Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 898 The Early Investment in the Olympics
A few days later, Yang Wendong also learned the general result. The General Administration of Sport on the mainland naturally did not refuse such a mutually beneficial cooperation.

Next, he could just let his men negotiate. Yang Wendong didn't care at all. Even though he might be sponsoring thousands of people in China, the expenses on them might not even be as high as the cost of hiring a popular Hong Kong star as a spokesperson.
On their side, although there is no direct reward at the moment, future sporting events, especially the 84 Olympics, will generate tremendous interest in the country, and the athletes who win the championships will become the most famous people in the country.
For example, if Li Ning were to endorse several of his products in the future, the indirect returns he could obtain would far exceed the investment made today.

On his last day in Yanjing, Yang Wendong visited one of his newly renovated courtyard houses.

The entire courtyard house retains the same internal structure as before, still adopting an ancient style. After all, his properties are all modern, so this courtyard house naturally has to be modeled after the ancient style.

However, while the house is equipped with heating, air conditioning, refrigerators, televisions, and the like, it is so well-designed that it blends seamlessly into the house, and you can't tell these modern products unless you go inside.
While fully preserving the ancient scenery, it also incorporates the needs of modern life;
“From now on, we can stay here when we come to Yanjing,” Bai Yujie said with a smile after showing the child around.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "That's fine, but we need to consider security. We'll need to arrange some bodyguards around, which is not as convenient as staying at a hotel."

The fact that public security in mainland China is relatively good is a thing of the 21st century. In the 80s, it was not the beautiful and innocent era that many people in the previous life remembered.
In fact, Yang Wendong always travels with a lot of bodyguards, and even the mainland has sent professionals to protect him. They are armed with firearms, just in case of an accident.
Of course, relatively speaking, Yanjing, as the capital, is certainly better than other places, but when it comes to security, we cannot be careless at all;
Hong Kong, which had gradually become more stable with economic development, experienced a sharp decline in public order due to the arrival of a large number of Vietnamese refugees. A few years later, when the British Hong Kong government knew it was going to be ousted, it became even more perfunctory in its management of various aspects.

Therefore, we must take control of our own future security.

"Okay, sure," Bai Yujie replied.

Yang Wendong added, "I've also bought other courtyard houses. If you're interested, you can take a look. They're all pretty much the same. We're going to America tomorrow."

I've been in mainland China for a while now, and I've pretty much taken care of the relevant matters. There are relatively few issues in Hong Kong right now, but the group's business in Europe and America is growing more and more.
This is normal, after all, Europe and the United States account for half of the global market now, with the United States having the largest share;
Moreover, for him as a time traveler, the United States obviously offers more opportunities, and for a long time to come, his main focus will remain in the United States.

The next day, July 8, Yang Wendong dispatched his private 747 from Hong Kong, and then departed from Yanjing to Los Angeles;
After a 12-hour flight, Yang Wendong arrived at Los Angeles International Airport, where the Changxing Group team had already sent people to pick him up.

Shen Yixiong, one of the group's heads in Los Angeles, asked, "Mr. Yang, shall we go to the hotel to rest first? Would you like to rest for a day?"

"No need, I've had enough rest on the plane. The flight is at night anyway, so let's go straight to Peter Ueberroth."

The purpose of buying a private jet is not just for enjoyment, but also to save time and energy during flight;
For the super-rich or senior executives of large companies, the time and energy saved can be used to close more deals;
Shen Yixiong agreed, "Okay, then we'll head over now. I'll arrange to call him right away; I've already made an appointment with him."

"Yes." Yang Wendong nodded;
He watched as Shen Yixiong took out a brick-like electronic device and placed it to his ear; it was the next big thing in the world for the next few years: the mobile phone.

Wireless telephones appeared as early as the mid-70s, which greatly reduced the cost of communication;

However, Yang Wendong did not buy it, not because it was too expensive, but because Hong Kong did not yet have the infrastructure needed to install wireless equipment. Even if the mobile phone was placed in Hong Kong, it would only be a brick.
Los Angeles, being one of the top five cities in the United States, already had the infrastructure for first-generation wireless telephone communication, so his subordinates were actually useful.

A moment later, Shen Yixiong walked over and said, "Ueberroth already knows, and he is ready to welcome you."

“Okay, let’s go straight there then,” Yang Wendong nodded and said.
One of the important tasks of this trip to Los Angeles was to meet with Peter Ueberroth, who is also the chairman of the commercial operations committee for the 1984 Olympic Games.

In the 70s, Yang Wendong's products began to enter the global market, and he once thought of using the Olympic Games for global promotion.

The 1976 Olympics had already begun its sponsorship process around 72. At that time, the oil crisis had not yet begun. In terms of financial resources, Yang Wendong was still insufficient. In addition, the product range was limited, so he basically gave up on the Olympics.

The 1980 Olympics did fit the timing of Changxing Group's needs, but the venue for the 80 Olympics was Moscow. Due to political reasons, very few countries participated in this Olympics, including Western countries and even mainland China. Therefore, Yang Wendong gave up on it.
It was 1981, and the 1984 Olympics were being prepared, so Yang Wendong set his sights on this place.
The previous small sponsorships in mainland China were only for the domestic market, but now coming to Los Angeles to find Peter Ueberroth is for the overseas market.

Half an hour later, in an office in Los Angeles, Yang Wendong met Peter Ueberroth, a pivotal figure in Olympic history and chairman of the organizing committee: "Hello, Mr. Peter Ueberroth."

“Hello, Mr. Yang, I’ve long admired your reputation.” Peter Ueberroth said with a handshake, “Just call me Peter.”

“OK.” Yang Wendong nodded and said, “Peter, I think you know very well why I’m here with you this time.”

Peter smiled and said, "I understand. You want to buy advertising space at the Los Angeles Olympics? I'd certainly welcome that. Let's go inside and discuss it."

“Okay, please.” Yang Wendong said in the same way.

The two soon arrived at a conference room, where a blonde assistant served them several cups of coffee.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Yang Wendong said, "Peter, I know you are raising funds for the Olympic Committee. I am here with great sincerity. I hope to become the exclusive sponsor of the Los Angeles Olympics in four categories: beverages, food, home appliances, and computers."

Peter Ueberroth is a celebrity who changed the history of the Olympic Games; his achievement lies in making the Olympic Games a sustainable large-scale sporting event through commercial means.
Before this, any Olympic Games would have resulted in huge losses. Local governments would invest huge sums of money in building Olympic venues, athletes' accommodations, security and maintenance, etc. Although it would bring in some additional tourism revenue, overall it would still be a loss.

The 1972 Munich Olympics in Germany resulted in a loss of approximately $10 billion; the 1976 Montreal Olympics in Canada resulted in a loss of $15 billion; and the 1980 Moscow Olympics, due to political reasons, resulted in a loss of as much as $90 billion.
All the host cities of the Olympics have gained prestige but lost substance. Over time, everyone has come to realize this, to the point that few cities applied for the 84 Olympics. In the end, the IOC had to compromise with Los Angeles, agreeing to host the Games in Los Angeles, but not to use government funds. In this extremely awkward situation, if it is not handled properly, the Olympics, as a symbol of the human sporting spirit, may be lost.
Therefore, the IOC urgently needed to conduct reasonable commercial operations for the Olympic Games to ensure that the host city would not suffer losses, so it found Peter Ueberroth, a master of business operations.
After Peter Ueberroth took over, he also implemented many commercial reforms. One of them was to change the previous messy advertising to only one exclusive sponsor for each product. This fully guaranteed the brand's exposure, unlike before when there were thousands of sponsors, making the advertising space pitifully small and impossible to see, which was ineffective.

Peter Ueberroth said, "Mr. Yang, these four are among the world's largest commercial projects. According to the rules, we need to get quotes from top experts."

“I know, and I will naturally abide by the rules, but I just wanted to let you know in advance.” Yang Wendong added, “Our side is willing to cooperate with the Olympic Committee, and our offer will certainly not be lower than others.”

Additionally, I hoped to sponsor all the household appliances, beverages, and some food items at the Olympic venues, but I didn't win the bid on that either.

"Even if we don't win the bid, you'll still sponsor it?" Peter retorted.

Yang Wendong said, "Yes, this has nothing to do with winning the bid. I think this will save the Olympic Committee a lot of money, right?"

Changxing Group is now considered a sizable conglomerate globally, but there are still many conglomerates of the same or higher level.

For example, there are several Japanese electronics conglomerates in the home appliance industry, IBM and HP in the computer industry, and many giants in the beverage and food industry; even Yang Wendong would not dare to say that he is completely confident in competing with these companies.
Let's take a step back first and secure the on-site sponsorship first;

In this era, sponsors will spend money to buy advertising, but they generally won't provide enough on-site equipment. Beverages are fine, but electrical installation is extremely costly, especially in the United States where labor costs are extremely high.
However, this is a piece of cake for Changxing Group, because it owns Best Buy. They can simply send people and equipment over, and even station people here to ensure the quality of the equipment. After the matter is over, the equipment will be taken away and can be sold as 9% new used equipment.

As long as the equipment on site is your own, you can increase your brand's exposure by finding ways to influence some reporters. This is much simpler.

Peter thought for a moment and said, "I will consider this carefully, but everything will have to wait until after the brand is auctioned off before we can make a decision."

“Of course.” Yang Wendong was also aware of the rules, so he added, “In addition, I also want to acquire the Olympic broadcasting rights in Hong Kong. I need to let you know about this in advance.”

Peter nodded and said, "That shouldn't be a problem. It seems there aren't many options left in Hong Kong."

"Haha, good. I hope we can have deeper cooperation in the future." Yang Wendong paused and said, "I mean after the Los Angeles Olympics."

"After the Los Angeles Olympics? You mean the 88 Olympics?" Peter asked curiously. "I probably won't participate in the next Olympics, since it won't be held in the United States anymore."

Yang Wendong said, "I know. What I mean is, you can join our company and become a manager in our group."

Peter Ueberroth's ability to turn a loss-making Olympics into a profit demonstrates his exceptional skills and extensive network in the United States. Even disregarding the Olympics, it would be worthwhile to recruit such a person at a high price.

Of course, it's hard to say whether someone like him would be willing to work for others.

“Mr. Yang is truly thoughtful,” Peter shook his head and said, “That’s a long way off. Right now, I need to focus on ensuring the next Olympics proceed as planned.”

Yang Wendong agreed, "Of course."

In fact, people who are chosen by the IOC to be top managers are themselves very successful and have long been financially independent.
Especially after the Olympics, he achieved great success and had no shortage of companies wanting to invite him.
All I did was place my bets before it succeeded.

Peter continued, "However, I am still very grateful for Mr. Yang's kindness. Although I am the ultimate manager in this matter of Olympic sponsorship, I cannot make the decision alone. However, as long as the price you offer is right, the chances of approval are very high."

"Okay, thank you very much," Yang Wendong said with a smile.

Next, all you need to do is bid high enough in the subsequent price auctions;
As a time traveler, he naturally knew how successful the 1984 Olympics were, and naturally dared to pay a high price, while other brands always had to consider the effects of the previous Olympics, their own financial resources, and so on.

Of course, it's not that whoever spends the most money can guarantee a win; the IOC also has to consider various factors.

That's why Yang Wendong personally came to see Peter;

As its products gradually enter the international market and gain sufficient market share, it now needs a large-scale global campaign to promote itself.

Before the internet, the Olympics was the best choice.

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)