Top of the Great Era

Chapter 3173 Take Over Quickly

When Zhou Buqi heard that Boss Ma was interested in football, he immediately became interested.

This is truly a rare opportunity!

The reason why the football business has been losing money year after year is that the domestic team Shanghai Taizun Real Estate has suffered the most losses. Although it has the strong support of the sponsor Taizun Real Estate, the current Chinese Super League has entered the era of money, and various large state-owned enterprises have come out one after another, not taking money seriously at all, and offering world-class sky-high prices to introduce foreign players.

This resulted in Taizun Real Estate’s sponsorship being insufficient.

Especially in the era of money, so much hot money has poured into the football industry, requiring big teams like Shanghai Taizun to deeply cultivate youth training and establish relevant football schools. In the past year, Shanghai Taizun's total investment in real estate reached 5 million yuan, but it still failed to win the Chinese Super League championship because its opponents bought more powerful foreign players.

Shi's father-in-law also seemed to be hesitant.

I want to reduce the amount of investment.

Because even Taizun Real Estate's real estate business is shrinking, and they are selling some real estate projects to pay off debts. It is too much pressure to spend so much money every year to support a bottomless football team.

Unexpectedly, Boss Ma came over!

Zhou Buqi immediately seized the opportunity and said with a smile: "Great, football is great! I have been involved in football for so many years, and you have seen that the results are great!"

Boss Ma said: "I am also somewhat interested in football."

Zhou Buqi invited, "That's it, don't bother yourself. What's the use of Greentown? It's just a relegation team, not even good enough. Even if you acquire it and name it 'Taobao', it will still struggle to stay in the league. Wouldn't that be embarrassing for Taobao? It will affect your brand value in vain!"

"Well, Evergrande has contacted me."

Boss Ma is determined to get involved in football.

"Don't!" Zhou Buqi hurriedly stopped him. "I've been doing business for so many years, and I've dealt with almost all the big companies in China, with only a few exceptions, and Evergrande is one of them."

Boss Ma laughed.

They all work in the business world and have heard some rumors.

Although all are in the real estate business, Evergrande’s approach is completely different from that of Vanke, Wanda, Country Garden and others.

Boss Ma said: "I also have some doubts. If it weren't for your team, I might have already reached an agreement with Evergrande. They are very sincere and are willing to give me 50% of the shares. Both parties will share the club and control it together."

Zhou Buqi said nonchalantly, "What's 50%? If you're interested, I can give you all the ownership of the club! At that time, you can simply change the name to the Magic City Taobao Team, and you can represent Chinese football in the AFC Champions League."

"what?"

Boss Ma was slightly surprised.

Zhou Buqi said sincerely: "I just want to say this. You can have as many shares as you want in the Magic City Taizun Real Estate Club! Is this sincerity enough? There is no need to discuss the price. The team will be given to you for free!"

"free?"

Although Boss Ma is not an expert in football, he immediately realized the huge risks involved.

There is no good thing for free!

This kid has always been very smart. Shanghai Taizun Real Estate is one of the best clubs in the country and is welcomed by many fans. Last year, it won the AFC Champions League trophy for the first time in history on behalf of Chinese football!

Such a valuable asset, can you just give it away?
Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "It's like this. The team is in debt of 15 billion. If you want to take over the club, you don't have to pay a penny, just take on all the debts."

“Such a high debt?”

Boss Ma discovered the secret.

Zhou Buqi said, "These debts are mainly owed to Taizun Real Estate. Domestic football teams don't have much profitability. Their annual revenue is less than 100 million, but their expenditure is several hundred million. Such a large deficit must be due to the parent company's debt."

Domestic football teams are basically transferred for free, because domestic teams are not worth much at all and have always been negative assets, so it is good enough to let them go for free.

What is expensive is the team's debt.

That is, the debt the team owes to its parent company.

The reason why many team transfers fail is that the taking over party is unwilling to accept the club’s huge debts, resulting in some teams winning the Chinese Super League championship the year before and going bankrupt the next year.

Just like Zhou Buqi wanted to sell the Magic City Taizun Real Estate Team to Boss Ma, on the surface it seemed like it was free.

In fact, if Boss Ma wants to buy it, he needs to pay 15 billion yuan to Taizun Real Estate to settle the debt.

Boss Ma was frightened by Zhou Buqi's words, "So this is how you guys play football, no wonder the Chinese national football team is not doing well." Zhou Buqi said unhappily, "What do you mean by yours and ours? Manchester United is my masterpiece. If you understand football, go and see what Manchester United has achieved since I took over! Last season, Manchester United won the Premier League and Champions League treble!"

Boss Ma hesitated for a moment and said slowly, "I understand. I'll think about it. Wait for my news later."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "No problem. As I said before, any trade is fine. It's all up to you! To be honest, I have too many teams. I don't need this one, so it's okay to give it to you!"

……

Zhou Buqi was very happy.

It’s great to have someone to take over.

I went to the Sydney Club and met Sandezi and Rangnick, who are the two persons in charge of Zhou Buqi's football business, one in charge of business and the other in charge of technology.

The main discussion is whether to sell the team.

From a football perspective, Rangnick said: "In the past two years, we have introduced many strong players to the team and promoted several young players. The foundation is very solid. Even if we maintain the status quo and do not increase investment, we can still have a strong period of 3-5 seasons. If we do not increase investment, I believe the team can generate profits."

Sandezi said: "Even if there is a profit, it will not exceed 100 million Australian dollars a year. From a business point of view, this profit is not worth mentioning."

Zhou Buqi asked: "How much have we invested in this team?"

"The 1200 million Australian dollars was mainly used to recruit players." Sandezi smiled, "But this cannot be considered an investment. This is the debt the group lent to the team. If the buyer wants to trade, he must bear this part of the debt. I have talked to him and he can repay it in installments over 10 years."

Zhou Buqi saw what he meant, "Do you mean we should sell it?"

San Dezi said: "We must sell it!"

"why?"

"The team is called Sydney FC. We have communicated with the fan group many times and they do not allow the name to be changed."

"Ah."

Zhou Buqi nodded.

If we can't change the name, it would be meaningless.

If it is a European team, it would be fine if they cannot change their name, after all, the football industry there is more mature and has more room for growth. The profitability of these teams in the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Australia is extremely poor, and it is considered good if they can be self-sufficient.

The real value lies in the team’s naming rights, which can leverage the team’s influence to maximize advertising.

Domestic football teams are also of a commercial nature.

If even the naming rights are not available, the value of this Sydney club will be greatly reduced.

San Dezi said: "I think the other party is quite sincere. He is a local mining boss. He wants to transform his industry into cultural tourism. He is very eager and the price is right. If we choose to sell, this project can earn us at least 1000 million US dollars."

"Then let him take over." Zhou Buqi didn't hesitate and was too lazy to pay attention to these unimportant small businesses. "I have another job later. Will you come with me?"

San Dezi asked: "What kind of job?"

Zhou Buqi wanted to entrust him with the football business, so he always had to cultivate a trusting relationship. He said, "There are a few film and television projects that will select a group of actresses here. Do you want to go over and take a look?"

San Dezi laughed, "Okay! Let's go check it out! Is Peacock's self-produced drama casting?"

"Correct."

"Look there."

"Ok?"

Zhou Buqi looked in the direction he pointed. There was the back view of the club's stadium. The seats in the stadium all had the "Peacock" logo.

He is indeed a businessman from Wall Street.

They really made the most of their resources, using the seats in the stadium for publicity.

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "The publicity effect of the team is still quite large."

San Dezi said, "We should make the most of it before it's sold. Next, I plan to put up big 'Peacock' posters in various locations on the stadium. The more publicity we can get, the better."