Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 1599 Incomparable
Leaving aside the special case of boxing matches being a one-off deal, and considering the relatively stable income accumulated over a calendar year based on performance, according to Forbes statistics, the three highest-paid boxers of all time are—

Li Wei. Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo.

In 2019, Li Wei earned a staggering $130 million in a single calendar year, setting a series of historical records with his overwhelming success.

He not only became the first football player in history to earn over $100 million, but also broke the record for the highest annual income for a non-boxer professional player, sparking a global buzz and going viral. All sports enthusiasts joined the chat room.

At that time, Li Wei suffered a severe backlash—

From a passionate football fan.

Globally, how can rugby possibly rival football in terms of its mass appeal? To be precise, no sport can compete with football. The sheer number of football fans easily surpasses the number of enthusiasts for any other competitive sport, making it virtually unbeatable.

When football fans saw that Levi's annual income actually surpassed that of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, those die-hard fans instantly lost their minds—

From "How is that possible?" to "How could that be?", the emotions grew increasingly intense. From questioning the accuracy of Forbes' statistics to launching a full-scale attack on Levi as a fraud, the overwhelming attacks completely destroyed the football fan base, escalating the attacks to the point of claiming the collapse of a sport and even competitive sports.

Overwhelming!

It wasn't until Cristiano Ronaldo gave an interview expressing his admiration for Levi and praising the brilliance Levi had achieved in just a few years that a division arose within the football community, with Messi fans and Cristiano Ronaldo fans starting to clash, and the focus of criticism shifted away from Levi.

At the time, the critics and haters said that Levi was just a shooting star, flashing by and unable to last, and that time would expose his true colors; moreover, how could the market value of rugby be comparable to that of football, and how could sponsors continue to pour money into Levi?
A year has passed in the blink of an eye, and Forbes hasn't even released its latest list of the world's highest-paid professional athletes. Instead, they've written a special feature on Levi.
According to statistics, after achieving the feat of winning three consecutive Super Bowls, Levi's market value once again soared, making him the undisputed number one in global competitive sports, with advertising endorsements pouring in like a tidal wave; more importantly, the success of Nike and Louis Vuitton has made the industry extremely envious.

Nike has not released official figures, but according to industry insiders, Nike paid Levi $50 million in bonuses during the 2019 financial year alone. This figure surpasses that of LeBron James, who officially signed a lifetime contract with Nike in 2015, making him the new benchmark for the highest-paid active player under Nike, second only to the legendary Michael Jordan.

The same goes for Louis Vuitton; even though ten months have passed, the frenzy surrounding that collaboration sale on Fifth Avenue in New York is still vivid in people's minds.

Donald Yu's long-standing commitment to building a brand image for Levi has finally taken shape, with a steady stream of brand sponsorships coming their way. Donald has complete control over the decision-making process, not just considering endorsement fees, but also focusing on building Levi's brand image and laying the groundwork for the future.

High-end brands, top brands, and luxury brands are all sitting in a row, eagerly waiting outside Donald's office, hoping to get a piece of the pie from the Levi craze. Since David Beckham, the popularity of competitive sports has reached an unprecedented level.

A combination of factors led to the publication of this Forbes feature.

Even before the new contract between Levi and the Kansas City Chiefs officially takes effect in the 2021 season, Levi's income within the calendar year has already seen a breakthrough.

Two hundred and ten million US dollars.

History has witnessed once again that Levi has become the first non-boxer in the global competitive sports arena to surpass $200 million in annual income. Following his miracle in 2019, Levi went even further in 2020, setting a monument, an unsurpassable and incomparable benchmark.

But that's not all that's truly unbelievable.

Indeed, Mayweather is truly outstanding, earning $285 million from a single fight—a staggering figure that will likely remain unmatched for a very long time, not even by Mayweather himself.

After all, after the "money war" ended, he announced his official retirement, a true retirement.

However, Mayweather's business was a one-off affair, unsustainable and inconsistent; he made a quick buck and then retired. Levi, on the other hand, was different.

The 2020 season is far from over. Li Wei's endorsement contracts are for more than a year and will continue into next season. Furthermore, next season marks the beginning of a new era of contracts, guaranteeing that Li Wei's income will continue to rise. If Li Wei can maintain his strong performance in the new season, and even make history, then we can foresee:

An annual income of $210 million is still not the limit.

"Li Wei" has now truly become a brand, representing dreams, genius, willpower, unwavering perseverance and passion, nobility and trust, and the image and quality that any brand dreams of. Its personal value is immeasurable.

Not only does it have continuity, but it also has infinite possibilities. What we see before us is not the ceiling. This is what makes Levi truly amazing and terrifying, enough to shut up football fans.

As expected, the backlash came after Forbes published its feature article. Passionate football fans refused to believe it and denounced it as a conspiracy, a carefully designed conspiracy and a lie. But this time, the outcry and fervor clearly subsided, and people were caught up in the shock.

After all, that's two hundred million dollars, an unattainable height, a height that even Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo combined still fall short of.

When the lead reaches a certain level, the competition ceases to exist, and Li Wei is becoming someone they must look up to.

Amazing, a whole field of...

All that remains is praise. Those insignificant complaints and attacks are nothing but dark and twisted jealousy, which only highlights their insignificance and humility. The praise and admiration that swept the globe were swept away lightly, and those negative voices disappeared like dust, swept into the shadows.

At this moment, calling Levi "NFL's number one" is actually an honor for the league. Football is becoming one of the labels of the Levi brand, breaking down barriers with overwhelming force and entering the daily lives of more and more people. The history that Goodell has been looking forward to has finally happened.

Amid this massive wave, the league's top 100 superstars list has been unveiled once again, serving as a summary of the 2019 season and a warm-up for the 2020 season.

(End of this chapter)