Initially, Pei Qian had been looking forward to the bidding. He had hoped that none of the GOG teams would be taken over. Then, he would happily accept them.
Now, it seemed boring.
That was because whether these GOG teams would sell or not would have nothing to do with him. Tengda could not compete with those third-party buyers.
Pei Qian sighed silently.
Forget it, I’ll leave it at that. I’ll just treat it as a wasted effort.
However, just as Pei Qian took two sips of coffee, his phone rang again.
He picked it up and saw that it was Zhang Yuan.
Pei Qian: “?”
He quickly answered the phone.
“Boss Pei! I just told the six clubs about the auction, and then… Ai, Boss Pei, you already guessed it, didn’t you?”
Pei Qian: “?”
What do you mean?!
Can you not stop mid-sentence?!
Pei Qian was speechless. “And then…?”
Zhang Yuan said excitedly, “Then, three of the clubs decided not to sell!
Pei Qian was stunned.
Not to sell?
Can’t you keep to the spirit of the contract? You said you were going to sell it. How could you change your mind?
Ai, that’s not right. Didn’t they already sign the contract?
Pei Qian was a little puzzled. “Didn’t we already sign the agency contract? If they don’t sell it, they’ll have to pay the penalty fee!”
Zhang Yuan laughed. “Boss Pei, that’s why you’re so smart!
“Those clubs did want to sell their GOG teams at a higher price at the beginning. They planned to buy an internet cafe team at a lower price in the future to fight their way back.
“That was exactly why they signed the contract.
“However, the situation has changed completely!
“Shenhua and about ten other companies ended up bidding for the teams. Although they have not officially started bidding, the value of the teams would definitely increase by thirty to forty percent!
“That’s not a good thing. Those clubs know very well that, although they could sell their teams for a high price now, a number of huge companies outside are also eyeing their GPL spots!
“Since there are already so many people fighting for GPL spots even before it’s started, wouldn’t there be more to fight for them in the future?
“They have figured it out. Once they sell their teams and GPL spots for about ten million yuan, it would be difficult to buy them back in the future – even if they offer thirty or forty million yuan!
“Yet, they could not just decide not to sell. They have signed the contract.
“That’s why they would much rather pay two to three million yuan for breaching the contract than sell their teams! If they sold their teams, they would incur more losses in the future!
“Boss Pei, another little trick from you and we’ve earned another ten million yuan!”
As Pei Qian listened to Zhang Yuan’s elated voice over the phone, he fell into a daze.
No, I added the penalty clause because I was planning to pay for it myself!
I wasn’t trying to earn money from these clubs!
Still, it was too late to say anything now. The contracts had been signed. There was no possibility of Tengda breaching the contract now.
He could only take the ten million yuan from those three clubs tearfully!
At that moment, Pei Qian was speechless.
“Then… what about the other three clubs that insisted on selling their teams? Is SUG still selling their team?” Pei Qian asked.
Zhang Yuan: “SUG is still selling! Obviously, those three companies are being stubborn; they’re still betting. They firmly believe that if they sell now, they can sell at a peak, and they’ll have a chance to enter again in the future.”
Pei Qian: “…”
He did not know if he should feel happy or sad.
Hearing no response from the other end of the line, Zhang Yuan asked, “Boss Pei, what about… the bidding? We were going to sell six teams, but we can only sell three now.”
Pei Qian felt like he had nothing to live for. “What do you think?”
He could not think now. Since things had already come to this, he could sell whatever he wanted.
Or did Zhang Yuan have other ideas?
Zhang Yuan smiled and said, “Boss Pei, I think the same as you.”
Pei Qian: “?”
The same as me? What do I think?
Zhang Yuan continued, “Did you expect that there would only be a small number of clubs left?”
“There are more than ten companies bidding now, but there are only three spots left. The buyers will definitely raise the price crazily!
“After all, none of these companies are short of money. What’s more, people tend to buy things with inflated prices rather than deflated prices. The scarcer the supply , the more intense the competition!
“We’ll allow them to bid for the three slots first. We still have more slots for the GPL. We’ll release two or three more in the next wave so that the companies can fight somemore…
“This cycle would definitely maximize GPL’s profits…”
Pei Qian shuddered in fear. “Absolutely not!”
Zhang Yuan: “?”
Just listening to Zhang Yuan’s description, Pei Qian could already foresee his tragic future.
Pei Qian heaved a long sigh. “How many GPL slots do we have left?”
Zhang Yuan was stunned for a moment. “Er, Boss Pei, didn’t we plan to arrange for 12 to 16 teams at first? There are a total of ten established clubs in Jingzhou. Four of them are not for sale. Of the six that we planned to sell, three are intending to back out and pay the penalty.
“Therefore, apart from the GPL slots for the three clubs that we still have to sell, we still have two to six slots. You have decided how many we can release.”
Pei Qian immediately said, “Throw out the remaining six slots! Don’t leave a single one!”
If he really did as Zhang Yuan said and sold them one by one, he would definitely make more profits.
He couldn’t allow that!
Those companies were already eyeing the GPL spots. Since he could not persuade them all to leave the market, he could only sell them all at once, while the price of the GPL spots was not very high.
He would earn more now, but less in the future, right?
He had to choose the lesser of two evils. Since they were both profitable, he had to choose the less profitable option.
Zhang Yuan was stunned for a moment. “Sell them all? It would be difficult to expand in the future, Boss Pei.
“What’s more, if we release so many slots at once, the price of each slot would definitely be lowered. It’s not worth it.”
The more teams there were in the league, the more tightly packed the schedule would be. Sixteen teams meant that there would probably be one or two days of rest in a week. The rest of the time could be taken up by matches.
That was an unimaginable thing for the current E-Sports scene.
Most games did not even have a league. Even if they did, there would only be five or six teams fighting.
Yet, the GPL wanted 16 teams right from the start?
Was there a need?
Zhang Yuan felt that it would be best if there were 12 teams, and if he added one every year. That would be the best way to maximize profits.
Pei Qian was determined. “Don’t think about the future. Sell all the slots now!”
Zhang Yuan: “Then… what would the base price be?”
Pei Qian pondered for a moment and said, “There’s no base price. They’ll bid as much as they can.”
Zhang Yuan was stunned. “Boss Pei, we’ll have to extend the deadline then, right? After all, we did not say that we would be selling GPL slots. Now that we suddenly decided to sell it, we’ll have to give everyone a few days to prepare, right?”
Pei Qian was silent.
Plans could not keep up with changes.
Initially, he had not intended to sell the GPL slots. However, since the price would increase as time went by, he decided to sell them as soon as possible. It would be best if he sold them at a low price before anyone realized how valuable they were.
That would minimize pitfalls in the future.
“Give everyone three days, then. The auction will begin in three days. The GOG teams of the three clubs and the remaining six GPL spots will be auctioned together!
“We’ll take as much as we can and do nothing to raise our prices!”
Chapter 714 - Boss Pei is So Ruthless
In the afternoon…
Zhang Yuan was extremely busy.
Today was November 2nd, Wednesday. Boss Pei was only giving them three days. In other words, on November 6th, a Sunday, all GPL spots would be officially sold.
Not only would they have to bid for the GOG teams and their respective slots, but they would also have to bid for the other six GPL spots.
Within those three days, he had to give the various clubs advanced notice and arrange the relevant matters. Time was tight.
However, Zhang Yuan was not the most nervous. Instead, the companies that were bidding were.
That was because Zhang Yuan only needed to arrange the schedule, while the other companies had to make a decision.
Should they buy a ready-made GOG team or just a spot?
How much should they budget?
What was the quality-price ratio of different teams?
What was the expected price?
If they didn’tnt buy it now, what if they wanted to buy it in the future?
In just three days, it would probably be very difficult to think through these questions thoroughly.
What’s more, some companies had to raise funds in advance and prepare ammunition before bidding.
Thus, Zhang Yuan began to worry about the companies that were bidding.
Yet, although he was worried, he could not be muddle-headed about Boss Pei’s decision.
Zhang Yuan could only tell this news to all the companies that were participating in the bidding, including the clubs that were ‘selling themselves’ and the companies that were preparing to bid. He wanted them to prepare in advance and make a decision as soon as possible.
As for how much money they would be able to make, who would be able to obtain the GPL slots, and whether new companies would want to enter…
These were not things that Zhang Yuan could control or speculate.
Boss Pei’s plan was too deep and unpredictable.
Therefore, he just had to execute it seriously.
…
SUG Club…
Manager Li frowned as he read Zhang Yuan’s new message. He was at a loss.
Boss Pei was not playing by the book again!
For the past two days, Manager Li’s mood had been like a tree branch in the sea, rising and falling as he suffered.
At first, he had thought that there was nothing much to Boss Pei.
Slowly, he realized that Boss Pei had signed a contract, but thought that Boss Pei was bluffing.
Now, he realized that Boss Pei was being serious! He had prepared a backup plan!
All of Manager Li’s previous judgments had been based on the assumption that if there were not enough companies, Tengda would not take over.
However, to Manager Li’s horror, there were people taking over the business, and many of them at that!
The other three clubs had backed out, and now ten bidders were vying for three GOG teams.
Moreover, most of those ten buyers had powerful backgrounds!
Now, Manager Li was conflicted again.
That was because he felt that this group of big shots would definitely be able to pay an astronomical figure if ten of them were to fight for three spots.
If he could really sell his GOG team for twenty million yuan, Manager Li would probably be able to give his boss an explanation. After all, the premium was too high, and his boss would find it hard to reject it.
As for re-entering the scene in the future… that would have to wait.
Who knew how good the GPL would be? What if its popularity gradually decreased and the GPL slots became cheaper?
It was entirely possible!
Therefore, after the three clubs backed out, Manager Li consulted his boss and decided to continue selling SUG’s team because it would generate more profits.
Yet, in less than half a day, there were new updates.
Boss Pei had decided to sell six GPL slots at once!
Originally, ten buyers were to fight for three GOG teams; now, the ten buyers were to fight for three GOG teams and six GPL spots. The competition was now less intense!
In other words, the GOG teams would not be able to sell for a high price!
Thus, Manager Li found himself in a dilemma, completely embarrassed.
If he sold it, it would not fetch a high price.
If he did not sell it, he would lose three to four million yuan in compensation.
No matter which one it was, it would be very difficult to answer to his boss!
He would look very stupid and incompetent, especially if he incurred losses. He would be giving Tengda money for nothing.
The bosses of the three clubs who had given up were the ones who had made the decision. Those club managers would definitely have been scolded badly when they returned. They might even have been punished.
Manager Li did not want that to happen.
He frowned and gritted his teeth. “Boss Pei is so ruthless…
“He had predicted all of the nuances in my thinking.
“He’s selling all six GPL slots at once just to lower the prices of our GOG teams and take revenge on the three remaining clubs.
“Does he have to be so vengeful?”
Now, he was in a difficult position. His best bet was to raise the price as high as possible, sell it at a price that his boss would not be able to refuse, and then let his boss decide to sell it.
That way, the responsibility would be split between his boss and him, and he would not be too harshly blamed in the short term.
After all, Manager Li was just an employee. It was impossible for him to consider everything from his boss’ point of view. At a time like this, he had to admit that he was not that good at his job.
In E-Sports Clubs where rich second-generation heirs played, promotions and raises depended on one’s performance in front of the boss. It did not matter if one made a mistake, as long as they knew how to cover it up.
At that thought, Manager Li made up his mind.
He could only continue to stir up the public!
He had to strive to sell the GOG team at a high price to satisfy his boss. He could only think about the future.
It was also wishful thinking on Manager Li;s part. What if he sold it at a high price this time, and the GPL failed in the future, causing the quota to become increasingly worthless?
Wouldn’t he have made a fortune?
He could make himself seem more important to his boss at the same time.
Manager Li guessed that the other two club managers who were planning to sell their teams also had the same thoughts.
They were all stuck between a rock and a hard place. They could only solve the problem in front of them without thinking too much about the consequences.
Manager Li quickly called the managers of the other two clubs. He tried to reason with them and appeal to their emotions. Finally, they agreed to stick together.
…
On the other side, at Fu Hui Investments…
The investors were confused after receiving Zhang Yuan’s notification.
He was going to sell the remaining six GPL slots in three days?
What’s more, GPL’s quota might remain at 16 for the next few years?
Initially, when the investors saw Shenhua enter the market and three GOG teams remaining, they decided to focus all their funds on one team
.
However, now that Boss Pei had decided to release so many GPL slots, Li Shi felt that he could buy two of them.
Yet, he was confused. Why was Boss Pei so nervous?
In three days, he was going to sell all the GPL slots for the next few years?
Selling one every year would have been the most profitable option, right?
Everyone looked at Boss Li.
At that moment, everyone needed Boss Li to interpret Boss Pei’s true intentions.
Boss Li remained silent for a moment. “I think… this is a huge piece of good news that Boss Pei has given us! We have to raise more funds. Even if we sell everything we have, we have to get two GPL slots!”
The investors were confused. “Huh? Why is it another huge piece of good news?”
It seemed like anything that Boss Pei decided was a huge piece of good news to Boss Li.
Boss Pei was not giving them any preferential treatment this time. What was so good about it?
Li Shi smiled. “Think about these two statistics: six GPL slots, three days.
“Do you think Boss Pei doesn’t know how to maximize profits by selling the slots one by one?
“Yet, why is he selling them all at once, and in such a hurry at that?
“I think there are at least three reasons for this!
“First of all, we have to receive the news, raise funds, and participate in the auction in three days. That is actually an invisible threshold. There will only be two types of companies left: the first would be like us – those who have obtained insider information in advance, made preparations in advance, and been following Boss Pei resolutely. The other would be like Shenhua – huge and not lacking in money. To them, price would not matter.
“This would shut out companies that only want to make a profit and run off. The remaining companies would all be capable and willing to cooperate with Boss Pei to do well in the GPL league!
“Secondly, Boss Pei is showing off.
“Throwing all the slots out at once shows Tengda’s determination to make the e-sports industry huge. The more teams there are, the more intense the competition would be. Then, the audience would have the best viewing experience.
“This would be a clear signal to all participating clubs: GPL will be a large-scale and high-value formal league in the future. Everyone can invest in it without worrying, and they will definitely be able to obtain generous returns!
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