the rest, only noise

Chapter 692 He is also very innocent
Chapter 693 He is innocent too
All were prepared for CBS to drop out if it didn't compete.

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

No matter how rich you are, it is very difficult to compete with NBC, which has risen by virtue of the TV network, for the NBA's broadcast contract.

However, CBS's quotation contract clearly stated: 4 million in 7.6 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 teams' games to broadcast.

If this condition is agreed, CBS will have arbitrary power in this matter in the future.

Stern immediately said: "You have all seen that these two contracts have their own advantages and disadvantages. NBC gave us more autonomy, while CBS gave us more money."

Before the president spoke, the representatives at the meeting had already started whispering and exchanging opinions.

"How about it, let's have a discussion."

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

For a poor and short-sighted team like the Rockets, money comes first.

Therefore, they prefer that contract from CBS.

"NBC should indeed increase their offer, but the autonomy of the broadcast should not be handed over to CBS."

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

Sterling said with righteous indignation: "In the past few years, if we hadn't had a game broadcast across the United States, many fans in Los Angeles would not even know that there are two NBA teams in Los Angeles!"

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

"It's been six years and we haven't had a single game televised across the United States. Does that make sense?"

Sterling protested.

Weak teams are ignored, not just a contemporary feature.

This is true in any era, just like the CBA, do fans want to watch the Beijing-Guangdong/Liaoning/Xinjiang battle or the Bayi team's game in any season in the 10s?

Nobody wants to watch it except the home fans.

The broadcaster is still counting on the ratings. If you are not useful, you can't blame others for not giving you exposure.

But CBS not only ignores weak teams, but also ignores mid-tier teams and strong teams with insufficient stars.

However, most of the representatives at the scene were interested in CBS's offer.

At first glance, 4 million in 7.6 years is not as good as MLB's 4 billion in 10.6 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, MLB's active No. 1 Rickey Henderson (Rickey Henderson) received an annual salary of 300 million, the highest salary in MLB.

As we all know, Mr. Ewing signed 10 million yuan for 3000 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 rose year after year.

Even if the 4-year 10 billion contract of MLB takes effect, the maximum annual salary of MLB will rise to 400 million at most, but with the new NBA broadcast contract coming into effect, let alone 400 million, 500 million, 600 million, 1000 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, and they have to consider it, even if the price is losing the right to participate in the game live broadcast plan.

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

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

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

Although Shafier is not qualified as a general manager of professional basketball, his views on many things are clear.

He's not stupid, he's just a little bit smart.

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

Weak teams hope to start further negotiations with CBS. They hope to sign a contract with CBS, but the premise is that they give up the requirement of live broadcast autonomy. In addition, they must use the CBS contract to go to NBC to raise the price.

The opinions of the strong teams are different, some tend to be CBS, and some don't care.

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

However, a team like the Celtics that has done extremely poorly in commercialization will prefer CBS.

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

Louis said shyly: "As the person with the lowest qualifications present, it is inconvenient to say some things, so I only brought my ears."

"Louie, just say what you need to say." Stern laughed.

"Does it fit?"

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

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

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

"I think both contracts have their pros and cons, first of all CBS, as many have said, we can't give them the autonomy to broadcast live anyway. They can't be trusted, not just CBS, all of the TV stations, I'm sure you remember 'Run's Revenge' ⑴, when ABC destroyed the broadcast of pro basketball, what did CBS do? ; they also launched a disgusting time-lapse program that nearly destroyed professional basketball."

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

"So, Louie, what's your take on CBS giving up its exclusive rights to broadcast live?"

asked Stern.

"No," Louie said amazingly, "My opinion is that we should tease/tease CBS like a professional undress/dance/mother, use our own advantages to attract NBC, and then negotiate with them with CBS's offer. Of course, during this period, we might as well give them a little time to calm down. We should negotiate with NBC deeply, because no matter how generous the offer CBS makes, their live broadcast strategy will not change. The era of CBS is not over, and teams outside New York, Los Angeles, Portland and Boston will not be valued for a day. In the past, the world only knew that there were four teams in the NBA, and they paid little attention to other teams, which is not conducive to the improvement of the commercial value of the league."

Louie said seriously: "My point of view is that we should conduct in-depth negotiations with NBC and make them agree to maintain the relative balance of each team's live broadcast share while taking part of the transfer of interests at critical moments."

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

Louie's speech won the respect and support of most people. He didn't take an indifferent attitude like the teams in Los Angeles and Portland because of his superior conditions and carefree.

As the most popular team in the league, the Knicks don't have to get involved in this matter at all. No matter who they sign with, the Knicks' influence and commercial value will not decline.

But Louie delves into the pros and cons of signing with CBS from the standpoint of all teams and points the way for the next phase of negotiations.

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

Louie's speech was in the final stage, and Auerbach also often spoke in the final stage.

But the difference is that Auerbach chose to speak at the last stage because he knew that when the meeting was open, everyone wanted to end the meeting as soon as possible, so some of his suggestions would probably be adopted by the bosses without thinking.

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

From 1978 to 1990, in just 12 years, Louie has been deeply rooted in the league, and this is not only because of his ability as a scout, but not all because of his unparalleled role in coaching and rebuilding the Knicks.

What completely separates him from the rest and earns his trust is the fact that he puts aside his own stance for the sake of the 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, which bid 7.6 million, only got the support of 5 clubs.

NBC has the backing of 23 clubs.

When the meeting adjourned, except for several clubs that had feuds with Louis, representatives of other clubs with whom he had less contact—some even bosses—came over to say hello and wanted to have in-depth exchanges.

Louis never refuses anyone, don't look at his relationship with the leaders in Chicago and New Jersey so badly, but in all fairness, are the reasons for those conflicts on him?
He is also very innocent.

⑴ 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 signed with CBS instead.The ABC executive in charge of this project was named Ruen, and he was determined to destroy CBS's NBA broadcast.He started promoting college football like crazy, crushed the NBA in the ratings, and then came the hellish schedule and hellish gametime in the NBA.Even one of his crap sports shows on NBA Live Days (weekends) blew the ratings out of the NBA. Within a year, NBA ratings were down 25%, and in the 10 years since then, NBA ratings have been in freefall. No live Game 1978s, delayed Finals, and public disinterest — all that Louie experienced from 1983-[-].

(End of this chapter)