Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 812 812 520 The End of Good Times

?Chapter 812: Chapter 520 The End of Good Times Chapter 812: Chapter 520 The End of Good Times Clay Bennett gazed intently at the financial report from the recent game.

He confirmed it over and over, and realized he had not read it wrong.

The third game, which had just ended, from ticket revenue to merchandise and including the sponsorship from newly joined sponsors and publicity expenses from soon-to-be-released movies seeking exposure like “Twilight City,” had brought him a net profit of thirty million US dollars.

It should be noted that during the era of past Seattle fans’ beloved Payton and Kemp, the SuperSonics had never made a net profit of thirty million US dollars in a single season.

And this was just one game.

Moreover, the upcoming second game was also expected to bring in tens of millions of dollars in profit.

Experts had been saying the birth of the NBA economy stemmed from the ordinary people’s relentless pursuit of greatness. Bennett had originally scorned these economists who only preached, but now he was tasting the sweetness.

Particularly when the SuperSonics, as the sole emblem of the empire, and the Lakers, dubbed the Evil Empire, engaged in a decisive battle, the resulting media network and extensive publicity made the Western finals increasingly resemble the centennial showdown described by traditional sports concepts.

The more money the SuperSonics made, the more Bennett craved a new arena.

He believed a new arena could double the current revenue.

However, the more money they made, the greater the resistance to building a new arena became.

Bennett had thought this would become a major issue, but after the third game, those long-silent fervent fans, leveraging the currently booming market, had once again shouted the successful slogan that brought back “The Chosen One”: “Save our SuperSonics!”

Such fans could be seen everywhere from the city center to the suburbs.

The city influence of the SuperSonics in Seattle was now incomparable to before.

Even the Mariners and the Seahawks had to admit defeat.

This was the people’s war and the people’s wish, which the human rights warriors pleading for the public could not ignore over the hundreds of thousands of city residents’ desires by forcibly saying “let the citizens focus on more important matters.”

Frye had ultimately been right.

For some people, keeping professional basketball in Seattle was the most important thing in life.

The night before, Yu Fei told the media he was fighting for them.

Now, it was their turn to fight for Yu Fei.

A moment later, the general manager Sam Presti walked in and said, “Boss, we just received a new movie publicity…”

Bennett asked, “Which movie?”

“‘Iron Man 2,'” Presti said, “the movie Frye starred in. They want to play the teaser trailer during tomorrow night’s game, and Robert Downey Jr. will be there. He’s Frye’s friend.”

Bennett only cared about the revenue.

Key Arena was now an excellent place for publicity. Hollywood needed their home court’s popularity to promote, and they would gain extra income in return.

“I heard Reebok is preparing to sell commemorative T-shirts themed around Frye’s 50-point night?” Bennett suddenly asked.

Presti replied, “It seems there is such a thing.”

“If we also sell similar merchandise, does it involve copyright issues?” he asked.

“No,” came the reply.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Bennett exclaimed, like a gold-devouring beast, “Tomorrow night is the second anniversary of the 50-point night. We should use this as a theme to sell merchandise.”

“But… designing these products takes time…”

Presti was still a decent person, but Bennett wore a taken-for-granted look: “Design what? No need! You think the fans care about our design? Fans care about the emotional value, the immediate effect, the self-satisfaction of ‘Yes, I was there at the time.’ We just need to tie these products to the 50-point night. The fans will pay.”

“We sell dreams, they realize dreams; it’s a win-win!”

Presti looked at Bennett, sometimes wanting to ask him a question.

How much money is enough?

Over the years, the SuperSonics had used Yu Fei’s name and image for numerous purposes.

The profits were pleasing.

However, Presti believed the money wouldn’t just fall into Bennett’s pockets without a reason.

Did this big man from Oklahoma City realize his posture in front of Frye was getting lower by the day?

Labor and management would negotiate again this summer, and in the current situation, a breakdown in talks was very possible. As a representative of a big city, Bennett had become a target for the players’ union.

While other owners complained about consecutive years of losses, Bennett had already made a profit of hundreds of millions of US dollars for consecutive years. Moreover, the players’ union was well aware that all of this was brought to Bennett by Yu Fei. As an owner, he was still advocating for reducing the players’ income?

How could you cling to the most profitable player’s coattails while also wanting to reduce the players’ earnings?

“I heard Brandon’s recovery is going well?” Bennett suddenly brought up.

Presti said, “Yes, he’s preparing to start recovery training. If the doctor permits, we’d like to start him off with the most basic recovery exercises.”

“If Brandon can play, the Lakers wouldn’t stand a chance!” Bennett asserted, “Other than making a few noises off the court, they’ve got no other ability!”

Since the series began, officiating issues had rarely been discussed.

It seemed to be no big deal.

But this was actually a case of “you’re not me, how could you know how hard it is?” and the Lakers were quite sensitive about the officiating.

At home, they had fewer free throws than the SuperSonics, and away, they were forced into playing the tough-style games typical of the early century by the aggressive officiating style.