Chapter 1374 New York Jets

"Okay, Bill, let me contact NFL President Mr. Goodell. I need to have a chat first."

Li Ba did not make things difficult for Bill Duffy. This gentleman's ability was average, but his character and character were good and worthy of trust.

"OK."

Bill Duffy breathed a sigh of relief and quickly started contacting.

In New York, NFL headquarters, the phone rang in the president's office, and secretary Miss Rose answered the phone.

The caller was none other than Bill Duffy, and after greetings, he said: "Miss Ross, Hammer would like to speak to Mr. Goodell in person."

"OK, I'll notify Mr. President right away." Miss Ross didn't dare to neglect, and immediately knocked on Goodell's door. After entering, she said: "Sir, Hammer's phone number, he wants to talk to you."

"Really? Come in right away."

Goodell laughed. He had been waiting for this call for days.

Although the NFL is the most successful professional sports league in North America, its global influence is really nothing. In the past ten years, the NBA, which used to be only the third among the four major leagues, has firmly occupied the top spot with the help of the Hammer alone. Even in some of the Hammers' games, the ratings often exceed 100 million. This is already called the Super Bowl. This kind of influence, even in the United States, he hopes that the NFL will have.

In particular, he hopes to have the Hammer's global influence and use this influence to promote the NFL to the world, which is why he made an open invitation.

As for whether the Hammers can play in the NFL, in fact, this is not the most important thing. Anyway, for the NFL, let alone the entire league, even a team will not have any adverse effects. On the contrary, it will be because of the addition of the Hammers. Get huge benefits.

The call was quickly connected and the two started talking.

"Hello, Hammer, I'm Roger Goodell, nice to talk to you, you can call me Roger."

Goodell's tone was cordial and respectful, because the person he was talking to was not only a world-class superstar, but also a wealthy man.

Moreover, this rich man is not only rich, but also has a say in the American wine industry. He is someone he absolutely needs to respect.

The right to speak is very important, especially the right to speak in an industry, and just having money will only make people a piece of fat with blood, and will not gain enough respect.

"Hello, Roger." Li Ba said.

After the two exchanged pleasantries, Li Ba took the initiative to get to the point and said, "Roger, I really plan to join the NFL. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Oh, that would be great!"

Goodell cheered excitedly, and then said: "I suggest you go to some teams in big cities. Don't worry, any team in the league will welcome you with open arms. Your joining will be a grand event in the NFL. I will personally attend your meeting." For the joining ceremony, we will invite all the mainstream media in the world to attend your joining ceremony..."

"Roger, I want to go to a team that has never won a Super Bowl." Li Ba said.

Goodell was startled, thought for a moment, and said: "Hammer, actually you can consider more teams, such as the New York Jets.

This team only won the third Super Bowl in 1969 and has not won the championship for 42 years. It is in New York City and can accommodate your business value, making it the most suitable team for you. "

"Jets?"

Li Ba thought about it and thought it was acceptable.

"If you approve of the Jets, Hammer, then the league will take care of the rest, what do you think?" Goodell asked.

Li Ba agreed without thinking too much, and it didn't require much thinking.

"OK, I'll make arrangements right away. Believe me, it won't take long before we meet in New York." Goodell said excitedly.

Putting down the phone, he rubbed his hands excitedly and couldn't wait to look forward to what would happen after Li Ba joined.

He believes that with Li Ba's influence, as long as he joins the NFL, the league is likely to gain favor from Chinese broadcasters.

According to his understanding, because of several Chinese players, especially the Hammers, China has more than 100 million NBA fans, which makes him drool. Now that the NBA is committing suicide, it is the NFL's turn.

The reason why he recommended the Jets was, firstly, the reason he just mentioned, and secondly, his own family had many business dealings with Robert Wood Johnson, the owner of the Jets.

Once the NFL is promoted in China and even around the world, the Jets will be the team that directly benefits. Then his family business, who promoted Li Ba to join, will also benefit from it.

Even if you make friends with Li Ba, you might have the opportunity to participate in the wine business.

In addition, the NFL also sells a lot of peripherals, and is now striving to promote them globally, from men's, women's and children's clothing accessories to jackets, T-shirts and undershirts, which are very profitable. He also attaches great importance to these peripheral tweets, and China's economy is becoming more and more developed. That's the top priority.

On June 20, Bill Duffy accompanied Li Ba to New York to meet with Goodell and Jets owner Johnson.

As Liba's largest sponsor, Adidas President Hebner Heiner also participated in the meeting.

"Hammer, Mr. Heiner, nice to meet you."

"Me too."

The venue for the meeting was the Hilton Hotel, and there was a warm exchange of greetings.

Li Ba observed Johnson, the owner of the Jets, looking very excited.

After getting down to the business, other things are easy to discuss, but the contract is an issue.

The NFL implements a hard salary cap and no luxury tax. Li Ba has never played in the NFL. Now he has no ability to talk about it. It is impossible to give him a big contract, because that will occupy the team's salary space.

Of course, Li Ba did not consider the issue of more money and less money. The purpose of playing in the NFL is different from that of playing in the NBA. It is entirely to challenge new attempts, not to make money.

But with his current status, even Jets owner Johnson didn't dare to say it if he was asked to get a rookie contract.

Even Adidas would not agree to let Li Ba get a rookie contract, because that would be self-denial.

The current maximum salary contract in the NFL is similar to that in the NBA, about 20 million US dollars. At this level, it cannot be compared with Li Ba's contract with the Suns, let alone a rookie contract.

But Adi had already considered this problem, and Heiner came up with a solution.

That is, Adidas will provide Liba with another sponsorship contract as a sponsor, and then the NFL and the Jets will make up for Adidas in other forms, such as advertising spaces and other publicity channels.

Adi itself has a lifetime contract for all sports in Liba. This time he has come up with an additional big contract. It has to be said that it really shows his sincerity.

The NFL is also happy to reach an agreement with Li Ba and Adi in this form.

At the same time, the New York Jets will also pay a considerable signing bonus for Li Ba when signing, which is also the tradition of the NFL. The bonus is as high as 50 million US dollars.

For the New York Jets, the first consideration when signing Li Ba is also the world influence. Because of Li Ba's huge commercial value, this influence can be directly realized. In addition, there is support from Adidas, so even if Li Ba is in the future, If he can't perform well in the NFL, this signing is very cost-effective, just like signing a mascot.