The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 43 No one can stop me from contributing more to the team.
On October 10th, under the impetus of David Stern, NBA Executive Vice President Lars Grannick traveled to Beijing to hold talks with CCTV.

In 89, David Stern went to CCTV and signed a broadcasting agreement that was almost free.

CCTV received NBA regular season game recordings for free and broadcast the All-Star Game and Finals live for free. All they had to do was broadcast advertisements from NBA sponsors like Gatorade. The NBA even paid for the travel expenses of CCTV's broadcasting team.

However, over the past three years, the NBA has provided very few regular season game videos. This is not because the NBA is unwilling to provide them, but because CCTV simply does not want to broadcast more of them.

There are two main reasons. First, CCTV does not have a separate sports channel, so there simply isn't enough time for its programs.

Secondly, basketball is not popular enough in China, and there are no Chinese players in the NBA. It is not cost-effective to waste so much time broadcasting NBA regular season games, and it is not favored by advertising sponsors.

David Stern hopes to leverage the Dream Team's performance at the Olympics and the opportunity presented by Tang Bei to further expand into the Chinese market, and hopes that CCTV will dedicate more time to broadcasting NBA games.

The terms are better than the original agreement; previously, the regular season signal was not provided free of charge, but now the live satellite broadcast signal for both the regular season and playoffs is provided free of charge.

If CCTV sends a broadcasting team to the United States, the NBA will provide up to $2 in travel expenses per season.

This new broadcasting agreement will last until the summer of 2000, and seven seasons of television broadcasting will be carried out under this agreement.

Of course, there is a restriction in the agreement: if the viewership ratings reach a certain standard, CCTV will need to pay a certain rebroadcasting rights fee.

The fee is still very low, and it's not charged per game, but rather a package payment, which is considered a symbolic payment for the broadcasting rights. On average, if you broadcast 40 regular season games, it would only cost about a thousand dollars per game.

It can be said that the NBA has gone all out, so CCTV Sports Department discussed it several times and finally decided to broadcast the regular season live starting from the new season.

However, this decision still requires an application, and the broadcast plan needs to be submitted to the station for approval.

There is no separate sports channel, and for every additional NBA regular season game broadcast, time has to be squeezed out from the existing channel.

Zhao Yongzheng, the director of the sports department, made an outrageous request, applying for 40 regular season games and ten to fifteen playoff games.

Ultimately, only 15 regular season games were approved, and the broadcast would be suspended at any time if the ratings were too low.

As for the playoffs, certain prerequisites have been set.

The requirements are simple, including two prerequisites. First, the viewership of the regular season live broadcast cannot be too low. If it is too low, the playoffs, except for the finals, will not be considered for live broadcast.

The second condition is that if Tang Bei can participate in the playoffs, all of Tang Bei's playoff games will be broadcast live.

This result not only delighted CCTV Sports, but also the NBA.

"cheers!"

David Stern was overjoyed upon hearing the news and celebrated with a glass of champagne with several executives.

“Tell our referees that I don’t want to see any calls against Tang. I would be very happy if Tang could become an All-Star.”

The league then notified the Hornets, who in turn notified Tang Bei.

Tang Bei was overjoyed when he found out, and called Eric Fleischer over. Together with John Liu, the three of them opened a bottle of champagne.

After the preseason games, the official training camp lasted another week.

On the 2nd, Tang Bei received a call from Xu Jicheng. CCTV was directly using satellite signals provided by the NBA, and the commentary would be conducted in the rear broadcast room, with no broadcast team sent to the front line.

"The broadcast period is six to eight months, and the NBA only provides a maximum of $20,000 in travel expenses. Moreover, it does not have its own satellite channel, so it cannot broadcast on-site interviews in real time. Therefore, it simply does not send people over."

"A total of 15 regular season games were broadcast, 5 for the Bulls, 5 for the Hornets, and 5 for the other teams combined."

To be honest, Tang Bei was both happy and somewhat disappointed. No broadcasting team came, and the Hornets only played 5 games, which did not meet his expectations.

But this is just the beginning, much better than nothing. If CCTV establishes an independent sports channel in the future, it will surely be even better.

"By the way, Tang Bei, I have some good news. Doesn't the NBA reimburse up to $20,000 in travel expenses each season? CCTV is planning to send a reporter to interview you for the entire season."

"Really? That's great! What's the person's name?"

"Zhang Heli, a former national team player who stayed in the US, was the second center of the national team and the number one power forward in Asia back then. He was known as the Magician Under the Basket. After retiring, he served as the coach of the BJ Men's Basketball Team. You can call him Coach Zhang. He is currently in Los Angeles and will be coming over tomorrow."

"Wow, that's impressive! Okay, I'll pick you up from the airport tomorrow." On November 3rd, Eric Fleischer arrived from New York.

However, he was the only one, and the original plan to arrange a personal agent for Tang Bei was canceled.

His younger brother Mark Fleischer once said that Tang Bei should be careful of someone stealing him away, which made him more vigilant, as did his agent.

Besides Tang Bei, the company only has a few role players, so he doesn't need to personally manage them. From now on, he will mainly serve Tang Bei's side.

So he plans to move the company from New York to Charlotte, which will also reduce the company's operating costs, making things convenient for both parties.

However, the move was opposed by his company employees and agents, and even his most trusted friend, Andy Miller, did not intend to come with him.

So he simply dissolved his agency and prepared to set up a new one in Charlotte.

Little did he know that this decision would save him from a major future problem.

In the future, his most trusted Andy Miller would steal Kevin Garnett and Chauncey Billups from his team. Although he won the lawsuit and Miller paid more than three million dollars in compensation, it caused him to fall from the top of the agent list and never recover.

Around noon, Zhang Heli arrived in Charlotte.

He was very happy to receive this job from CCTV a few days ago.

He could leave his wife in this life, but he couldn't leave basketball. This job allowed him to return to the basketball circle, and being with Cai Tangbei was the happiest thing for him.

CCTV pays him 2500 RMB per month for salary and travel expenses, and can also reimburse the NBA up to 20,000 USD.

Considering the high cost of away games, he made an agreement with CCTV that he would only be based in Charlotte during the regular season and would not cover away games.

The two had contacted each other beforehand, and Tang Bei went to the airport to pick them up.

"Coach Zhang, welcome to Charlotte."

"Thank you, thank you, Tang Bei, it's so nice to see you. I've been following you in Los Angeles, your talent is just too amazing."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, they got into the car. He had already asked Eric Fleischer to help Zhang Heli find a rental room.

He was renting just one room in a townhouse complex near his apartment. The room was small, only eight or nine square meters, and cost $170 a month, utilities not included.

That evening, Eric Fleischer invited everyone to dinner, and John Liu naturally went along. Tang Bei also invited Zhang Heli.

"Tang, how's it going with the Hornets?"

"Larry Johnson and Kendall Gill appear to have a good relationship, but they're probably vying for the top spot behind the scenes."

Does it affect you?

"Have."

"What kind of impact? You're second in line, shouldn't they be trying to win you over?"

"Among the main lineup, they took the most shots, while I only took the fourth or fifth. They were in my way."

Upon hearing his words, Eric Fleischer, John Liu, and Zhang Heli all wore strange expressions.

Fleischer rubbed his face and pondered, "Tang, you're still a rookie. Don't argue with them for now, and the management won't support you either."

Kendall Gill was the team's leading scorer last season, and Larry Johnson was the number one draft pick. They are both strong and have commercial potential, so they are qualified to compete for the top spot.

Once you've improved your fundamentals and techniques, proven your abilities, and gained experience, you'll be qualified to compete with them.

Tang Bei smiled but did not respond.

He has his own ideas; once the regular season starts, he must increase his shot attempts.

He said during the draft that he wanted to make the Hornets better, so no one can stop him from contributing more to the team.

(End of this chapter)