March 7th, Wednesday morning.
On Bunny Tail Live-Stream, the first exhibition match of the ICL league to test the waters would start at 5 PM tonight. The two teams were the two domestic teams that had obtained the domestic quota and entered IOI's global finals but were eliminated in the final group stages.
They might have been eliminated in the group stages and looked like they did not have any cards up their sleeves, but these two teams were the strongest teams in the country other than FV and SUG.
What's more, they had also looked for FV Team to play some mock competitions after returning from the world finals. Their technical and tactical standards and comprehensive strength had obviously improved.
Zhao Xuming believed that these two teams would definitely show a brand new appearance when they appeared in front of the audience again!
There would be an exhibition match between FV Team and SUG Team tomorrow, which was Thursday. The attention would definitely be higher.
The reason why they did not arrange for FV and SUG's competition to be held today was mainly because they were afraid that something would happen on the first day.
The various lighting, equipment, director, Bunny Tail Live-Stream, and so on at the competition venue all needed to be adjusted. It would be too disappointing if the exhibition match between FV and SUG was scheduled for today. It would be harmful to the popularity of the league if they were to pause the entire time to repair the computer.
Thus, it was the best choice to arrange for two teams that did not have much traffic today but had a certain level of strength and reputation.
Of course, this would also bring about a problem. What about the popularity of the competition?
It was no exaggeration to say that 90% of the current popularity of IOI in the country was concentrated on FV Team. Wouldn't it be very awkward if FV Team did not participate and not many viewers were watching the first day of the ICL exhibition competition?
However, Zhao Xuming felt that this was not a big problem. Data was real and fake after all. Those who understood it understood it.
The live-stream platform could completely give a fake popularity of a few million. They could then repeat the bullet screen comments and arrange for a group of fake reviewers to speak crazily … It could also support the popularity of the live-stream. At the very least, it could achieve the effect of passing off the fake as the real thing.
There was no detailed agreement on these contents in the contract between both parties but wasn't this what live-stream platforms usually did?
There was no need to deliberately explain such things. These were the unspoken rules of the industry. The staff at Bunny Tail Live-Stream would naturally make arrangements.
Now, Eric and Zhao Xuming were inspecting the ICL league's competition venue to check on the preparations for various tasks.
The ICL league's venue was also an indoor venue in a large studio in Shanghai.
In fact, Eric had considered a large stadium at first, but he soon gave up. Although these large stadiums looked more imposing, there would be a lot of corresponding problems.
For example, large open-air stadiums were severely affected by the weather. Whether it was heavy rain or scorching sun, the audience would suffer.
The bigger the venue, the more money it would cost to decorate it. It wasn't that he was afraid of spending money, but he was afraid that the audience wouldn't be able to fill up their seats. That would be very awkward.
What's more, the traffic in large stadiums might not be very convenient. If there were concerts or soccer matches, the ICL audience would leave with the fans or fans. The scene would be quite chaotic and difficult to handle.
Thus, after much consideration, he decided to rent an indoor studio like the GPL. That way, at least the transportation would be more convenient and the overall effect would be guaranteed.
Eric went to the backstage of the studio and asked the staff in detail about the debugging of the various equipment. He then went to the stage and the audience to see what was lacking from the audience's point of view.
Zhao Xuming followed behind Eric the entire time and occasionally explained the details.
Eric had specially studied the GPL competition venue before. He had a lot of experience to learn from. Eric had also given many instructions for the preparations for the ICL this time.
After walking around, Eric sat in the audience seat for a moment and said, "Isn't it a little too similar to the GPL?"
It was only now that he realized this.
That was because Eric had subconsciously adopted all the good parts of the GPL when he was preparing for the ICL league. For example, the team flags used to decorate the stadium, the big screen on the stage, the arrangement of the players' positions, and so on.
There was nothing wrong with these details individually, but when they were all put together, there would be an inexplicable sense of déjà vu …
Obviously, when the staff completed these details, they had subconsciously targeted the GPL's methods in their minds. That was why it was a little similar.
Zhao Xuming opened his mouth, but he didn't know how to answer.
Since Eric asked this question, it was obvious that he already had a definite answer in his heart.
If he said "no", Eric would definitely feel that he had no taste.
However, Zhao Xuming could not nod and say "yes". That was because Eric would definitely ask, "Why didn't you remind me earlier?"
What Eric needed the most now was a reliable solution.
But the competition was going to start tonight. How could there be a way to solve this problem in just a few hours?
He could not possibly tear down all the decorations and change them within a few hours, right? Wouldn't that be nonsense?
Zhao Xuming had an idea and thought of an excuse.
"It does feel like GPL, but I don't think it's okay."
"This might bring us a little negative impact on public opinion, but it also means that there won't be too many barriers for GPL's audience to watch the competition after they transfer to our ICL league."
"I can only say that there are pros and cons, but the pros outweigh the cons."
"We can slowly adjust the decoration of the venue in the future and try our best to remove the GPL elements."
Eric seemed to be quite satisfied with this answer. He nodded. "Yes, that's the only way."
The two of them sat in the audience for a while before Eric asked, "I heard that Tengda Corporation is also preparing for the overseas league. How's the current situation? Is there any news? "
Zhao Xuming quickly answered, "There's some news."
"At the moment, Tengda Corporation's overseas league should still be in the preparation stage. I heard that they want to cooperate with overseas companies to promote it. The various agencies will decide the specific matters of the overseas league. Tengda Corporation will only play the role of guidance and gatekeeper."
"As for which companies to cooperate with, the specific competition system, schedule, and participating teams of the various overseas leagues … there's no news at all."
Eric nodded and smiled. "We're finally better than the overseas league. IOI's global regional leagues started earlier than GOG. What's more, Finger Games established branches in various places to directly manage them. They obviously have the upper hand in this aspect."
Zhao Xuming asked, "I was also very surprised when I first heard this news. This doesn't seem like Boss Pei's style. Wouldn't it be awkward to cooperate with other companies and let them lead the preparations for the overseas league? "
Eric smiled slightly. "Do you think Boss Pei doesn't realize that? He realizes it, but he has no choice. "
"Tengda Corporation does not have much experience in going out to sea after all. It might be difficult for them to forcefully take over everything."
"On the other hand, Dayak Corporation is a multinational corporation that has a good influence in many parts of the world. Finger Games is also an American company."
"In other words, Tengda has a natural advantage in the domestic league. However, the situation is completely reversed in the overseas league."
"According to what I know, Finger Games' headquarters in the Northern American Region is almost done preparing for the league. The tentative price of the league seats is …"
"Seven million US dollars."
Zhao Xuming was stunned. "So expensive!"
That was the price of a single seat.
Previously, it was said that Boss Pei had auctioned the GPL slots at a sky-high price. However, the average price of the seats was basically around 20 million US dollars. After conversion, it was only three million US dollars.
On the other hand, the price of the seats in IOI's Northern American Region League had doubled the price of the GPL slots!
Eric smiled. "It looks a little expensive at the moment, but that might not be the case in the future. What's more, many clubs will buy it at the price of seven million US dollars. "
"The clubs in the Northern American Region are much wealthier. Seven million yuan for a seat would make them feel the pinch, but they would definitely not give up on this seat."
The development level of the E-Sports industry in different regions was different. The E-Sports industry in Europe, America, and South Korea was developing relatively fast. However, in terms of financial resources, the clubs in the Northern American Region were definitely the richest.
Of course, many large financial groups were also entering the domestic E-Sports industry. The financial resources of the various clubs were also growing rapidly. However, compared to the clubs in the United States, their financial resources were still much worse.
Finger Games' pricing in the Northern American Region was not a sky-high price. Instead, it was a combination of the financial resources of the various clubs, IOI's influence and popularity in the Northern American Region, the asking prices of other E-Sports industries, and other factors.
Eric did not ask for a high price from the domestic E-Sports Clubs. The slots for the ICL league were basically half-bought and half-given. This was not because he was a philanthropist, but because he knew that the domestic clubs could not squeeze out that much money.
No one could afford it even if they set a sky-high price. What was the point?
However, the situation in the Northern American Region was different. This was considered Finger Games' base camp. The league, live-stream, and the club's related derivative industries were a huge money-making pool. Finger Games did not want to sell all the slots cheaply. They had to make a good profit.
The landlord did not have any surplus. Where would Finger Games come from if they were to spend money crazily to promote the domestic market? Didn't they still have to earn it back from other markets?
Eric said very confidently, "It's hard to say for other regions, but Finger Games has an absolute advantage in the Northern American Region. It will not be easy for Tengda to organize GOG's Northern American Region league and compete with IOI!"
Zhao Xuming nodded slightly in agreement.
Indeed, Tengda's achievements so far were mainly in the country. As a domestic company, Tengda did have an advantage in this aspect.
However, the Northern American Region would be Finger Games' home ground. Tengda Corporation could not interfere directly. It could only let other games companies represent it. The difficulty would definitely increase.
Eric and Finger Games' confidence was obviously very reasonable.
At that moment, Eric's cell phone rang.
He took a look and could not help but frown. His expression changed when he picked up the call.
"What? I'll go take a look right away. "
These two sentences were spoken in English. Obviously, this call came from Finger Games' headquarters in Los Angeles.
Zhao Xuming asked, "What's wrong?"
Eric's expression was a little ugly. "For some reason, the forum in the Northern American Region is abuzz. They're saying that we're treating the two zones differently!"
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