I build a giant in the Premier League

Chapter 227 Two Record Breaks! Crazy Racing! Let's conquer the Premier League together! [Subscribe]

With the International Champions Cup in full swing, football fever remains high in North America and Asia.

In addition, the Premier League also launched its pre-season this season, arranging for many teams to travel to Asia to participate in the competition, so this summer's football fever is one wave higher than the other.

After gradually adjusting to their form, the Chinese team from Bayswater won all three subsequent warm-up matches.

First, Felix defeated AC Milan 3-1.

The team then beat Arsenal 4-3 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

This was a very exciting offensive battle. Both teams attacked with all their might and the game was very exciting.

After the team returned to Los Angeles, they faced Real Madrid at the Rose Bowl.

Yang Cheng's team once again defeated Real Madrid 2-1.

Three wins in three games, Bayswater Chinese played 6 pre-season warm-up matches this season, with 5 wins and 1 draw, remaining unbeaten!

On the east coast, Ferguson's Manchester United's overall strength has been significantly improved after the introduction of a number of players.

After joining during the winter break, David Luiz joined midway through the season and although he performed well, he did not put in a very convincing performance.

But in the recent warm-up matches, the Brazilian central defender performed very well.

In addition, Juan Mata joined the team to fill the vacancy left by Scholes' retirement.

By the way, Juan Mata played as a left midfielder in Valencia, but now in Manchester United, he plays as an attacking midfielder.

In the Eastern Conference, Manchester United won three games in a row, defeating Barcelona, ​​Chelsea and Juventus, and successfully won the first place in the Eastern Conference Group.

Among them, the match between Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid at Michigan Stadium once again approached last year's record, reaching 109318 people, infinitely close to 11.

Combined with other games, including at Beaver Stadium, attendance has always been high.

This makes the International Champions Cup more and more popular.

After finishing the Eastern and Western Conference group matches, Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United set off at the same time and arrived in Bristol, Tennessee.

Even before the International Champions Cup started, everyone was surprised when the ICC announced that the final would be held in Bristol, Tennessee.

Because they don't remember that Bristol has a football stadium of this size.

Instead of holding the final at the Michigan Stadium with the largest capacity, why move it to Bristol?

Isn't this outrageous?
But as the International Champions Cup continues to heat up and as more and more content is revealed, everyone has to marvel at the generosity of the ICC.

Bristol doesn't have a big football stadium, but it does have a world-famous racing circuit.

Bristol Motor Speedway's fame comes in part from its football-field-like shape, with enclosed stands surrounding the track.

The track is 858 meters long, making it look like a much larger stadium.

In fact, as early as the 60s, it hosted NFL preseason games.

However, the capacity at that time was only 18000 people.

After continuous expansion, especially since the 90s, the capacity of the entire racing track has become larger and larger.

After the renovation in 2000, the capacity reached 14.7 people.

But in 2007, the racetrack underwent a new round of renovation, with a capacity of 15.3 people.

Note that these are nominal estimates.

In reality, there is only a rough estimate of how many people can be seated.

Because the racetrack is so large, it is difficult to get very accurate data.

And over the years, the racetrack has never been full.

But this time, ICC decided to hold the final of the International Champions Cup in this racing circuit.

When the news came out, American fans and media were shocked.

This is a crazy decision!

That's a racetrack, not a football field!
It just looks like it!

It hasn't even hosted a football match in many years.

As a result, various questioning voices emerged one after another.

Everyone thought that ICC must be crazy and would do anything to sell more tickets.

Where there is doubt, there is recognition.

Many fans think this is a very cool idea.

why?
Bristol Motor Speedway is not just an enclosed, quasi-football stadium with a circular grandstand.

Although there is no roof on the stands of the stadium, there is a huge LCD screen directly above the stadium, connected to the stands by several steel cables and suspended directly above the stadium.

Although the wide track between the stands and the stadium, coupled with the open-air environment, may make the atmosphere on the scene less enthusiastic, but this is definitely a very crazy decision.

Especially when ICC company asked a question during marketing.

"You want to know how many people can fit at Bristol Motor Speedway?"

Young people across the United States, especially football fans, were all incited.

That's pretty cool, isn't it?
But achieving this is actually very difficult.

Firstly, this is a racetrack. Problems with the track are not a big deal, but how to solve the problem of the stadium in the middle?

Remember, it's been decades since they last hosted a football game.

At this time, Bayswater Chinese's channels and relationships in the UK, as well as the professional backgrounds of many ICC executives, came into play.

It is known throughout the world that the country with the most advanced football field turf technology is Britain.

So, British experts flew to the United States, conducted on-site inspections, and proposed a very outrageous plan.

That is to use 19 days to temporarily build a standard football turf capable of hosting top-level competitions.

And the time cannot be too early or too late, it must wait until the night of the International Champions Cup final when the turf is in the best condition and can be put into use.

After the race, the turf will be removed and the track will be transformed back into a racing track.

How to do this?
This will test the capabilities of the team, especially the professionals who manage the stadium.

Tickets have been selling continuously and more and more are being sold. The renovation of the stadium is also proceeding in an orderly manner.

ICC also announces its progress every day.

More than 400 truckloads of sand and rocks were used.

All the turf and base materials are shipped from the UK, and are then laid and maintained by British experts.

By the time the International Champions Cup group stage was over and Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United arrived in Bristol, a brand new standard football field had appeared in the racetrack.

The stadium is surrounded by densely packed seats.

At this time, tickets are still selling.

On the day of the International Champions Cup final, when all the fans who came from afar walked into the racetrack with their tickets, they felt what it was like to be shocked!
The on-site broadcast was also constantly reporting the number of fans entering the stadium.

It started with reporting one thousand at a time, then it became five thousand at a time, and finally it was ten thousand at a time.

The live broadcast room of Fox TV was also extremely excited.

Because this will create history in American football, no, in North American football!

In world football, the final of the World Cup in Brazil in 1950 had the largest number of fans in attendance.

According to statistics from the organizers, there were approximately 17.3 fans paying for admission, but the actual number of fans entering was more than that.

Some say it is 199854, but another saying is that it has reached 22.

Anyway, we are far ahead in this game.

In North America, the match with the highest attendance so far was the International Champions Cup group stage last year, which was a peak showdown at Michigan Stadium with nearly 11 people.

But in this final in Bristol, before the game even started, everyone was certain that the stadium would be full and would set a new record.

What people are most concerned about is how many people can sit?

And, I must become one of the creators of this record!

Therefore, game tickets are in short supply.

Before the final started, when the players from both teams lined up to enter the stadium, the on-site broadcast announced the attendance of the game, which reached 156990!

The whole stadium cheered and boiled!
A full 15 fans at the scene gave deafening cheers.

But the on-site broadcast was still reminding everyone that fans were still coming in and this was not the limit of the Bristol Motor Speedway.

……

In this International Champions Cup final, both teams sent out their main players and deployed their strongest lineups.

The Chinese players in Bayswater still lined up in a 433 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;
Defence: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Matic drops back, with Toni Kroos and Modric in the middle;
Forwards: Gareth Bale, Lewandowski and Di Maria.

Both Piszczek and Walcott missed the game due to injuries.

Manchester United used a 4231 formation.

Goalkeeper: David de Gea

Defense: Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand and Rafael;
Midfield: De Rossi and Carrick form a double defensive midfielder, with Ashley Young, Juan Mata and Robben in front;

Striker: Rooney.

The International Champions Cup offers a good prize money for winning the championship, and it is also a cup championship, so both teams want to give it a try to see how much strength they can exert.

As soon as the game started, it entered into the fast-paced offense and defense that all Premier League fans are very familiar with.

Both teams actively adopted proactive tactics and pressed forward to attack.

This made the game open, and the fans at the scene cheered particularly excitedly from the first minute.

In this "stadium" without a roof and separated by a spacious horse racing and car racing track, the sound waves created by more than 15 fans still shocked everyone.

Especially when the game reached the 27th minute, when Gareth Bale received a straight pass from Toni Kroos on the left, he dribbled the ball wildly, passed two Manchester United defenders, and made a low pass to the middle from the left side of the penalty area.

Lewandowski was trapped by two central defenders and scored with a sliding shot from the middle.

The whole stadium went crazy!

All the fans at the scene were cheering wildly.

But Manchester United did not retreat and still chose to take the initiative and continue attacking.

Just before the end of the first half, Di Maria completed a beautiful one-two combination with Modric, received the ball on the left side of the penalty area, dribbled past Evra, and shot into the far corner with his left foot, sending the ball into the Manchester United goal.

2 is better than 0!

The current Di Maria is obviously more aggressive than Yang Cheng in his previous life, especially when playing on the right. His left-footed cut-in shot is very threatening, but he is not stable enough and needs more practice.

The first half ended with a 2-goal lead.

But after the second half, Ferguson made a substitution in the midfield, Nani replaced Ashley Young.

Just six minutes into the game, Nani dribbled past Kyle Walker on the left.

The England right-back relied on his speed and was good at physical confrontation to suppress Ashley Young in the first half, but when he met Nani, he had a hard time and was directly broken through.

Nani passed the ball to the back post and Robben scored from close range.

1 is better than 2!

Everyone at the scene cheered extremely enthusiastically.

The offensive in the game was one wave after another.

After the 60th minute, both teams made substitutions, but the game was still full of exciting scenes.

In the 69th minute, De Bruyne made a 45-degree pass from the right rib, which quickly penetrated Manchester United's defense and landed outside the left post of the goal.

Gareth Bale made a high-speed run, penetrated Manchester United's defense at lightning speed, headed the ball from close range into the far corner, and sent the ball into the goal guarded by De Gea.

3 is better than 1!

In the 74th minute, Javi Martinez made a diagonal pass from the midfield to the right.

After De Bruyne and Kyle Walker completed a one-two combination, the Belgian received the ball on the right side of the penalty area and made another diagonal cross, which still went to the back of the goal.

At this moment, Gareth Bale has been substituted.

Hazard is relatively short and is not suitable for grabbing this kind of ball.

When everyone thought that the ball was going to go out of bounds, a strong dark figure suddenly appeared.

Pogba was near the baseline, heading the ball back to the center before anyone else.

Harry Kane followed up with a push and sent the ball into De Gea's goal again.

4 is better than 1!

Manchester United quickly responded.

After Robben dribbled the ball away from Ryan Bertrand on the right, he cut inside to the middle, and when the defender thought he was going to shoot, he suddenly made a light straight pass.

The ball slipped right past Kompany.

In the penalty area, Rooney received the ball and pushed it into the goal of Bayswater Chinese.

2 is better than 4!

At this time, the game was already in the 86rd minute.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese beat Manchester United 4-2!
Yang Cheng and Ferguson, the Bayswater Chinese and all the Manchester United players entered the field together to celebrate.

This is a friendly match!

Although the game was played with real weapons and was very exciting, it was not a real combat after all!
At least, when choosing tactics, both teams tended to attack consciously or unconsciously.

At this time, the on-site broadcast also announced the number of fans attending the game.

It reached an astonishing 160990!

At this moment, the entire stadium burst into the warmest cheers of the entire game!
Even the players and coaches on the field were cheering for it!

A total of 16 people!

The commentator of Fox TV was also extremely shocked!
Last year, the match between Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid at Michigan Stadium broke the attendance record for North American sports events.

And now, it is still the Bayswater Chinese who are playing against Manchester United, and the attendance record has jumped directly to 16!

This isn't just a North American record!

In the history of world football, the attendance of this game is second only to the 1950 World Cup final!
"In the history of world football, today's match ranks 7th among the matches with the most live audiences!"

“In closed-field games like soccer and rugby, it ranks second!”

The whole stadium was cheering wildly!
16 fans were in the stands, cheering wildly.

Especially before the award ceremony, when the announcer on the scene called on fans to perform the Mexican Wave, the atmosphere on the scene was pushed to its climax.

16 fans piled up in the stands, creating waves of people!

This immediately created another historical record.

"The most participated Mexican wave in history is born!"

The second International Champions Cup came to an end in such a fanatical atmosphere!

Bayswater Chinese successfully defended the title!

……

The next day, almost all major media outlets around the world were scrambling to report on the International Champions Cup final held in the United States.

Bayswater Chinese beat Manchester United 4-2!
The confrontation between the two top teams certainly attracted attention, but what really broke the circle was the Mexican wave with 16 participants and the crazy atmosphere on the scene.

Countless fans who went to the scene continued to share their personal feelings.

Although the venue conditions were not ideal, the atmosphere was quite warm and the game-watching experience was quite outstanding.

A total of 16 people!

This is definitely a huge test for the organizers!

But through this final, ICC demonstrated its execution efficiency and management capabilities to everyone.

As reported in the media.

In such a crazy football match, the International Champions Cup had a perfect ending!

But this game will have a huge impact on American football and even North American sports as a whole.

The popularity of football in North America is increasing, and more and more football fans are attracting attention from the outside world.

16 people came to the Bristol Motor Speedway.

The average ticket price is $250.

Ticket revenue for this game alone exceeded $4 million.

This does not include various income such as fans’ spending during the game.

In addition, during the familiarization training before the game, nearly 6 people flocked to the scene, which was simply crazy!
According to US media reports, Bruton Smith, owner of the Bristol Motor Speedway, revealed that the football field used for the competition is laid on a foundation of 1 tons of sand and rocks.

"It took us a total of 19 days and mobilized countless manpower and material resources to transform this stadium into a football field that meets international competition standards."

Bruton Smith said that through this event, everyone saw the potential of Bristol Motor Speedway.

This place is not only suitable for horse racing and car racing, but now after the renovation, it will be able to host a series of major events such as football and rugby.

Finally, Bruton Smith also took this opportunity to advertise his own stadium.

This stadium can accommodate 16 people, the only one of its kind in the United States.

As long as you are confident in the box office appeal of an event, you can definitely give it a try!
……

When the International Champions Cup came to an end and Yang Cheng and his party were preparing to return to London, David Pensel and Richard Masters found Yang Cheng.

Together with Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada and others who were preparing to return to the UK with the team, they held a meeting.

The second International Champions Cup was a great success.

On the contrary, at the World Football Challenge, the average number of fans attending was only over 2, or even less than 3.

Although the appearance fees of teams such as Valencia and Benfica are cheap, for the organizers, not only will they not make any money, but they will lose a lot of money.

"After seeing how popular the International Champions Cup is, I think they won't want to do it starting next year!"

Richard Masters said with a grin.

When the International Champions Cup squeezes into this track, it will be difficult for the World Football Challenge to compete.

Unless they can beat the International Champions Cup head-on.

But judging from the organization of the second session this year, this is basically impossible.

"According to our preliminary statistics, the number of fans attending the group stage this year reached 148 million, which is a significant improvement over last year. If the final is included, the total number will reach 164 million."

Yang Cheng made a preliminary calculation and found that there were 18 more people than last year.

The increase in the number of players is mainly due to the 13 games in North America.

Especially the finals.

Last year's finals were held in New York, with only over 8 people attending.

This year there are 16, which has doubled.

As the number of people increases, ticket revenue will naturally increase as well.

The average price of group stage tickets this year has increased by 5%, averaging about $105.

But the average price of tickets for the finals has increased to $250.

Therefore, ticket revenue from this final alone exceeded 4 million US dollars.

When negotiating with Bruton Smith, the owner of the Bristol Motor Speedway, the two parties agreed that ICC would be responsible for the renovation and have priority in leasing, and the rent would also be preferential. For example, this year, after ICC invested in the renovation, the rent was waived.

The cost of the renovation is actually not cheap, especially the 1 tons of sand and gravel, plus the investment in turf, base materials, various expert fees, labor costs, etc.

All in all, ICC's investment is still huge.

But judging from the results and feedback, it’s all worth it!
Apart from anything else, this marketing campaign directly promoted the International Champions Cup to the whole world.

Now fans all over the world are taking a new look at this event.

"According to our current preliminary estimates, the total ticket revenue is approximately $1.954 million. Including pre-game training tickets and game day sales, we will probably earn $19 million from 2.35 games."

"Last year the number was $1.5 million," David Pensel said proudly.

This growth rate is really too fast!
Of course, the capacity of the stadium has reached its limit and it is basically difficult to increase it further.

According to David Pensel and Richard Masters, ticket prices will increase by another 5% next year. At the same time, efforts to attract investment can be increased, and I believe there will still be good growth.

2.35 million US dollars is about 1.63 million euros.

According to the original agreement, the appearance fee for the 12 teams is still 6400 million euros.

After deducting food and accommodation, travel, stadium rental and various security measures, the total expenditure is estimated to be 1.2 million euros.

The main focus is on investment in the team and the renovation of the final venue.

That means a profit of about 4000 million euros.

According to the previous agreement, each of the 12 top teams holds 5% of the shares, which means that each team can get another 200 million euros.

Yang Cheng holds 40% and can directly get 1600 million euros.

This is a huge sum of money!

Whether it is for Yang Cheng or for the 12 clubs, it is the same!
"Are you planning to distribute this money as dividends? Or do you still have some operating funds left?" Adam Crozier asked with concern.

"We still have a lot of money that has not been recovered, including some commercial promotion, advertising and television rights, etc. We initially estimate that these funds are sufficient to support the company's operations and the preparation funds for next year's International Champions Cup." David Pensel said.

After hearing this, everyone immediately looked at Yang Cheng, obviously waiting for him to come up with a decision.

Should this money be distributed as dividends or retained?

There will be plenty of reasons to stay.

After all, the cup competition has only been held twice, and the operating costs are increasing, so the company needs funds.

But to be honest, everyone has their own little calculations in mind, including the club.

Won’t the other 11 top teams do the math?

Things like this are extremely common in the business world.

The key lies in whether Yang Cheng lets go.

If Yang Cheng is greedy for money, he can find a lot of reasons to deal with the other 11 top teams, and they won't be able to say anything.

For them, receiving a high appearance fee is already very good.

Dividends?

Who has seen it?
"Adam, call them and have a meeting in London when you get back to Europe."

Yang Cheng said this and turned to look at David Pensel and Richard Masters. "You two should take advantage of this time to sort out the accounts and report them to the shareholders' meeting. At the same time, make a plan for next year."

When everyone heard this, they immediately understood what Yang Cheng meant.

This is about to pay dividends.

200 million euros.

Saying too much is not too much, saying too little is not too much.

"Interests are our most powerful weapon to unite these 11 top teams. It is also the moat that other competitions cannot dig away!" Yang Cheng said simply and bluntly.

In order to participate in the International Champions Cup, Barcelona even considered discontinuing the Gamper Cup.

Can we still see Arsenal's Emirates Cup?
And Bayern's Audi Cup has now been moved to mid-July. Isn't the purpose to avoid the International Champions Cup?
Why are these top teams willing to do this?

Because there is money to be made!

"Only when money is dispersed and people gather together can this event last for a long time and the cooperation will be solid!" said Yang Cheng.

After hearing this, Adam Crozier and others all showed admiration on their faces.

Although Yang Cheng is young, he sees many things more clearly than anyone else.

4000 million euros were spent without a second thought.

Although 1600 million euros went into his own pocket, it is still a huge sum of money.

But isn't this what all people who want to do great things have to do?

Thinking of this, everyone suddenly felt that their future was brighter.

As long as the International Champions Cup becomes more and more popular, and as long as the Chinese in Bayswater run better and better, Yang Cheng will never let them suffer any loss.

……

When Yang Cheng led the team back to London from the United States, the final sprint of the new season began.

The team's first match of the new season is the Community Shield.

Since the team won the Premier League and FA Cup, their opponent this time is Manchester City, the league runner-up.

This should be the most valuable warm-up match before the start of the new season.

While the Chinese in Bayswater were actively preparing for the match, the owners or senior executives of the 12 invited top teams gathered at the Lancaster Royal Hotel in London.

Since it was outside of training time, Yang Cheng, as the host, also attended in person and entertained everyone.

The main content of this shareholders' meeting is very simple: dividends.

Each club received 200 million euros, and as the holder of 40% of the company's shares, Yang Cheng received 1600 million euros.

When the news came out, everyone at the scene was in an uproar.

They would never have thought that they would become profitable in just 2 years!
And also give dividends!

This shocked everyone present.

When he looked at Yang Cheng again, the look in his eyes suddenly became completely different.

You know, they were all skeptical about Yang Cheng's decision back then, and they entered the game purely with a try-it-out attitude.

So, when Yang Cheng called on them to invest money and split the shares equally, they all held a negative attitude.

For them, they just want to earn the appearance fee.

But now, ICC not only earns them appearance fees, but also gives them a dividend of 200 million euros.

This made many people at the scene, including Florentino, obviously regretful.

They received 200 million euros and Yang Cheng received 1600 million euros.

He did invest money back then, but looking at it now, he must have gotten his money back long ago.

Thinking of this, everyone had to silently change their past impressions of Yang Cheng.

This guy is more than just a cake maker.

And it’s a big cake!

After the formal meeting, the lunch session began.

Everyone was chatting around Yang Cheng, and the first topic they talked about was the International Champions Cup.

Especially the game at Bristol Motor Speedway, which is hailed by Americans as the Super Bowl of football.

It caused a huge response all over the world.

"From the games in the past two years, we can see that American fans are still very hungry for football. They are eager to communicate with the best players in the world, and we can provide them with similar services!"

Most importantly, the International Champions Cup is still held in the name of a warm-up match and does not require the consent of the US Soccer Association at all.

This is a business competition.

But the problem also exists.

The first is the stadium constraints in Asia.

Currently, the stadium capacity in Asia is much smaller than that in the United States, which means that for the same appearance fees and games, the revenue in the United States is much greater than that in Asia.

But this does not mean giving up the Asian market.

As the most economically dynamic and populous region in the world, once the International Champions Cup is operating stably, revenue from commercial sponsorship and broadcasting rights will undoubtedly become a huge growth point.

But this requires ICC to persevere.

"So, I still hope that everyone can have more patience and confidence in our company and our new cup competition."

Yang Cheng's words were also recognized and supported by many leaders of wealthy families.

If nothing else, they believed in Yang Cheng just for the dividends.

200 million euros is nothing to them.

Especially for membership clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​as presidents, they don't care about the 200 million euros at all.

But dividends are an attitude!

David Pensel also talked a lot about his experiences after hosting the competition over the past two years.

To sum it all up, it can actually be summed up in one sentence.

More people means easier work!
12 top teams unite and go to North America and Asia to make money!
If one or a few families go alone and fight on their own, they will never succeed.

Just like this year's final, there were 16 fans in attendance.

Who has such appeal alone?
With generous appearance fees and 200 million euros in dividends, many top teams have tasted the sweetness and have expressed their continued support for ICC.

This also reassured Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier, David Pensel and others.

As long as we keep these giants stable, no matter who comes, they will not be able to shake the basic foundation of the International Champions Cup.

……

When Yang Cheng and ICC held a shareholders' meeting in London to announce the dividend, at the CAA Creative Artists Agency headquarters in Los Angeles, Italian-American Charlie Stillitano was walking out of his boss' office with his head down.

As the senior director of soccer in the sports division of the world's number one agency, Charlie Stillitano had just botched a deal, the World Soccer Challenge.

After financial accounting, the loss was more than 10 million US dollars.

This put him under tremendous pressure in this company where performance is king.

Charlie Stillitano is not a football practitioner who changed his career halfway. His family has a close connection with football.

Although he was born in the United States, his parents are Italian.

Stillitano Sr. is also one of the founders of the United States Soccer League. As early as the 70s, he had already started to engage in football agency business, including arranging for Pele's Santos to play friendly matches in the United States and European teams such as Lazio.

When it came to Charlie's generation, he started playing football in school and later became a coach.

He was involved during the preparations for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, mainly responsible for venue operations.

After the World Cup, he was named vice president and general manager of Major League Soccer's New York and New Jersey franchises.

In 2003, Charlie Stillitano started his own business and established a company called Champions World LLC, where he served as founder and CEO. He also used his and his father's connections in the football circle to arrange for European teams including Real Madrid and Manchester United to play warm-up matches in the United States.

This also made him famous in the industry and he made friends with many famous European coaches and top executives.

But in 2005, the company declared bankruptcy and owed a large fine to the United States Soccer Federation.

In 2006, after CAA experienced a series of high-level turmoil at the turn of the century, it ushered in a box office boom in the film industry. Its performance was booming, and the company's top management was ambitious and wanted to enter the sports industry, so they established a sports department.

Charlie Stillitano joined CAA Sports and was responsible for football operations.

He quickly achieved results and signed superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in the first year.

When the time was right, Charlie Stillitano returned to the track where he had once achieved success and founded the World Soccer Challenge.

In 2009, the first World Football Challenge was a huge success.

The joining of Bayswater Chinese made CAA earn a lot of money, but the event also exposed many problems and caused strong dissatisfaction among the participating teams.

Due to the World Cup in South Africa, it was decided to temporarily suspend the event in 2010.

Unexpectedly, an ICC company, with its International Champions Cup, swept across North America and Asia with extremely strong qualifications, and took advantage of the suspension of the World Football Challenge to seize the initiative.

CAA and Charlie Stillitano both felt threatened and decided to revive the World Soccer Challenge in 2011.

But all the big teams have poached him and signed contracts.

With no other options, Stillitano used various connections to invite teams such as Valencia and Benfica to participate in the competition in the United States.

However, the box office appeal of these teams is far less than that of the top teams.

As a result, this year's World Football Challenge suffered a huge loss.

When Charlie Stillitano returned to his office, he felt as if he had gone back to 2005, when the company went bankrupt.

The boss asked him to find a way to hold the World Football Challenge no matter what.

But now, what can he do?
All 12 top teams have been signed by ICC, what else can he do?
Thinking of this, Charlie Stillitano felt very helpless.

It was at this moment that his cell phone suddenly rang.

Caller ID: Steven Ross.

……

The next day, Southwest of Central Park, New York, USA.

When Charlie Stillitano walked into the office of a company called RSE Venture Capital, he was immediately invited to an office by the lady named Lola at the front desk.

After knocking on the door, a familiar voice came from inside.

"Please come in."

That was Steven Ross's voice.

An American real estate tycoon with assets exceeding $70 billion, he also owns the Miami Dolphins of the NFL.

When Charlie Stillitano opened the door, he found that there was not only Steven Ross inside, but also two other people.

One of them he recognized was Matt Higgins, who is now the CEO of the NFL's New York Jets and also the executive vice president of business operations. He is considered a very famous business expert in the entire NFL.

The other was a young man whom Stillitano did not recognize.

"Charlie, welcome, my friend!"

Steven Ross beckoned Stillitano over and stood up to introduce him.

"Matt, you must recognize it."

As Steven Ross greeted them, Matt Higgins and Charlie Stillitano nodded slightly in greeting.

The two were not strangers.

"This young man is from the Ross School of Business in Michigan. His name is Daniel Hillman. He is a very thoughtful and interesting young man."

Stillitano saw Daniel Hillman at once and had a good first impression of him, thinking he was a likable kid.

"Come on, Charlie, let's discuss some serious business."

After Stillitano sat down, Steven Ross got straight to the point.

As a wealthy man like him, it is impossible for him to sit here and chat for no reason.

It was obvious that he had an ulterior motive in setting up this scheme.

He said frankly that he was frightened by the model of the International Champions Cup.

A total of 16 fans came to watch the game!

"What does this mean?"

"This means that there is an extremely strong demand in our country. It's not that we don't like football, but no one has provided us with it in the past!" Steven Ross seemed a little excited.

He felt that he saw a big blue ocean!

"Do you know what your problem is, Charlie?"

Stillitano shook his head.

Steven Ross smiled slightly, "You and CAA are too calculating and not courageous enough."

"Do you think that fans in our country like to watch football games?"

"No, no, no, Charlie, they don't like watching football games. What they like are the stars, the superstars, the wealthy clubs, those names that are exciting just by saying them!"

"So, they can rush into a temporary racetrack to watch a football match just for a so-called record. This is a very crazy idea, but you have to admire the professionalism of those European football players!"

Stillitano was silent.

It's not that he hasn't thought about it, but the problem is that the cost of inviting top teams is too high.

According to his original intention, he still had to proceed step by step, take it slow, first gain a firm foothold in the market, and then strive for the joining of top teams.

But unexpectedly, a guy who didn't play by the rules suddenly appeared!

But we have to admit that in the past two years, ICC’s operations have been very impressive and professional.

Although there were some minor issues, they were very professional in terms of operations, promotion, and logistical support.

Of course, behind this is the entire European football industry chain at work.

"The reason I invited you here today, Charlie, is to discuss with you that our RSE Venture Capital is very interested in the World Football Challenge, so we are willing to invest in this event and make it bigger and stronger together."

When Stillitano heard this, the expression on his face suddenly changed from gloomy to bright and he immediately laughed.

It couldn't be better to have such a big boss investing in us.

"Also, do you know the Chinese in Bayswater?" Steven Ross asked with concern.

"Of course, fans all over the world know them."

“I heard that they were still playing in the amateur league in 2003?”

"No, it's not an amateur league, it's the third-level league in England, which is also a professional league." Stillitano hurriedly explained.

A lot of news these days is based on rumors.

"No matter what league, I just heard that their valuation has increased a lot in the past few years. Previously, the Qatari consortium and the American investment company were willing to pay 40 billion pounds to buy them, but were rejected. Is that true?" There was a flash of greed and fanaticism in Steven Rose's eyes.

“Indeed, the Chinese in Bayswater have done very well in the past few years.”

When Steven Ross heard this, he laughed and pointed at Matt Higgins and Daniel Hillman in front of him.

"Look, we now have Matt, who is the best at business operations in the NFL, and Daniel, a young man who is very thoughtful and motivated and good at business promotion. We also have you who is very familiar with and understands football."

Finally, Steven Ross fixed his hand on Charlie Stillitano.

"You know, our country needs football, and the best football league in the world is the Premier League. I think we should go to the Premier League to buy a team and run the team like the Chinese in Bayswater did!"

"What do you think?"

Steven Ross looked at Charlie Stillitano with confidence.

As the owner of an NFL team and a well-known real estate tycoon in the United States, he has absolute confidence in his business vision and abilities.

The people under him are all elites in the industry, and are particularly good at various businesses.

Bringing the elites of the American sports industry to Europe and the UK would be a dimensionality-reduction attack on those corrupt old guys in the Premier League, wouldn't that?

In just a few years, the Chinese in Bayswater have used the Premier League platform to increase their wealth by billions of pounds.

Now, such a big fuss has been caused in the United States again.

Steven Ross felt that he and his men could do the same if they went there.

It can even be better!

He wants to cross the Atlantic and conquer the Premier League!

(End of this chapter)