Who would still play tennis after being reborn?

Chapter 81 What's the point of having a team? I just need tools (14)

Why am I different?

Just as Gu Cheng was wondering, he heard Zhang Ming complain: "If it were anyone else, I definitely wouldn't recommend forming a team when they first started playing professionally. It's unnecessary."

"It's hard to say whether we can achieve good results, so building a team is just a waste of money."

"But you are different. You are strong, with the ability to be among the top 100 in the world, or even stronger. It is necessary for you to build your own team in advance."

"I think I'm fine on my own." This is Gu Cheng's true thought.

"Let me finish speaking before you say whether someone is good or bad."

Gu Cheng didn't say anything more.

Zhang Ming patiently explained, "You're not famous yet. Once you become a professional player and achieve a high ranking, endorsement deals will come your way. If you're on your own, you'll have to negotiate the endorsement fees yourself."

"Even when no endorsers approach you, you have to find them yourself."

"Of course, you can choose not to hire endorsements, but... a large portion of a professional player's income actually comes from endorsement fees, with only a quarter or even less coming from prize money."

"In other words, without endorsement income, your competition prize money can only cover your expenses abroad at most."

"Of course, top-level competitions usually have more prize money, so you can definitely save a lot, but if you can take the endorsement fee, you'd have to be out of your mind to refuse it."

"The same goes for the competition schedule. You have to figure out what kind of competitions are held at what times, and which competitions are most efficient and conserve your strength and energy."

By the time he heard this, Gu Cheng's forehead was already covered in a fine layer of sweat.

He is not someone who likes to trouble others, but he is someone who hates trouble. He pursues his dream of becoming a professional gamer, and nothing more than fame and fortune.

Since I've decided to pursue a professional career, money is definitely something I need to consider.

Just like Zhang Ming said, it would be foolish not to take the endorsement fee.

But he didn't want to find endorsements himself, and he didn't want to discuss endorsement fees.

As for competitions, it would be very convenient if someone could research various competitions in advance and give advice on which ones to choose.

It saves you the trouble of looking at all those dazzling competition information.

From these two perspectives, forming a team is indeed very necessary.

There are also physical therapists. This may seem unnecessary, but for professional players, many will choose a satisfactory physical therapist even if they don't have a coach. The purpose is self-evident: to prolong their professional career.

Being an athlete sounds like a glamorous profession, but many athletes suffer from numerous injuries as they age, and the money they earned in their youth may not even cover the medical expenses. This is where the role of a physical therapist becomes apparent.

Thinking of this, Gu Cheng took a breath and said, "Brother Ming, I don't know anything about this either. As for the team, let alone them. I don't know a single person in this field."

"This is actually a minor issue. I've been in this industry for many years and know quite a few trustworthy people in this field, so you don't need to worry about that. The only thing you need to consider is the team's expenses."

"There are two types: one is a fixed salary plus commission, and the other is a percentage-based revenue sharing."

"If it were a regular professional player, I would definitely recommend a percentage-based revenue split, since it wouldn't be much. But for you, a fixed salary plus commission would be better. However, with this model, your initial investment would be quite large, and you might not be able to make a profit until you start playing in ATP tournaments."

After a moment's thought, Gu Cheng asked, "What's the typical team split?"

Zhang Ming thought for a moment and said, "It depends on the team. Stronger teams will take more cuts, while average teams will take less. It's usually between 3% and 10%. Top professional players will take less, since their annual income is much higher than other players."

Gu Cheng pondered for a moment. A 10% commission is not a small amount. Based on 20 million per year, one person could take 2 million, and if it's an entire team, they could take as much as 30%.

Of course, this profit-sharing ratio is definitely not the same for everyone on the team.

There are more coaches and tactical analysts, and relatively fewer others. Overall, they make up about 25%, but this is still a number that Gu Cheng finds somewhat unacceptable.

You work hard to earn a little money, and a quarter of it is gone.

After thinking for a long time, Gu Cheng asked, "What if I just need someone to watch the games for me and an agent?"

"I knew you'd ask that."

Zhang Ming laughed as if he had expected this: "If anyone else asked me this, I would definitely yell back, but it's different for you. A coach is probably useless to you. Even the best coach wouldn't understand your style. You can save that money. As for the physical therapist..."

“I don’t need a physical therapist, I don’t usually exercise much,” Gu Cheng quickly replied.

With his current strength, as long as he maintains control over his body step by step, trains his physical fitness regularly, and raises the five-dimensional attributes of this body to the level of the body in the Prince of Tennis world as soon as possible, he can basically handle all levels of competition.

Most importantly, he only dares to use certain ball skills; otherwise, given his current physical condition, he wouldn't dare to use those extremely energy-consuming techniques at all.

Furthermore, he had a vague feeling that he really wanted to step into the deep realm of selflessness, that door that had not yet been opened. In addition to mindset and understanding of tennis, physical function was also very important.

After all, how can one comprehend the concept of "perfect harmony" when one's physical functions haven't even reached their peak?

Zhang Ming rubbed his forehead, looking helpless: "Then we don't need a physical therapist anymore."

"What about sparring partners? We can't do without them too, can we?"

Gu Cheng thought for a moment and said, "I can't afford to hire any of the top 100 professional players in the world, so I won't bother."

Zhang Ming: "..."

Can't we just talk normally?
Which company hires top 100 professional players from around the world as their sparring partners?

However, considering Gu Cheng's freakish strength, hiring a regular sparring partner would probably be useless, and might even be less effective than a ball-serving machine, so I didn't complain.

"So, one person is a tool, and the other is an agent?" Zhang Ming asked.

Gu Cheng thought for a moment and said, "It should be about right. It would be best to find someone who understands professional esports and can also negotiate endorsements, so that we can just pay one person's salary."

Zhang Ming was speechless. At such a young age, he was already able to exploit labor. What would he be like in the future?

Despite his inner complaints, Zhang Ming still agreed: "Alright, I'll help you look for someone, but it will take some time to find someone like that. I'll let you know when I have any news."

"it is good."

After exchanging a few words, Zhang Ming turned to the topic of professional competitions again: "Actually, if you really want to play in ATP events as soon as possible, going directly to the ITF Hope Tournament is the fastest way. Of course, it won't be that much faster, since you can't catch up with those top-level tournaments in a short period of time anyway. It's better to play in ITF junior tournaments, and..."

“There’s another advantage to playing in ITF junior tournaments.”

benefit?

Gu Cheng immediately sat up straight.

(End of this chapter)