the right brother.

As he sang, Ashkenazy turned on the car radio.

The car was filled with the voice of CNN's well-known host Wolf Blitzer: "As the New Year is approaching and the college football game is coming to an end, the NCAA Disciplinary Committee Office issued multiple investigation reports in succession yesterday. The most concerning is the disclosure of the University of Alabama star player Ethan O'Connor... At present, the University of Alabama and Ethan O'Connor himself have not responded to this..."

"Sorry sir." Ashkenazy immediately prepared to change the channel.

"Listen." Ethan stopped him.

Who is Wolf Blitzer?He is a well-known current affairs anchor in the United States. He has reported on major news such as the Gulf War, the Iran Hostage Crisis, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Today, Ethan heard his name from his mouth, which proves that the whole thing has gone far beyond "sports" itself and has become a social event.

The reason why it became social news is related to the nature of the NCAA.

As the cornerstone of a sports powerhouse, the NCAA has always refused commercialization in any sense. This has resulted in the United States, a place with a particularly strong commercial atmosphere, turning the NCAA into the last virgin territory.

And what Ethan O'Connor, the Alabama star player did, was undoubtedly tarnishing the "holy" sports utopia.

That's exactly what the reporter who made a scene at the press conference meant.

It can be said that in the eyes of a considerable number of Americans, NCAA football is truly pure football.

"At present, Alabama has determined to participate in the Independence Bowl. This morning, the Auburn University Fans Association has issued a statement boycotting the Independence Bowl. In the statement, Auburn University regards the appearance of the Independence Bowl as contempt and trampling on traditional college sports. , an Auburn University spokesperson has not yet commented on this statement..."

Adding insult to injury, just adding insult to injury!

As Alabama's mortal enemy, Auburn University certainly did not forget to take a step at this time.

"Quoting reports from frontline reporters in the Washington Post, at the just-concluded press conference for the Independence Bowl, some reporters raised reasonable questions about the bowl game, and Shreveport said the game will be held as scheduled..."

"There is no doubt that our values ​​are being challenged, and the SEC has stated that it will not launch further investigations into Ethan O'Connor. This is not just about one player, but it reflects some of the debates about the college sports model, in In this age of the internet, these arguments will be raised more and more frequently. Let's switch perspective to the Christmas holidays..."

Ashkenazy turned off the car radio.

·
"Uncle, will there be any problems with the Independence Bowl?" Ashkenazy's nephew began to count the banknotes as soon as Ethan got off the bus.

As I kept counting, I began to care about the game.

"I don't know. The only thing we can do now is to pray that nothing will go wrong." Ashkenazy drove the car to the parking lot and later drove Ethan back to the bowl game organization office. .

At this time, Ethan was already in Penny's room.

"Ethan, you've been tricked, I'm sure. NPR is just a channel, and it never reports sports news!" Penny said angrily as soon as she saw Ethan.

"I already know who is behind the scenes. How is the editing of the documentary going?" Ethan asked. This was the most important reason why he came here.

"It's already in post-production. I heard that as soon as the NCAA report was released yesterday, the supervisor locked the office of the post-production department and no one was allowed to leave until the production was completed. They are more anxious than you." Penny laughed. road.The reason is also very simple. Releasing the documentary when Ethan O'Connor is mentioned frequently will greatly benefit the ratings.

Fox TV station is racing against time to gain popularity.

"According to the schedule, the production will be completed tonight, and it will start broadcasting during prime time tomorrow night. The entire documentary will be divided into three phases." Penny continued.

"Finally." Ethan breathed a sigh of relief and rested his head on Penny's shoulder.

Penny brought half of the peeled orange to Ethan's mouth, and Ethan kissed her fingertips.

"How much money is Fox TV planning to pay this time?" Ethan asked.

"I don't get wind of this kind of thing." Penny shook her head.

Among all the TV stations, Ethan has collaborated with Fox the most. When he was in high school, Fox filmed a documentary for BHHS.

This time Grace has contacted the five major TV media including Fox Sports, and "Wutai Mountain" has more or less shown interest.

Ethan also hopes that FOX TV station can successfully bid, so that he can take advantage of this competition to give Penny a hand. The higher Penny climbs on Fox TV station, the more advantageous he will be.But the premise is that Fox must give enough money.

·
"Ms. Grace, this is CBS's highest offer. A three-year payment of US$1000 million per year, and the rights include global television and online rights." The voice of a CBS sports department official came on the phone.

So Grace immediately said: "According to my information source, CBS spent US$2000 million to buy out the media rights of the Festive Bowl. This year's Festive Bowl will be played against Kansas State University and Syracuse University. Neither team entered. Top five in the country. The University of Alabama has a winning record this year!”

"You are right, but the University of Alabama has not yet been recognized by all authoritative rankings, and the other opponent for the Independence Bowl is still uncertain."

In terms of record, Alabama is indeed number one in the country. After all, it has defeated the University of Florida. But the strange thing is that Alabama cannot participate in the NCAA bowl game. It has strength but no ranking.

Grace looked at Ethan beside her.

After seeing Ethan nod, Grace announced a bombshell: "Alabama's opponent is not undetermined, but it has not been officially disclosed. In fact, we have reached a consensus with the University of Nebraska."

"Really?" The other party looked particularly unbelievable.

"Nebraska is going to the Orange Bowl this year."

"It's certainly possible, why can't Nebraska go to two bowl games in a row?"

"If it is true, the entire university ranking system will be invalid this year." The staff member said subconsciously.

After receiving new information, the other party said that they needed to discuss with their superiors. After waiting for about 15 minutes, the other party gave a new quotation.

1800W.

The price is already approaching the Festive Bowl, surpassing the $1000 million offers in the Cotton Bowl and Peach Bowl.

However, Ethan did not agree.

In subsequent negotiations with NBC Sports, the other party made an offer of 2100 million after also knowing that Nebraska would participate in the Independence Bowl.

"NBC currently only owns the rights to the Cotton Bowl, and there is a consensus within the group that we hope to continue to develop in the field of football. We have shown considerable sincerity in this offer."

The other side said.

To be fair, the price is indeed very sincere.

But Ethan also wants to hear what FOX thinks.

Among the six major bowl games, ABC dominates. One company has obtained the broadcast rights for the three most watched bowl games, namely the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. Among them, the media rights of the Rose Bowl are as high as 4000 million, and the other two bowl games also have 3000W.

Next is CBS, which pays 2000W to Festive Bowl every year.

ESPN owns the Peach Bowl and NBC owns the Cotton Bowl.

These four TV stations share the six major bowl games, among which ESPN is also a sub-channel of ABC.

As for FOX, its investment in bowl games is 0.
ABC, which has deep pockets, has no shortage of bowl game rights and exited in the first round.

At present, only FOX has not disclosed its offer.

"The final price we gave is 1500W." David Hill said on the other end of the phone.

He is the chairman of Fox Sports Department and a favorite of old Rupert Murdoch.

"I thought you would give me more." This time, Ethan took the initiative before Grace could speak.

"Wait..." David Hill suddenly found that the voice sounded very familiar.

If there's one college football star he's most familiar with, it's Ethan O'Connor.

"This voice..."

"Yes, it's me. I'm not just a player in this bowl game, but I play a more important role." Ethan admitted directly.

Then he included the participation of Nebraska, the overt and covert fight between the SEC and the NCAA, and the secret support of the SEC for this bowl game, all of which hinted at David Hill.

"It's interesting..." David Hill fell into a long silence.

At first, he thought it was just a media rights negotiation, but he didn't expect to suddenly get so much secret information.

To say which TV station has the closest relationship with the NCAA, it is naturally ABC, followed by NBC, and then CBS. As for Fox, it basically does not broadcast college football games.

So in this fight, fox is completely out of the equation.

"But, Ethan, you have to know... our budget is not big, not to mention compared with ABC, even with CBS. 1500 million, this is the result of repeated fights between me and old Murdoch."

Now that Ethan has chosen to be honest, David Hill has nothing to hide.

Fox’s revenue is more than double that of ABC, NBC, and CBS, and it is currently firmly in last place among the four major public television networks.

Murdoch would not take the risk of asking a TV station with a full-year profit of only 1.5 million to spend tens of millions to buy a game.

"I'm very sorry, we can only choose other TV stations." Ethan said without hesitation.

"Wait a minute... Just give me a few more minutes about this matter. I'll talk to old Murdoch now..." David Hill hesitated again and again, still not ready to give up this opportunity.

As the head of the sports department, he certainly hopes that the sports channel can obtain more resources. Now is a very good opportunity. All previous investments in Ethan O'Connor have paid off.

So, Ethan and Grace on the other side of the phone experienced a long wait.

David Hill's call lasted for 10 minutes.

"A new signal has joined the conference." Grace said suddenly, noticing the indicator light on the phone.

"About the game, I need to talk to you in person." A strange voice appeared.

(End of this chapter)