Chapter 65: Nike, Sponsorship Contract!

The next day, Jiang Hong woke up early out of habit. However, in this small county town back in 2007, there were naturally no such things as gyms. Even if someone had opened one, the owner would have lost every penny!

After stepping outside, Jiang Hong first ran a lap around the perimeter of the county town to work out.

The county town was not large, and a full lap took Jiang Hong just a little over half an hour.

With his run finished, he headed back home.

"Xiao Hong, come here for a moment. Someone is looking for you!"

Just as Jiang Hong walked into the supermarket, he heard his mother's voice calling out.

He felt a bit puzzled. Who could possibly be looking for him?

None of his good high school friends should have returned yet.

Jiang Hong walked over and saw two people sitting on the sofa nearby.

One of them was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, wearing a white shirt with his suit pants' belt pulled up almost to his stomach.

Standing next to him was a woman in her twenties, dressed in professional attire that looked completely out of place in the atmosphere of the small county town.

Seeing Jiang Hong approach, the two of them stood up.

A hypocritical smile plastered across his face, the middle-aged man walked right up to Jiang Hong.

"I only just found out that our county has produced a sports talent like you. It's truly a dereliction of duty on my part!"

With these words, he extended both hands to shake Jiang Hong's hand.

Jiang Hong glanced at his mother. He did not recognize the visitor, but given the small size of the town, his mother certainly would.

"This is Director Lei from our local sports bureau!" Knowing her son as only a mother could, she immediately caught Jiang Hong's meaning and stepped in to make the introduction.

"Hello, Director Lei!"

Jiang Hong greeted him with a smile, and after exchanging some brief pleasantries, he finally asked about the purpose of their visit.

Director Lei slapped his own forehead and said with a smile, "Here is the situation: this is Ms. Wang Lan, general manager of Nike's Northwest region. She would like to talk to you about a sponsorship."

"Hello, athlete Jiang Hong. You don't need to call me General Manager Wang; just call me Ivy," the woman, who had remained silent until now, spoke up slowly.

As one of the world's top sports brand giants, Nike's business spanned across all kinds of athletic disciplines.

In many cases, they could even exert influence over sports competitions themselves.

And in China, a market with enormous potential, Nike was naturally no exception.

As early as 1999, Nike had already signed a four-year, $200,000 sponsorship contract with Dayao.

By the standards of the CBA at the time, that could already be considered a sky-high contract.

When Dayao entered the NBA as the number one overall draft pick in 2002, and his contract expired in 2003, Nike offered a four-year, $1.6 million contract extension.

At that time, however, Nike had handed LeBron, who was just entering the NBA, a seven-year, $90 million contract.

It was obvious that Nike's offer to Dayao was borderline insulting. Consequently, Dayao turned around and signed a seven-year, $50 million contract with Reebok, rejecting Nike even after they raised their bid to seven years and $120 million.

Beyond the realm of basketball, Nike had signed plenty of athletes in other sports as well.

In 2002, they signed a 300,000-yuan-per-year contract with Liu Xiang, who was still unknown at the time.

After his victory at the Athens Olympics, his commercial value skyrocketed instantly, meaning Nike had successfully picked up a bargain. Having learned their lesson this time, they immediately revised the contract, raising it to the tens of millions.

This was why Nike and Adidas loved "scratching lottery tickets" on athletes before they became famous!

Cast a wide net—whether you catch a fish doesn't matter, as long as you don't leave them for your competitors.

Tennis was no exception.

As for Li Na, she had received sponsorship as early as 1997 and was even sent to a tennis academy.

Though Jiang Hong's two ITF Futures titles meant nothing in the grand scheme of tennis, he had the benefit of comparison!

Jiang Hong's ATP ranking was climbing toward the upper echelon of the tennis world, and he was a free agent, which aligned even better with their interests.

After all, state-system athletes often found their sponsors' demands constrained by bureaucratic red tape.

To be honest, Jiang Hong had not expected a sponsorship offer to come this quickly.

He originally thought he would have to break into the ATP top 300 at the very least, but he never imagined it would arrive so soon!

Compared to football or basketball, commercial sponsorships made up a much larger share of a tennis player's income.

While it offered more freedom, there was no one to act as your safety net.

Before Wang Lan came here this time, she had already thoroughly investigated Jiang Hong's background.

A player without professional training made for a fantastic gimmick; they could weave a narrative of sponsoring a dream, following a rural tennis boy as he steps out onto the world stage!

Before coming, she had also sought out local sports bureau officials to add credibility.

Besides, Jiang Hong was only eighteen years old, which meant they could also approach things from the perspective of Jiang Hong's parents.

"Hello, Ms. Wang Lan!" Jiang Hong nodded, finally understanding their intentions.

"Call me Ivy!" Wang Lan repeated with emphasis, then turned to Jiang Hong and said, "Mr. Jiang Hong... um, do you have an English name or a foreign name?"

"No!" Jiang Hong shook his head.

"As a tennis player, you'll need to compete all over the world in the future. Having a foreign name is still necessary for smooth communication!" Wang Lan reminded him with a hint of goodwill, though carrying a faint trace of arrogance.

Jiang Hong frowned and said indifferently, "I think my own name is fine. Ms. Wang, let's talk about the sponsorship instead!"

In his heart, he was not very optimistic about this sponsorship deal.

Constantly emphasizing the need for a foreign name felt a bit like the fervor of a recent convert!

In a situation like this, even if the company had authorized a budget of 500,000, she would likely squeeze it down to 100,000 just to showcase her own competence, all while genuinely believing she was acting in the company's best interest.

Though Nike probably didn't care about that small amount of money anyway.

"Nike has signed quite a few athletes in the sports world, such as the now-famous Liu Xiang, and Li Na from your tennis world. Besides financial backing, we can provide even more support!" Wang Lan displayed her company's muscle to gain the upper hand in the negotiations.

"I'm sure Director Lei understands!" Wang Lan turned her head and glanced at Lei Fuheng!

Lei Fuheng squeezed out an awkward smile, nodded, and chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes!"

In reality, he knew absolutely nothing about it!

In this small county town, professional athletes who had gone abroad could be counted on one hand.

Let alone things like endorsement deals.

"We can offer you a four-year sponsorship contract with a total value of one million. At the same time, if you manage to compete in the Olympics next year, we will add a 500,000 bonus clause. This is our sincerity!" A confident smile appeared on Wang Lan's face.

Ever since the last Athens Olympics, Nike was well aware of the Olympics' influence in China, especially since next year's games would be held in Beijing.

While they didn't hold overly high expectations for Jiang Hong's results, as long as he could participate, it wouldn't be a loss for them.

Hearing about a one-million-yuan contract, Lei Fuheng's breathing grew heavy.

After all, all his various annual perks and bonuses added up to only around 100,000.

And yet, this kid Jiang Hong could pull in one million in a single stroke.

Normally, tennis sponsorships were calculated in US dollars, but Wang Lan had deliberately converted it into Chinese yuan and stated the four-year total to make it sound even more impressive.

Jiang Hong was just a young man; hearing the figure of one million would surely make him lose his composure.