American winner takes all

Chapter 368 Breaking into it?

Playoffs?
Ethan looked at the coaches and players on the Angels side hugging each other to celebrate, and realized that Payton wasn't joking.

The Raiders also lost the game, which caused the Angels to finally step over the line and enter the playoffs as the last seed in the American League.

According to ranking calculation, in January next year, the Angels will play a wild card game with the Miami Dolphins, and the winner will face this year's American League No. 1 seed.

The Colts will face the winner between the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans at home.

In theory, the Angels and Colts could meet again in the AFC Finals.

·
In the locker room, the Angels were in a state of carnival.

Roland Bailey opened a bottle of champagne and fired shots at Andy...

Not long after, the locker room was in a mess.

Andy wiped his face with his hands and looked at the excited people in the locker room and said: "Although the process was a bit dramatic, we still achieved the goal we set at the beginning of this season. Every step forward is a great success for us." It’s earned…”

Then he started talking about the Angels' next opponent, the Dolphins from Miami.

The Miami Dolphins have had an amazing start to the season, losing only one game in the first nine rounds.

However, in the subsequent rounds of games, they experienced consecutive losses, which also caused their ranking in the American League to drop again and again, and finally became the fifth seed.

Ethan didn't know much about the Miami Dolphins, but the owner of the Miami Dolphins left a deep impression on him.

Wayne Huizenga is one of the richest men in the United States. He has huge assets and is keen on participating in professional sports. He owns football teams, baseball teams, and ice hockey teams in Florida. These teams have a large number of players in Florida. Fans.

And the relationship with Michael Ovitz is very good...

"Ethan, regarding the playoff training, I want to start tomorrow." Andy found Ethan.

This means that players will completely give up their New Year holidays.

"It's no problem at all, but I have to return to the team a few days late..." Ethan said.

Before the start of the final round, Ethan was determined to go to Walker's Point for a family gathering.

Such gatherings actually happen every year, but this year is the first time invitations have been sent to Catherine and Ethan.

Of course Ethan knew the reason why the other party did this, and it wasn't because of the Angels, which was an asset that the family invested heavily in.

Obviously this meeting was in the nature of reporting work.

In addition, Ethan also hopes that the family can contribute to the construction of the stadium. Even if the family does not want to directly invest, they can also introduce some financing channels for themselves.

Considering the family's connections in politics and business, this was an easy matter for them.

·
It was already late at night when Ethan returned to Los Angeles from Indiana. The mansion was silent, the lights were turned off, and it seemed that everyone had gone to sleep.

The next second, the room was bright. Kelsey and McKenna were twisting the paper fireworks in their hands.

"boom!"

Glittering paper flowers drifted and fell in the air.

It turned out to be to celebrate the Angels entering the playoffs. They chose to hold a celebration party tonight. It was a complete surprise for Ethan.

After the party, the servants began to prepare luggage for Ethan and Catherine. Early tomorrow morning, Ethan and Catherine would officially leave for Walker's Point.

·
Kennebunkport, Maine, on the Atlantic coast.

Ethan got off the shuttle bus prepared by his family and looked up at the New England-style classical architecture.

Similar in nature to Paradise Manor, it was once the summer residence of Bush Sr., and many international dignitaries have visited here.

It is currently used as the main activity venue of the BDW family.

"welcome."

Ethan saw Catherine's cousin Thomas, whom he had met before, and he came out with his wife to greet him.

"You are late. The party started yesterday." He said with a straight face.

"Sorry, Ethan has an important game, so he's a little late." Catherine quickly explained.

Only then did Thomas smile: "Don't be nervous, sister, we know Ethan still has competition. Although the result is not satisfactory, he at least fought hard until the end."

The couple introduced the two of them, and many people had gathered in the spacious main hall.

Ethan took a quick look and saw that there were two governors, including the lieutenant governor of Virginia and a judge of the Court of Appeals of the United States...

"Look who's here!"

Ethan saw a little girl shouting, and then everyone looked at him.

The next second, everyone turned their heads back to what they were doing, and no one came forward to say hello to Ethan and Catherine.

Only the young girl who had shouted just now took the initiative to come over.

"Ethan, welcome to your arrival. When I heard that you were coming, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep last night."

"Jenna, one of George's twin daughters, is a loyal fan of yours and has a complete set of commemorative badges and jerseys from your time with the Cowboys." Thomas introduced at this time.

Ethan struck up a small talk with her, who is currently a sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin.

During the process, Ethan saw Catherine's biological father, George Herbert Walker III, who only glanced at Ethan coldly without any intention of saying hello.

And Ethan also realized his position in the family from the indifference of these big shots - a marginalized person.

But Ethan didn't have a good impression of these upper-class people, so he didn't care much about them.

Compared to the indifference of the elders, the younger generation in the family is interested in Ethan, and they are the only ones willing to deal with Ethan.

Ethan looked at Catherine at this time. She was quite enjoying herself and was talking and laughing with George's wife, Laura Welch. It is worth mentioning that Laura Welch came from a civilian background and is not related to the "Welch" of General Electric.

The whole family gathering will last for several days. Except for the necessary formal activities, Ethan will not participate in other activities if he can. Even if he does, he will only stand in the most peripheral corner.

Finally, on the first day of the new century, as the party was coming to an end, the housekeeper knocked on Ethan's door...

·
In a brightly lit room in the manor, three powerful figures in the family were having a conversation. On the wall behind them were paintings of George Herbert Walker I, William Walker, David Davis, Portraits of Prescott Bush and others.

"The impeachment failed, and he walked away clean. There's only one path before us now, and I've been on the phone with Jim Nicholson, and George will be the candidate... Gentlemen, this has been nearly a decade in the making. , success and failure will determine this year." The person in the middle tapped on the table.

Sitting next to him now are David Davis V and George Herbert Walker III.

Before the two of them could speak, the door to the room was opened and Ethan walked in.

The man in the middle cleared his throat and brushed off the topic.

"Welcome, Ethan, how are you doing these days?"

"How is it at the club? I heard the attendance is quite high? You are the most popular player now." He smiled with a smile on his lips.

The family has invested a lot of money, and now it's time for Ethan to pay back. Ethan roughly talked about the team's various profits this year, including attendance, sales of licensed products, and TV broadcast sharing.

"Profits attributable to the family are expected to exceed $4000 million this year."

Ethan did not mention the earnings of the Angels Cheerleaders.

The three elders of the family looked at each other.

This number is not an exaggeration, but it is much better than the other new team, the Cleveland Browns.

This is only the first year. In the future, the income will only increase year by year. The capital will be fully recovered within three to five years, and then it will be a net profit.

"But having said that, if the Angels had better results, wouldn't the profits be higher? Yesterday you lost the game and finally entered the playoffs by luck. Luck is not on your side every time." George Herbert Walker III reminded.

"The other team back in the league, the Cleveland Browns, lost fourteen games in the regular season this year," Ethan said.

"So, you think you've done a good enough job?"

"For other people, it is true, but you are different from Ethan. As my cousin said just now, you are the hottest player in the league. You should continue to win the Super Bowl championship, or at least enter the Super Bowl. , This is ridiculous. The family has invested so much money in you, you should know how to be grateful. Look at the Cowboys, their profits reached a new high last year," George Herbert Walker III continued.

What he said was that he had too little money.

"Gentlemen, you have to know that the Angels don't even have a serious stadium at the moment." Ethan changed the subject.

"In fact, stadium sponsorship is the majority of the team's income. Old Jones of the Cowboys uses the Cowboys' stadium to become the best in profitability among all sports clubs in the world." Ethan began to talk about the stadium issue.

"Los Angeles did give the Angels a piece of land, but Michael Ovitz obviously took a fancy to the land around the stadium. He put all his attention on the surrounding real estate development. The plan to build the stadium has been in place since the beginning of the season. Established, but there is still no follow-up.”

"California localities are not prepared to use tax revenue, but are only willing to provide some low-interest loans. The construction of the entire stadium is expected to cost more than 1.5 billion U.S. dollars. We need to join forces with banks, and we need to come up with more than 500 million U.S. dollars at least in the next three years. ”

"Fifteen billion dollars? Are you going to build the World Trade Center Twin Towers in Los Angeles? I've never heard of a stadium with such a high budget." George Herbert Walker III frowned.

Ethan spread his hands: "This is where the differences lie."

"After the stadium is put into operation, how many dollars of revenue will it bring every year?" The man in the middle asked.

"This is closely related to the performance of the Angels. Ideally, the naming rights of the stadium alone can bring nearly 70 million US dollars in additional revenue to the team every year. The premium parking fee at the stadium will be more than 40 US dollars per game, and the cost of ordinary parking spaces will be more than US dollars per game. The parking fee is also $, not counting the supporting commercial rental income," Ethan responded.

When it comes to making money, the stadium is the real "gold mine."

"But the budget is too high." David Davis continued.

"Then we will completely adopt a more economical construction plan, reduce the number of seats to 70,000 to 80,000, and cut off the retractable roof. The construction period will be shortened as much as possible, and it is expected to be completed within two to three years. The final cost is likely to be Less than US$700 million." Ethan immediately proposed a second plan.

In fact, the original quote of 1.5 billion was entirely deliberately raised by Ethan. That was the final cost of AT&T Stadium.

After such a comparison, the cost-effectiveness becomes apparent.

"That's quite acceptable." David Davis V nodded.

"We still need to investigate," George Herbert Walker III muttered.

Although he did not agree directly, he obviously began to seriously consider the possibility of constructing a stadium.

"Of course, we must be cautious with such a large investment." Ethan felt that he had a chance to win, and all that was left was to keep pushing forward.

"Sorry, Ethan, your plan is very attractive, but the construction of the stadium may need to be delayed. We can't afford so much money this year." The man in the center continued.

"George will be involved as a candidate..." he explained why.

"We need to set aside enough budget so that the stadium can be built later, but this can't wait."

Ethan had no choice but to laugh.

He couldn't ask his family to give up the election and invest all the money in the construction of the stadium.

"The team is not built in a short time, Ethan, you should focus on the commission of the team's strength now. In the next few years, we will continue to help." He continued.

Having said this, Ethan had no choice but to stand up and prepare to leave.

Since the stadium cannot be built, we can only think of other ways...

"Wait, I have another question to ask you." The man in the middle stopped Ethan again.

Ethan stopped.

"This year the Angels' cheerleading team collaborated with a clothing brand owned by Wexner. Is that true?"

Ethan was a little confused and nodded.

"You have to help me find someone. It's best to establish contact with him directly. He is very defensive and we have no way to start. But as your partner, the other party will not be too defensive about you. The most important thing is Yes, outsiders don’t know the connection between you and your family.”

Catherine has only returned in recent years. Outsiders don't know her existence at all, and naturally they can't connect Ethan to the family.

In fact, the family investment club has always claimed to be cooperating with Michael Ovitz.

"The person you are talking about cannot be Epstein, right?" Ethan whispered.

"Oh? It seems that you have already met him. How much do you know about him?"

"Has a huge network of connections, works for big shots, claims to be a financier, but is actually a liar."

"It seems you know a lot. Some time ago, a person who had a close relationship with Epstein died in prison. A lawyer was sent to contact this guy. Many people thought it was us."

"That lawyer was actually...sent by me." Ethan whispered.

"What?" Now it was the turn of the three people opposite to look surprised.

No wonder this matter went nowhere. It turned out that the "mastermind" family had been found to take the blame for themselves for no reason.

"I felt this man was dangerous, so I chose to investigate his past to protect myself."

"You're quite brave." The man in the middle raised his eyebrows.

"He has close ties with those in power, including some of the main figures on the 'opposite side'. Several of them are within the range of candidates on the 'opposite side'. You have to penetrate the other side's circle and see what these people are doing."

This is to let yourself be an undercover agent and dig up dirt on your competitors!
And Ethan knew that he might not have a choice at all.

"But I have a condition. In addition to providing me with protection when necessary, the stadium..."

"I said, the club is not planning to build a stadium this year." The other party raised his voice, seeming to be a little dissatisfied with Ethan's repeated requests.

"Since there is no way to build a stadium in a short time, we can buy an abandoned stadium and renovate it on the original basis." Ethan changed his mind.

The Rams moved from Los Angeles a few years ago, vacating a dilapidated stadium.

If you can't come up with the money to build a stadium, you can't come up with the money to renovate it.

"That's it." The other party smiled and nodded, which was regarded as agreement.

(End of this chapter)