Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 1598 Perfect Endorsement
It is foreseeable that, as always, the talent show will be rife with undercurrents, sudden storms, and alliances and betrayals. There will never be a shortage of hidden swords and shadows, and the next talent show will be caught in the storm again because of the "Lee Wei curse".

However, that was a year later. A reversal and an unexpected event once again pushed the fierce competition in the league to a climax.

Now, let's turn our attention back to the 2020 NBA Draft, which has now concluded. Young talents like Okuda, Simmons, and Ruggas are eagerly preparing to embark on their new journeys.

They were confident that they would prove Reeves wrong with their actions. So what if he was a three-time Super Bowl MVP? It didn't mean he could be condescending and boss around young rookies, nor did it mean that all his opinions about football were gospel truth.

Indeed, the Alliance is creating a god; all the fanfare and signs indicate that Goodall is shaping Levi into a deity. But these fearless young people won't buy it. They will create their own future, even if it means stepping over the corpses of gods.

Look at Levi, didn't he climb to the top by stepping on Brady's shoulders? If Levi can do it, why can't they?
One or two, brimming with the dream of achieving a triple jump within three years and ascending to the throne of glory, embarked on a new chapter in their professional careers with boundless enthusiasm.

Amidst the hustle and bustle, another year's draft has come to a close, another batch of fresh blood has entered the league, free agency trades are nearing their end, and the new season is quietly approaching. Although it hasn't officially started yet, hearts are already pounding.

The 2019 season, as the league's centennial season, is also a turning point, as the league has formulated a series of strategies and plans to expand its influence and continue to develop overseas markets. These plans will be launched one after another in the new season, and the league is about to usher in a new look. Everything is unknown.

In the 2020 season, an additional playoff spot was added for the first time, increasing the number of teams from six to seven.

At that time, only the federation's number one seed will enjoy a first-round bye and home advantage throughout the tournament, while the number two seed will have to compete in the wildcard tournament.

Wildcard Round Matchups —

"Second seed vs. seventh seed".

"Third seed vs. sixth seed".

"Fourth Seed vs. Fifth Seed".

Divisional Round Matchups

In the first round of the wildcard tournament, the team with the lowest seed among the three winners will challenge the number one seed, while the other two teams will face off against each other.

Adding a playoff spot is not just about adding a wildcard game and increasing viewership and advertising revenue. It also gives an extra team a chance, disrupts the playoff landscape, amplifies the chaos of the playoff competition, and further amplifies the NFL's renowned suspense in the game.

On social media, people are commenting that the league is targeting the Kansas City Chiefs. Is the league worried that the Kansas City Chiefs will achieve a four-peat? Are the other 31 teams joining forces to pressure the league to stop the Kansas City Chiefs from continuing their dominance?

Actually, that's not the case.

This was a business promotion and marketing decision. After three years of discussion in the league and a vote at the team owners' meeting, the process from conception to project initiation, to the development of detailed strategies, and finally to implementation through an agreement, was not simple. The planning had already begun before the rise of the Kansas City Chiefs and Levi.

Netizens joked: "This was originally a plan to target New England patriots, but the Kansas chief ended up walking right into the line of fire."

And that's still not all. In the 2021 season, the league will add one more regular season game, expanding from sixteen to seventeen.

This affects the length of the season, home and away schedules, overseas event arrangements, and so on. The league is exploring the market's potential step by step.

It is obvious that the alliance is not targeting anyone, neither the Kansas City Chiefs nor Levi are qualified, because everything is based on interests, involving hundreds of billions of dollars and even a crucial step in the overall layout for the next decade. Goodell has a much grander plan.

Just like Brady, Watt, and Rodgers' positions on the team, profit is the core of the professional league, even more so than the value of a single team. All 32 teams in the league united and worked together to pursue profit, ushering in a new era.

However, Goodall must admit that circumstances make heroes; everything was planned perfectly, everything was on track, and Livy just happened to appear out of nowhere, appearing in the exact right place:
Asian. Running back. Triple Crown winner.

With perfect timing, favorable location, and harmonious relationships, everything came together in a perfect way. Even Li Wei's background as a novice who entered the field halfway through his career added spice to the story, making him the most appropriate, suitable, and perfect spokesperson for the alliance's promotional plan and market expansion strategy.

This is why, despite Levi's efforts to leverage his running back status to secure more benefits for players in other positions and challenge the core position of quarterback, which led to disagreements with Goodell's meticulously planned strategy spanning twenty years, Goodell still prioritized the bigger picture, elevating Levi to the forefront of the league and initiating a comprehensive partnership.

Li Wei is the true chosen one.

The facts have proven this point.

Before the start of the new season, Forbes published an article celebrating Levi's historic achievement of becoming the first player in professional sports history worldwide to earn over $200 million in a single calendar year.

In its article, Forbes mentioned the globally sensational "Money Fight" of 2017, the boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Connor McGregor.

That fight broke Mayweather's personal earnings record, including a $100 million appearance fee, live ticket sales, advertising revenue, and the real highlight: a share of the paid live stream sales. The paid live stream generated a staggering $600 million in global sales, from which Mayweather received a substantial share, ultimately earning him a total of $285 million.

This is the highest individual earnings in all competitive sports worldwide; Mayweather earned a check for $285 million from just one boxing match.

However, Forbes argues that this is only the revenue from one game, cannot be replicated, and is a one-off deal, making it a very special case that needs to be listed separately; the situation of other professional teams cannot be calculated according to Mayweather's standards, and even Mayweather himself cannot be compared.

Players like Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, and David Beckham, who rely on regular season income, prize money, endorsement income, commercial investments, and image licensing to generate revenue, not only achieve peak performance but also maintain a steady, high income over three to five years or even longer. This should be the norm.

In such a normal situation, no one has ever been able to earn more than two hundred million dollars in a single calendar year, never.

Until Li Wei appeared—

History was finally born.

(End of this chapter)