The Rest, Only Noise: Chapter 692 Dark Tide in Star Island
Since this year's All-Star Weekend meeting is held in Miami, the meeting site is naturally set up by the Heat.
The Heat have the money to choose the meeting venue in the Star Island community (Star).
Louis and his wife landed on the island on a yacht, through the heavily guarded gates of Sing Tao, and entered a luxurious world where supermodels are inferior to dogs, celebrities are everywhere, professional athletes and business tycoons. The island is home to 33 luxury multi-million dollar villas and estates.
The venue for the All-Star Weekend meeting was at the hotel owned by the Heat owner, Sing Tao.
This is the only hotel on Sing Tao, and the only way for those who can't afford a house in Sing Tao but want to find opportunities here.
Although Lorraine has also seen the world, she has never seen such a world.
The properties in Sing Tao bring together the magnificent works of world famous architects, past and present, the most popular architectural styles are Mediterranean, Spanish and European. . Each mansion is more stunning than the last, beginning with lavish gates leading to equally stunning pillared entrances and courtyards. Most of the sprawling Sing Tao homes are between 8,000 and 30,000 square feet, not counting the luxury guesthouses and cottages.
"Can we live in a house like this in Manhattan?"
Lorraine was full of longing.
"The house is not the problem, the problem is that it faces the sea on all sides." Louis said with emotion, "The location here is unique."
Lorraine asked expectantly, "Will you come to Miami to work in the future?"
I don't know if Lewis Shafir suddenly had a chill down his spine and had to sneeze or something.
"I can't completely deny that anything can happen." Louis laughed, "but the probability of this event is very small."
What kind of deep hatred does he have to have with Shafir to be so angry that he takes away each other's job and becomes a workplace version of the Tauren?
Louis and Lorraine came to the hotel - Seaside Residence.
Not only was the environment beautiful and the weather pleasant, but the materials used to build the house were not ordinary—Louis saw fine stone and hand-carved doors.
Elevator, fully equipped gym, cinema, wine cellar, professional chef team and kitchen, expansive balcony and bar with poolside and expansive swimming pool outside the cabana are just some of the luxury amenities in the hotel.
In Louis Manhattan's home, all he had was an abandoned gym, a home cinema, a balcony, a spacious swimming pool.
Moreover, even those he owns are hardly comparable to those of the Seaside Residence.
Of course, he didn't intend to compare, the house is for living, not for showing off - he comforted himself so. When his investment at this stage pays off, he will definitely renovate the family house.
Compared with this, it is simply detrimental to his identity.
Lorraine joined the wives party. After all, it was in Miami this time. As long as the people who came to the conference had a family, they would bring their family along and treat it as a tourist.
When men talk about business, women naturally want to partner.
Sing Tao has everything, including luxury boutiques.
Come, come, go without something is not a waste.
They left happily, and Louis entered the meeting room.
Before anyone arrived, the table was already filled with all kinds of food that Louis didn't usually see. He does not have high requirements for food, it is delicious, as long as he can eat it.
Just like how he felt about the house at home before today.
Fortunately, his heart for comparison was not so big that he even had to eat on par with this.
Not only was he not attracted by the food on the table, but he also wanted to ask if he had fried noodles...
As we all know, there is only one hillbilly in the league, and there shouldn't be a second one like the unqualified golden retriever in Boston before retiring, so Louie held back.
"Coach Lu, eat this, I eat it every time I come." Shafir pointed to a brightly colored sausage in front of Louis.
"I'm not hungry," Louis asked. "Do you know what we're going to talk about today?"
Shafir asked, "Don't you know?"
"I know a thing or two," Louie said. "About the next TV contract, and whether to send NBA players to international games."
Shafir nodded and said, "Yes, those two things."
Two things that Louie is concerned about, his focus is the TV contract.
Since 1984, the popularity of professional basketball has continued to rise, which has led to a domestic boom in the United States. More and more people are watching the game, and the commercial value of the league has naturally risen.
But when the Celtics dominated the championship with invincibility, the ratings were stuck.
Just as the ratings for the third Finals matchup between the Warriors and the Cavaliers were the lowest ever between the two sides.
Audiences don't want to watch the exact same scenes, just like "Rocky" won Apollo in the first part, and the opponent in the later parts can no longer be Apollo. Audiences want stronger matchups, but the NBA can't. For four consecutive years, the Celtics single-handedly cut the Lakers drama, which made the ratings not increase but decreased, turned the magician into a tragic man, and made Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's historical status dropped by 5 places.
As a result, the Knicks turned out. The biggest regret of the league is that the Knicks and the Celtics are in the East.
Because the Eastern Conference finals can only attract some fans, many passers-by who only pay attention to the finals will not pay attention to it.
Even so, the seventh game of the 1988 Eastern Conference finals was still watched live by more than 16 million American viewers.
Once a traffic team like the Knicks rises, media attention and commercial investment will feed back the entire league.
As a result, the commercial value of the Knicks has risen, and the value of the alliance has also increased.
Each game of the Knicks can have 4 million viewers as the base plate. If it is a focus game, the average number of viewers will reach 8 million.
That kind of playoff-level viewing in the regular season is incredible.
For the Celtics, it was brutal.
But still the same.
A great champion Knicks can advance the league more than a great dynasty Celtics.
Because of the rise of Louie and the Knicks, the future of the league will change.
Such as negotiations over the next TV contract.
David Stern showed up.
As is customary, he would start with a few words.
In just six years as president, the value of the league has doubled since Larry O'Brien's time.
He is definitely a successful president.
Stern knew what the point of the day was, but he deliberately avoided the important, and first brought up the issue of whether to allow professional players in the United States to participate in international competitions.
The Olympics and FIBA both banned professional players until 1989, and in the NBA, there are also unwritten bans.
They also don't want players to play in the offseason.
Because a player is an important asset to a team, if you get injured while participating in an international game, how will the loss be counted?
Therefore, if the NBA wants to join forces with the USA Basketball Association to promote professional players' participation, it must greet each club and announce it only after obtaining consent.
"I disagree."
The naysayer is Jane Walker.
His opinion can represent the entire Celtics team. If he disagrees, the Celtics disagree.
"We've been title contenders every year for the past ten years, playing every season from November to June, how draining is that? The offseason is the only time they can recover from their wear and tear. A vacation for the body."
It makes sense. If the NBA lets professional players participate, the Celtics will definitely be drafted.
Bird and Sampson, as the face of the league, if they really want to gather the elites of the whole league to participate, as long as they can fight, it is difficult to refuse.
Because everyone wants to see them in Team USA jerseys.
During this period, Louis made no comments.
He knew that the 1992 Dream Team would be an army, but he didn't know there was so much going on behind the scenes.
Looking at it now, if it wasn't for the Student United Team being repeatedly ravaged and rubbed by the European Great Pyrenees in international competitions and lost, it is estimated that the Dream Team would have been born a few years later.
In the end, this matter had to be over.
Stern also knew that it was impossible to settle the matter at this meeting, so he used this matter to make a difference.
Anyone who comes to this conference knows what the most important thing is today.
"Next, our topic is the negotiation of a TV broadcast agreement."
Stern suddenly had a happy worry, "Here are the two offers we currently have."
The president nodded to the assistant beside him.
Louie recognized the assistant.
He's not an assistant, he's Garcia Lynn, Stern's right-hand man.
Lynn has three roles in the league, vice-president of the league's disciplinary committee, director of the "NBA Entertainment" division and a reviewer.
That is to say, he can single-handedly influence the punishment of fights, which teams the NBA is mainly focused on promoting, and all proposals and rule suggestions during the season, no matter how big or small, need to be approved by him before they come to Stern. hands (there are 5 reviewers).
Louie and Lynn are friends. Back then, he was on a mission to China as an NBA delegation. Although he was in the name of a consultant~www.mtlnovel.com~, he had the right to select members of the delegation. Lynn was chosen by him to join the group, and they have known each other since then.
It can be said that from Boston to New York, Louie's team was so sturdy that he was never severely punished by the league. Lynn played an obvious role.
Louie blinked, saying hello to Lynn.
Immediately, he picked up two draft contracts and looked at them.
On the NBC side, their offer is not unexpected, 700 million US dollars in 4 years.
What was unexpected was the CBS offer.
Everyone thought they had no money because CBS had invested most of its money in MLB and the Olympics.
As a result, it was clearly written in this cursive script.
"760 million in 4 years."
"How is this possible?" Shafir asked in amazement. "Where did they get the money?"
(1) In reality, CBS's offer is 600 million for 4 years.