League of Legends: Reborn in Season 3, Tuning the Entire League

Chapter 89 Sponsors Come Knocking!

Youchen Foods!

In the general manager's office.

A scene that would leave all the employees speechless was unfolding in front of the desk—well, not some gossip about a secretary's endless work day and night.

Instead, it turned out that the computer in front of their over-40-year-old CEO You was playing a live game stream.

"It's a great pity that WOA Dawnwing still failed to pose a real obstacle to NXG. Under JM's leadership, NXG once again won with overwhelming force." The game commentator's regretful voice came from the speakers.

However, Mr. You, who went out to make his way in the world at the age of fifteen and became the founder of a baking group, kept his eyes fixed on the screen, his eyes following the red and white team uniforms on the camera.

The four large characters "Youchen Foods" were prominently displayed on the sleeve of the jacket.

Looking at the peak viewership of nearly ten million on the TGA live stream, the man's lips curled up in a wide smile that didn't fade for even a second.

"It was another massive exposure without any additional investment. Choosing to sponsor this kid's gaming team turned out to be the right decision."

Who would have thought that last year, I just went to Jinling University to see an old friend and then, out of friendship, sponsored a college student's online store. I didn't expect to gain anything extra, but in just one year, the student not only became the highest-selling snack seller among our secondary distributors in a single month, but also used that so-called e-sports to give our products the exposure they needed among young people.

A sponsorship fee of 200,000 yuan is exchanged for weekly live broadcast exposure with tens of thousands of viewers, not even counting the increasing number of views that will continue to grow as the match videos are uploaded online.

Every time the event organizers show NXG players on camera, their brand logos printed on their jerseys get a huge amount of exposure.

For the company, this is an incredibly lucrative deal. After all, they still need to make the necessary annual advertising investments. There are countless examples of advertisements that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars but don't make a splash. Compared to the e-sports that this young comrade Jiang Ming is currently promoting, which can directly reach hundreds of thousands of young viewers, there is simply no comparison.

After all, the main consumers of snacks are young people, and compared to the wide-net approach of television advertising, targeted advertising is obviously much more effective.

"The only problem is that the arm area is still too small and the position is not conspicuous enough. It would be great if we could remove the advertising space on the chest of the team uniform."

It can only be said that the founder of Youchen is indeed a ruthless person who was able to start from scratch at the age of fifteen.

From the moment Jiang Ming's live stream became a hit, to the surge in his online store's inventory, he began to cram on esports-related knowledge for quite some time. He also realized that this was just the beginning; after the league came the playoffs, and after the playoffs came the World Championship. As the competition progressed and the team's performance improved, the outside world's attention would continue to rise, and as NXG's sponsor, their exposure would only increase.

Even without any gaming knowledge, middle-aged men who are used to watching football matches know very well what it means for a team to repeatedly achieve overwhelming victories against teams of the same level.

……

Just as NXG successfully achieved two consecutive victories in the LPL main tournament, the effects of Tencent's massive investment in promotional resources for the LPL professional league began to emerge.

The ever-increasing number of viewers for live tournament broadcasts on TGA and YY platforms attracted countless merchants who had witnessed Mr. Ma's online sales prowess to flock to the scene.

Interestingly, besides manufacturers of esports-related products like mice, keyboards, gaming chairs, and computer peripherals, snack brands such as Daliyuan, Oreo, and Three Squirrels have also approached LPL esports teams with sponsorship offers.

3 month 24 day.

Nanjing City, Qixia District, NXG Esports Club.

Around noon, several men in suits bumped into each other outside the gate.

"It seems we all have the same goal today."

The man in the suit wearing the Daliyuan company logo spoke first.

The other two smiled and returned the greeting, saying, "If nothing unexpected happens, I think so."

"Let's go together!"

"can."

When the three of them arrived at NXG's place, it wasn't really a competition, since the other team's uniforms were still very clean. They could easily fit ten more advertising slots in the space, let alone three.

As long as it's not a fight over exclusive naming rights, there's absolutely no need for any tension.

"Speaking of which, the business manager of Youchen Foods is truly visionary—and of course, incredibly bold. He dared to invest in e-sports, an industry that seems to be struggling in China," the Panpan representative exclaimed.

These market researchers are already considered quite sensitive to various social information, but even with Tencent's terrifying advertising offensive on LOL and its professional league throughout last year, not many businesses dared to take the plunge. One reason for this was undoubtedly their concern about public opinion.

When a company or product advertises or hires celebrities to endorse it, the first thing to consider is not how much return the other party can bring them, but to conduct a risk assessment, that is, whether the publicity will have the opposite effect.

Are there many viewers of professional gaming competitions online?

many!
It's no exaggeration to say that five out of ten young people watch videos of different types of game competitions in various ways. As long as your product's target audience is young people, the gaming industry is an indispensable force in this increasingly developed internet age.

But why were there so few people who dared to touch it before?
The answer is quite simple: it's simply the mindset of the older generation in China that's causing the problem.
Gaming = Addiction = Internet addicts = Unproductive teenagers!
These potential negative public opinions are a real problem; it would be terrible if they exposed that the company and its products hadn't benefited much but had caused a lot of trouble.

But things are different now. With Tencent leading the way, the League of Legends professional league, built at great expense, has been successfully established. And a golden phoenix has actually flown out of the phoenix tree they built.

NXG is an esports club founded by college students and popular online streamers!
The previous concerns completely disappeared with the NXG gaming team.

With a sound system, orderly management, strict team discipline, and excellent team members, if you don't tell others, who would know they are game players?

You could say it's any idol group and people would believe it, right?

What do companies value? Besides brand awareness, they also value a corresponding image.

If you advertise on a bunch of people who never wash their hair, have oily and acne-covered faces, and wear outdated, tacky clothes, do you think consumers will doubt the quality of your company?
More importantly, the owner of NXG has a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Current students at prestigious universities, outstanding university entrepreneurs, and recipients of research support for emerging industries at Jinling University…

People in China may not understand the emerging e-sports industry, but they do know about Nanjing University and a young talent who earns millions a year at the age of nineteen.

Seeing the two talking about this topic, the manager of Three Squirrels, who had been walking at the front, shook his head and said, "It's not accurate to say they're bold; those guys at Youchen Foods were just lucky."

“A friend of mine happens to be a professor at Jinling University. He said that Youchen was just a friend of Jiang Ming, the boss of JM, oh, that is, NXG. When he started his business, he kindly provided some low-priced supplies of products like pork floss cakes. That's how we made the connection. But I never expected…”

Unexpectedly, this college student entrepreneur propelled him to the top of the distributor's sales charts, and his gaming team swept through the competition, frequently trending on social media. "Who would have thought that while many gaming teams were still crammed into internet cafes, eating instant noodles, and living in basements, this young CEO Jiang rented a three-story building?"

The person in charge of Panpan Foods looked ahead, and the NXG's high-tech appearance immediately caught his eye.

"I felt like I was going to a well-known football club to discuss sponsorship."

"Haha, don't talk about you, I'm the same."

Yes, the sponsors came to us personally, instead of the recipients having to run around begging for sponsorship.

"Oh, you know what, there are even staff members to greet you."

At the base gate, Lin Jingyi, dressed in a black suit, greeted them with a smile. Facing the team's sponsor, she felt that no amount of smiling was too much.

"Hello, everyone! It's a great honor to welcome you to our NXG eSports Club! I'm the club's manager, my surname is Lin, just call me Xiao Lin."

Lin Jingyi wore a confident smile, with elegant manners and extraordinary temperament. No one would guess that this mature and capable woman was actually just a junior in college.

"I'm so sorry, but our General Manager Jiang is currently in an in-depth meeting with the clients who visited this morning and is unavailable at the moment. How about this, I'll show you three around the club first, so you can get familiar with the environment. What do you all think?"

Are there people ahead of us?

The three people who walked into the NXG base looked at each other, and such a thought flashed through their minds.

However, it was quickly set aside again.

The person in charge of Panpan smiled politely and said, "That would be the best. We are actually quite curious about how e-sports clubs operate."

Although the three of them belong to different businesses, their tasks should be similar.

We discussed sponsorship cooperation with NXG, and at the same time, we researched the operating models of esports teams and conducted a certain assessment of their potential.

"This is... a team vehicle?" The person in charge of Three Squirrels came to the Wuling van in front of the NXG and looked it up and down.

Lin Jingyi explained in turn: "Yes, he will be responsible for the team's daily procurement of supplies and transporting players to the competition venue on match days. Of course, in a way, he is also our club's current official vehicle."

"Don't exaggerate, don't conceal," was Jiang Ming's advice to Lin Jingyi before meeting with clients today.

In 13, the domestic e-sports ecosystem was on full display. Even if NXG had some advantages, it was limited by funding issues and was not much different from other teams. Exaggeration would only make the sponsors back down and think that you were just putting on a show.

Of course, there's no need to hide anything; the current organizational structure of the NXG club is top-notch in China.

"They even did a paint job; President Jiang has a lot of ideas."

"The design and load capacity are also good. I know this Wuling model; it can easily carry ten or so people at a time." The person in charge of Daliyuan patted the hood of the vehicle, then picked up his hand and found that there wasn't much dust on it.

Yes, they clean it frequently; it seems NXG pays a lot of attention to their team image.

"But these kinds of vehicles seem to require permits to carry passengers, right?"

"Yes, our NXG club has invited a law professor from Nanjing University to serve as an advisor, and we have made improvements to the systems in advance for all the areas that may be involved."

Wow, the law department at Jinling University, ranked 5th in the country by the Ministry of Education, is indeed not to be trifled with.

With a double entendre, Lin Jingyi understood perfectly well where her and NXG's true advantages lay. Faced with these ruthless merchants, she didn't hesitate to use the school's name without hesitation.

The subtext is simple: don't think that just because our boss and manager are young, they can bully us in our cooperation.

We have connections in higher places!
After Lin Jingyi opened the car door, the three of them took a quick look inside. However, unlike the major changes to the exterior paint job, the interior was simply decorated with some NXG peripherals made by Jiang Ming.

After touring the base vehicle, Lin Jingyi pointed to the training ground behind her with her right hand and said, "This is where our athletes usually do their morning exercises and daily activities."

The small area in front of the base has been thoroughly cleaned up, and green plants have been planted on both sides.

"Early morning exercise?" The person in charge of Three Squirrels looked at Lin Jingyi with great curiosity. "Shouldn't e-sports players train in front of a computer? Why would they talk about early morning exercise?"

Lin Jingyi pointed to the small area in front of the base that had been thoroughly cleaned up and planted with greenery on both sides, and explained: "In our CEO Jiang's philosophy, sufficient physical exercise is also a necessary task for an e-sports player. This area is where the players usually do their morning exercises and daily activities. In addition to maintaining physical health, physical exercise can also adjust the players' mind and body, and further improve their competitive state."

"Currently, we have limited funds. If the club can expand in the future, we will add a dedicated sports training area and a health management department for the players."

"Great!"

"That's what the person in charge of Panpan said instinctively."

Although the other party was just giving a presentation in the style of attracting investment, they were genuinely knowledgeable and fundamentally different from those who were just empty promises and charlatans.

Lin Jingyi led three sponsors into the base. "The first floor is our players' living and working area. On the left is the kitchen and dining area, and behind the glass door on the right is where the NXG players train daily."

"Can I go in and take a look?"

Through the glass door, you could vaguely see five young people sitting in front of a computer discussing something, but because it was an enclosed space, you couldn't hear the details clearly.

"Sorry." Lin Jingyi didn't nod this time. "The players are currently having a tactical discussion, which involves the confidentiality of team tactics. The training room tour will have to wait a while."

"It's alright, it's alright, we understand."

The three of them waved their hands. If it were before this year, if someone talked to them about the need for tactical discussions when playing games, they would have thought that person was out of their mind. But since the research began and they learned about NXG's dominant performance in the current domestic LOL league, they have put aside their traditional prejudices.

While both are professional gamers with excellent individual skills, NXG's ability to completely dominate their opponents can only be attributed to tactical superiority.

You can stand outside the door and take a look; the glass door doesn't obstruct the view, and you can generally see the structure inside.

(End of this chapter)