The Rest, Only Noise

Chapter 693 He is also very innocent

All were prepared for CBS to exit without competing.

Because they've already spent a billion on MLB's TV deal, and another half a billion on the 1992 Olympics and the 1994 Winter Olympics.

No matter how rich it is, it will be difficult to compete with NBC, which has risen from the TV network, for the broadcast contract of the NBA.

However, CBS's offer contract clearly states: 760 million for 4 years.

Moreover, there are no hard requirements for the alliance, as long as "live broadcast autonomy".

In the past, CBS had to negotiate with the league to broadcast games, and it took a long time to decide which team's games to broadcast.

If you agree to this condition, CBS will have arbitrary power in this matter in the future.

Stern then said: "As you can see, the two contracts have their own advantages and disadvantages. NBC gave us more autonomy, and CBS gave us more money."

Before the president spoke, the delegates at the meeting had already begun to exchange opinions one after another.

"How about it, let's discuss it."

Rockets general manager Steve Patterson (Steve Patterson) said: "I think we should have further negotiations with CBS and use this contract to force NBC to increase the offer."

For a poor and short-minded team like the Rockets, money is the number one priority.

Therefore, they prefer the NBC contract.

"NBC should indeed raise their offer, but the autonomy of the broadcast should not be given to CBS."

The Clippers are represented by their boss, the infamous Donald Sterling.

Sterling said indignantly: "If we didn't have a game broadcast nationally in the past few years, many Los Angeles fans would not even know that there are two NBA teams in Los Angeles!"

Lakers representative Jerry West joked: "You guys came here uninvited."

"For six years, we haven't had a game broadcast nationally. Does that make sense?"

Sterling protested.

Underdogs are ignored, not just a contemporary feature.

Which era is the case, like the CBA, do fans want to watch the Beijing-Guangdong/Liaoning/Xiangjiang battle or any season of the Bayi team in the 1910s?

No one wants to watch except the home fans.

The broadcaster also pointed to the ratings, you can't blame others for not giving you exposure.

But CBS doesn't just ignore weak teams, it doesn't pay much attention to mid-tier teams and understarred teams.

However, most of the representatives on the scene took a fancy to CBS's offer.

At first glance, 760 million in 4 years is not as good as MLB's 1.06 billion in 4 years, but considering the size of the major leagues, the number of players and the maximum salary standard, it is not as good as the NBA.

Last year, Rickey Henderson, MLB's first active player, received an annual salary of 3 million, the highest salary in MLB.

As we all know, Mr. You signed a contract of 30 million for 10 years after his debut. Although it was the result of Louis deliberately not lowering the price, the Knicks changed a large number of new players every year and the salary cap has risen year after year, so Ewing's contract is not as good as after 1998. Garnett has also become a reef that hinders the team's reinforcement.

Even if MLB's 4-year, 1 billion contract comes into effect, MLB's maximum annual salary will rise to 4 million at most, but with the NBA's new broadcast contract taking effect, let alone 4 million, 5 million, 6 million... 10 million annual salary , will appear, and the growth rate is still very fast.

Most teams want to make a profit, and this contract can bring them huge benefits, they have to consider, even if the cost is losing the right to participate in the game broadcast program.

"Coach Lu, what do you think?" Shafir asked.

Louis asked him back, "What do you think?"

"760 million is good, but I don't think it's a good thing if the price is to let CBS freely decide which games to broadcast." Shafir said pessimistically, "The ratings are their lives, if they have complete autonomy, Can we expect them to drop the Knicks, Celtics, Lakers, Trail Blazers games to stream the games of the unattractive teams?"

While Shafir isn't quite qualified as a general manager of professional basketball, his views on many things are clear.

This guy is not stupid, just kind of smart.

Oh no, this guy is kind of smart, but just too stupid.

The weak team hopes to open further negotiations with CBS. They hope to sign with CBS, but only if they give up the requirement of live broadcast autonomy. In addition, they also need to use the CBS contract to go to NBC to raise the price.

Strong teams have different views, some tend to CBS, some don't care.

Big broadcasters like the Lakers, Knicks, and Celtics have never worried about the team's exposure.

However, a poorly commercialized team like the Celtics would lean towards CBS.

Garcia Lynn asked Lou publicly: "Coach Lu, as the president of the Knicks basketball operations department, what do you think of these two contracts?"

Louie said shyly: "As the person with the least seniority present, some words are inconvenient to say, so I only brought my ears."

"Louis, just say it." Stern smiled.

"Does it fit?"

West joked: "Don't be humble, okay?"

"Okay, then I'll just say a few words."

Louis put his hand on the table, and Shafir hurriedly moved the plate in front of him so that he wouldn't touch it.

"I think both contracts are good and bad, first with CBS, like many people have said, we can't give them live self-determination anyway. They can't be trusted, not just CBS, all stations. Trustworthy, I believe you all remember 'Loen's Revenge'①, when ABC destroyed the broadcast of professional basketball, what did CBS do? They interrupted the celebration of the 1977 Trail Blazers winning the championship and went to live broadcast the golf game; they A lot of bad schedules and game times were scheduled to go along with their TV shows; they also put out a disgusting time-lapse program that almost destroyed professional basketball.”

Louie's smile turned terrifying: "I'm not alarming. If they have the right to broadcast self-determination, in case our game ratings drop in the future, these things will still happen."

"So, Louie, what do you think is, let CBS give up its exclusive broadcast autonomy?"

Stern asked.

"No," Louie said startlingly, "my view is that we should tease CBS like a professional stripper/dancer/girl, use our strengths to lure NBC, and then take CBS's offer and them Negotiation. Of course, during this period, they may wish to give them a little calm time. We should negotiate deeply with NBC, because no matter how lucrative the offer is from CBS, their live broadcast strategy will not change. The CBS era does not end in a day, Teams other than New York, Los Angeles, Portland and Boston will not be valued for a day. If things go on like this, the world only knows that there are four teams in the NBA and lacks attention to other teams, which is not conducive to the improvement of the commercial value of the league.”

Louie said earnestly: "My view is that we should negotiate deeply with NBC and make them agree to maintain the relative balance of each team's broadcast share while taking some benefits at a critical moment."

"Only by promoting all teams can the value of the league rise to new heights, which is impossible at CBS anyway. We have spent 17 years to prove this."

Louie's speech has won the respect and support of most people. He is not like the Los Angeles and Portland teams. Because of his superior conditions and carefree, he has an indifferent attitude.

As the most popular team in the league, the Knicks do not need to get involved in this matter at all. No matter who they sign, the influence and commercial value of the Knicks will not decline.

But Louie took the stand of all teams to delve into the pros and cons of signing with CBS and point the way for the next phase of negotiations.

In fact, it reminds many old people of Reed Auerbach back in the day.

Louis' speech was in the final stage, and Auerbach of that year often spoke in the final stage.

But the difference is that Auerbach chose to speak at the last stage because he knew that by that time, everyone wanted to dismiss the meeting as soon as possible, so some of the suggestions he put forward would most likely be adopted by the bosses without hesitation.

And Louis, after listening to the suggestions of all parties and understanding everyone's demands, provided a suggestion that is beneficial to most teams.

In just 12 short years, from 1978 to 1990, Louie was deeply rooted in the league, and not just because of his ability as a scout, but not entirely because of his coaching and rebuilding of the Knicks played an unparalleled role.

What completely separates him from the rest, and earns him the trust of all, is the fact that he puts aside his position for the sake of the entire league.

At the end of the meeting, Stern held a vote.

Regarding the next stage of negotiations, whether to focus on CBS or NBC.

In the end, CBS's bid of 760 million was only supported by 5 clubs~www.novelmt.com~ and NBC was supported by 23 clubs.

At the end of the meeting, in addition to a few clubs that had feuds with Louis, the representatives of other clubs who had little contact with him—some even the owners—came to greet him and wanted to communicate in depth.

Louie is open to anyone who comes, even though his relationship with the head of Chicago and New Jersey is so bad, but in all fairness, is the reason for those contradictions in him?

He is also innocent.

(1) In 1973, the negotiations between the NBA and ABC, the partner at the time, broke down, so the latter gave up the priority to renew the contract, and the NBA turned to sign with CBS. The ABC executive in charge of the project, Ruen, was determined to destroy the NBA broadcast on CBS. He started selling college football like crazy, crushing the NBA in ratings, and then the NBA's underworld schedule and underworld game time came. Even the ratings of a junk sports program he launched on NBA live days (weekends) completely broke the NBA. Within a year, the NBA's ratings dropped by 25%, and in the 10 years since then, the NBA's ratings have appeared. A free fall, a tiebreaker without a live broadcast, a time-lapse recording of the finals, and a lack of public interest—that's what Louie lived through from 1978-1983.