Fame with a ball

Serie A, as the first top European competition to be officially broadcast in China, has a huge fan base in China.Even the rising stars La Liga and Premier League have fewer fans than Serie A. Most of the old domestic fans have followed the TV broadcast and liked Serie A for more than ten years. They are now in the prime of life, mostly around 30-40 years old. with maximum purchasing power.

Financial problems plague all clubs in Europe. Today, when the world financial crisis has not eliminated its impact, the vast majority of clubs in Europe have negative profits every year. Even if they are wealthy, there are only a few clubs that have been profitable for three consecutive years. Several - Arsenal, Lyon, Sevilla, Sporting Lisbon, Porto, etc.Although Manchester United makes an astonishing amount of money every year, their expenses are also astonishing. It is remarkable to be able to maintain a balance of payments.

The Italian league has declined in recent years, and the income of major clubs is not as good as in the past. AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Juventus, the three giants, cannot maintain a balance of payments, and their debt ratios are shockingly high, let alone those clubs that are not giants. Or the clubs in the lower leagues.

In this sluggish economic background, finding new ways of economic income has become something that Italian clubs are racking their brains.Because of the Serie A league and the huge influence of Serie A giants in China, in 09, the Italian Football Association began to consider holding the Italian Super Cup in China.

As the top-level cup in Italy, the Italian Super Cup is generally held domestically. Since the first Italian Super Cup was held in 1988, the Super Cup has only been held abroad three times in the past 20 years—twice in the United States and once in Libya.

In 09, the fourth overseas Italian Super Cup held at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, China, was a new attempt jointly created by the Italian Football Association and the Chinese Football Association.The Italian Football Association is eager to find a new source of income for the domestic league, and the Chinese Football Association is eager to expand its influence, so the two hit it off.

In 2009, the Italian Super Cup was held in Beijing for the first time. It achieved unprecedented success and a lot of profits. The box office alone had a revenue of 7000 million.This made Italy see the huge potential of the Chinese market, and also realized that when the focus of the European league is gradually shifting to the Premier League and La Liga, the Chinese market is still more attached to the Italian league.

So at the end of 09, Italian officials signed an agreement with the Chinese Football Association, and China paid Italy 1500 million US dollars. From 11 to 14, the Italian Super Cup will be held three times in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

In August 11, the Italian Super Cup was held at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing for the second time. Ticket prices ranged from 8 yuan to 70 yuan. According to statistics after the game, the ticket revenue alone has exceeded 3999 million yuan, even if it is converted into euros. This is a terrifying and astonishing figure, because the highest box office record of the Italian national derby is only more than 300 million euros, but the box office of an Italian Super Cup has already exceeded [-] million euros.

This is not counting other income, such as commercial sponsorship, copyright sales (TV stations, online media, 3D, intellectual property licensing), and various peripherals, jerseys, etc. sold.

When the news that the 12 Italian Super Cup will be held at the 8-person Stadium in Shanghai was sent back to China, the whole country was boiling. All the media and fans predicted that the box office record of this game would break through again, because this time the Italian Super There is Juventus on one side of the cup competition, and Juventus has Lin Zhigao.

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Shanghai is an economic city, it is a strategic city, it is an international metropolis, but it is not usually considered a tourist city.

Chinese people love to travel, but they all prefer beautiful natural landscapes. Few people go to Shanghai just for sightseeing or shopping.But in the past month, a number of travel agencies across the country have opened up a special travel line - go to Shanghai to watch the Italian Super Cup.

Needless to say, there are indeed quite a few people who sign up for this tour line.In August, the hottest month in the south, Shanghai ushered in another passenger flow peak.Of course, many people are not just going for Lin Zhigao. Many world superstars in Inter Milan and Juventus are also their goals.

It's just that Lin Zhigao's sharing of this Italian Super Cup is just icing on the cake and adding fuel to the fire.The sponsors of this year's Super Cup have placed advertisements on TV and major online media early on. Of course, Lin Zhigao is one of the biggest gimmicks. The number of fans of Juventus and Inter Milan in China is already amazing. In addition, Lin Zhigao Appeared, it was like a chemical reaction.

Of course, there are also people who are concerned about whether Lin Zhigao will play in this game. After rounds of qualifications and strengths, Capello can arrange for Lin Zhigao to play, but he can also not arrange.No one knows what this world-class marshal is thinking, and no Chinese reporter can block him and dig out news from him.

So the fans and the media had no choice but to comfort themselves: How can I say that this time they are also coming to China to play games, and Lin Zhigao is Chinese, so Capello wouldn't be so unreasonable to not let Lin Zhigao play?

Starting from August 8st, tickets for the game have also been opened for on-site ticket sales, online booking, and telephone booking.It took less than six hours from the start of sales until all the tickets, even VIP seats and standing seats, were sold out.

Many people who failed to get tickets scolded their mothers and scolded those scalpers online.According to the photos taken by some netizens, as early as the early morning of the previous night, professional scalpers organized at least a thousand people to stand guard at the ticket gates of major cities in Beijing and Shanghai to grab tickets. Armbands of different colors are worn on the arms to distinguish different scalpers.

Once the ticket sales started, they flocked to buy tickets at the ticket gates. Those real fans who didn't line up all night were often squeezed at the back. When it was their turn, the scalpers had already sold out the tickets.

Only some fans who chose to buy tickets online or booked by phone were lucky enough to buy tickets at normal prices. Those fans who went to buy on-site, some returned empty-handed, and some had to accept the high price of tickets sold by the scalpers—more expensive than normal. The price has tripled or quadrupled.

Such a crazy move reminded many netizens of those crazy scalpers when the iphone4S was on sale more than half a year ago.Some people on Weibo also posted photos of the swarming crowds of the two panic-buying waves together, and then said slightly sarcastically: "The Chinese people have the same money-making wisdom as the Jews, and they will use various channels to make money. To enrich oneself, including defrauding fellow citizens."

Due to public grievances, the police in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou quickly mobilized and smashed several large scalpers' dens, seized more than [-] tickets, and then resumed normal channel sales.However, the scalpers were very scattered and fled quickly. Some of them were sold at high prices online, and the hype has not been stopped.

By the week before the official competition on August 8, the lowest standing ticket price had been raised from the normal 15 yuan to 70 yuan, but the supply still exceeded demand.But the Chinese Football Association can no longer sell more tickets. They have used all the free space in the Shanghai Stadium to the extreme and sold 300 tickets. If they want to earn more money, they can only go to the air. We developed new auditorium.

The news that Chinese fans snapped up tickets for the Italian Super Cup not only shocked the domestic media, but even the major media in the United States and Europe also reprinted it.

The "Wall Street Journal" wrote: "The rising Chinese market has boundless potential and will forever amaze the world. A football match that can be regarded as an upper-middle level in Europe can generate such a viewing frenzy. , Reminiscent of the extensive influence of NBA basketball in the world, American professional teams also have many fans in this Asian country, why didn’t the American major leagues consider hosting a game in China?”

In Europe, where football matches are more popular, many countries have certainly seen the potential of the Chinese market.

The Italian media talked about the huge influence of Serie A in China. "Gazzetta dello Sport" and "Gazzetta dello Sport" pointed out that the decision of the Italian Football Association to cooperate with Chinese officials to hold the game is nothing more than a famous item. The decision has been made, and the Italian Serie A is undoubtedly still the world's number one league, don't you believe it?Then go see how much our Super Bowl tickets have sold!

The news of the British "Daily Mail" said: "The Premier League is now the world's number one football league (half self-proclaimed and half the world's default), but most of the Premier League clubs are in poor financial conditions. Why can't we go to the Far East? What about opening up new fan groups in the region? According to the survey of a professional data company, the number of Manchester United and Arsenal fans in China, Japan, and South Korea is also astonishing. I think Premier League clubs should also consider going to Asia for friendly matches, because it will definitely Relieve a large part of the club's financial difficulties."

And what the domestic reporters thought was that Ferguson and Wenger did have this intention. Sir Ferguson, who has always been keen on organizing various activities, has even started calling the head coaches of various clubs to discuss the feasibility of this matter. up.

In addition to Italy and the British media having heated discussions, the Spanish media did not give way.There is no reason for it, because the first successful gold rush in China was the Spanish Real Madrid Club.At that time, there were David Beckham, Ronaldo, Zidane and other superstars in the first phase of Galaxy Battleship. When they went to China for superstar business activities, they were also welcomed by the whole country.

But now seeing that Italian clubs have succeeded in gold mining in China for three consecutive years, the Spanish media can’t sit still anymore. They encourage Real Madrid or Barcelona to also play games in China. From the Spanish media’s point of view, Real Madrid and Barcelona are not losing at all. Juventus and Inter Milan.And they believe that Real Madrid and Barcelona are the best clubs in the world, not one of them.

But those clubs have completely different considerations from the reporters. Barcelona has done an investigation earlier. Although they have a large number of fans in China, they are not as good as Manchester United, Inter Milan and other clubs. A club with strength but not enough charm.Messi is a superstar, a good person, and a good player, but his commercial value is not so sufficient, not even comparable to the topical character Ronaldo.

As for Real Madrid, they have been to China twice to pan for gold.The first phase of the Galacticos was a great success, but the second phase of the Galacticos failed, because at that time, Real Madrid had no Beckham and Zidane.Although the current Real Madrid is also a superstar lineup, so many superstars add up to the huge appeal of Beckham alone.

If you want to find a football star comparable to Beckham in China, you can only go to Lin Zhigao.Beckham's commercial value is a legend, and it has been tapped to the extreme. At present, no other star can match him in this regard.But in the Chinese market, Lin Zhigao can undoubtedly compete with Beckham because of his unique national complex.

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"Director Lin, have you bought your plane ticket yet?"

"Director Lin, is the whole family going to Shanghai together?"

"Old Lin, how many tickets did your son give you, is there any extra?"

"It's good to have a good son. The next generation in our office is not as high as your family."

Although he is already used to hearing others praise his son, no matter how many times he hears such words, Lin Changan will never get bored.Of course, it's one thing to be proud in the heart, but Lin Changan has to humbly say "it's nothing" when faced with compliments from others. This is a common practice among Chinese people.

Although his wife usually maintains her dignified and calm face when she is outside, Lin Changan can feel that Qian Hongyan has been laughing more and more this year, because they have an amazing son ,Is not it?

The Italian Super Cup held in Shanghai this time has confirmed that Lin Zhigao has entered the squad.The club will give everyone two or three family tickets, and Li Ning, one of the sponsors of this Super Bowl, happened to be endorsed by Lin Zhigao, so he got the rest of the extra tickets—— This time, not only Lin Changan and his wife, but many relatives of Lin Zhigao, including grandparents, uncles and aunts, came to mobilize the whole family, and they all wanted to go to Shanghai to watch his game.

Because there are older people and young children, the family did not buy air tickets or train tickets to squeeze with others, but drove two commercial vehicles for a self-driving tour.Anyway, it is only a few hours' drive from Zhengzhou to Shanghai by highway.

Ever since Lin Zhigao’s grandparents moved into the hotel, they kept clamoring to see their grandson, and they always asked Lin Chang’an and his wife: “Has Gao Gao arrived in Shanghai yet? Let him come to the hotel to see us. Yue didn't see him, I really panic!"

Regarding this, Lin Changan could only feel helpless and smiled wryly.

But no matter how many times he explained to the two old people, although Lin Zhigao gave them tickets for his family to watch the game, he still had to follow the team's itinerary, not to leave as he wanted, but to go wherever he wanted Yes, there is still training in the team!The two old people just don't listen, the old and the young, the old and the young, the older they are, the more they like to follow their own wishes.

Lin Changan had no choice but to send a text message to his son, asking if he could go to the hotel to meet the elders when he arrived in Shanghai.

It wasn't until Lin Zhigao got off the plane, sat on the hotel bus to pick them up, and turned on his phone that he saw the text message sent [-] hours ago.

He looked up at the head coach Fabio Capello who was sitting in front of the bus, sleeping with his eyes closed. Thinking of how he had changed the atmosphere of the locker room in the past few days, he regretfully and helplessly sent a text message to his father: "The head coach is very strict and he is not allowed to leave the team without permission. Before the game, we have to conduct closed adaptation training. I will not be able to ask for leave to have dinner with you until after the game."