Chapter 358 Scare You to Death
"Hello, Mr. Levi!"
"Thank you for your reception, Mr. Yang Huan!"
At Southampton Royal Docks, Yang Huan met Daniel Levy and his team from Tottenham Hotspur who were heading south.
Tottenham's CEO went south this time not only to supervise the project, but also expressed his hope to visit Southampton's new stadium project.
After Tottenham Hotspur lost the competition with West Ham United for the London Stadium, the main venue of the Olympics, it decided to spend 400 million pounds to build a new stadium in north London, and chose Foster + Partners as its partner.
Today, this firm belongs to Yang Huan.
So, when Tottenham Hotspur approached Norman Foster and expressed their wish to visit Southampton's new stadium project, Yang Huan naturally agreed without hesitation and met with him in person.
Both projects in Southampton are in full swing.
Standing at the Royal Pier and looking out, it is a scene of bustling activity.
The artificial island already has a rough outline, and it looks like a huge project.
"Mr. Yang Huan, it is not easy to convince the citizens of Southampton to agree to build this project!"
Levi's words were quite touching.
The community where Tottenham Hotspur is located has poor security, and the fans' spending power and transportation are not very convenient.
Tottenham has long wanted to leave, just like Arsenal, and move to a place closer to the city of London.
But the plan was aborted when the fans started causing trouble.
The biggest challenge facing Southampton's new stadium is undoubtedly the environmental issue.
But as the saying goes, it is easier to get things done if you have someone in the court, this question depends on who you are dealing with.
"The Northumberland development plan you proposed this time is also very ambitious. With the support of the London City Government and the community, it is also not easy!"
Levi shook his head and smiled bitterly, then sighed deeply, "It's never as popular as the big teams!"
That’s the truth!
Arsenal wanted to build a new stadium, and all parties gave strong support, even allowing them to leave Highbury and choose a new site.
After all, isn't it because the Gunners are a wealthy team?
"Tottenham Hotspur has performed quite well in recent years. If they can keep going for another two or three years, they will have a chance to be in the top four!" Yang encouraged with a smile.
Unexpectedly, Levi sighed deeply again, his brows looking full of helplessness.
"We're afraid we can't hold on any longer!"
"What's going on?" Yang Huan was a little surprised.
Levy was not afraid to speak frankly. "We started to increase investment in 2008 and 2009, but in the past few years, the financial situation has continued to decline. Player salaries have soared from more than 60 million to more than 110 million, nearly doubling."
"Now, players like Gareth Bale are asking for a pay rise, and the team is under great financial pressure."
The management ability of Tottenham Hotspur's CEO is well-known in the Premier League and even in European football. He holds a quarter of Tottenham Hotspur's shares and is considered a shareholder of the team. Naturally, he hopes Tottenham will develop.
"With the subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis, commercial revenue has plummeted. Fortunately, the broadcasting fees from the Premier League have soared, but our fiscal revenue is actually the same as it was in 2008!"
On the one hand, revenue remains flat, while on the other hand, the share of broadcasting fees has soared, proving that Tottenham Hotspur's commercial operations have not grown but have been shrinking in the past few years.
Even if we take into account the income from European competitions and profits from player transfers, commercial income will be greatly reduced!
"We estimate that our finances for this season will be in debt of 30 to 40 million pounds!"
When Yang Huan heard this, he was a little surprised.
Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal have always been the healthiest teams in the Premier League. If even Tottenham is like this, one can imagine the situation of other teams.
"Many fans think that professional leagues are about players and head coaches, but they don't know that professional leagues are about capital. Players and head coaches are only part of the team's many resources, and they are not even the decisive part."
Daniel Levi said with emotion.
Yang Huan also deeply agrees with this.
Before becoming the team owner, he was just an ordinary fan who believed that by bringing in the best players, the best head coach and building the best team, he would be able to win the championship.
But in fact it is not that simple.
Because a season lasts nine months, which means one year including the transfer period.
Without sufficient resources and strong capital backing, no team can last a year.
So look at Arsenal, they have more than 100 million pounds in cash on their books, but this is normal in a professional league!
If Southampton has less than 100 million pounds in cash on its books, Nicola Cortes will have to run to Yang Huan and yell for a long time, and then find ways to get a transfusion of money.
"If a mid-level team wants to challenge a top team, they either need to have strong financial backing like you or the Abu Dhabi consortium, make large investments over a long period of time, and persist until the team enters a virtuous cycle, or they need to learn from Arsenal!"
Arsenal's approach is to strive to stay in the top four every season.
Looks pretty pathetic, doesn't it?
Yang Huan also often makes fun of Wenger.
But this was a strategy learned from our ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang, which was to build high walls, store up grain, and slowly declare himself king.
If you don’t believe it, take a look at the Bundesliga and La Liga.
Why can't any team compete with Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid in the long term?
The Bundesliga has always been Bayern's world. Teams like Dortmund and Werder Bremen have all stole the limelight from Bayern, but none of them could last long.
In recent years, Dortmund has made a comeback and is fighting hard against Bayern, but how long can they last?
The La Liga has also produced teams such as Deportivo La Coruna, Valencia, Real Sociedad, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid, which intended to challenge the two giants of the Spanish Super League, but which of them was not a flash in the pan?
Another simple example is Inter Milan.
Moratti suddenly got excited. After dominating Serie A for many years, he wanted to try his luck in the Champions League. He invited Mourinho, brought in many talented stars, and won a treble. But what was the result?
After winning the treble, Inter Milan couldn’t hold on any longer and suffered a setback. It’s unknown when they can make a comeback!
If professional football really has the legendary background.
Those abundant resources are the foundation of a club!
Yang Huan nodded and praised: "That's right, so assets are very important for a team!"
Levi laughed and nodded, "Well, Mr. Yang Huan is really not like what the outside world says, he doesn't understand football at all!"
Yang Huan couldn't help but smile.
I didn’t understand it before, but now that I’m a boss, I have to learn to understand these things.
The team has many assets, the most obvious of which are the stadium and training base.
The team’s three major sources of income are broadcasting fees, match day income and commercial income.
Broadcasting fees are not controlled by the team. Commercial income depends on operational capabilities, but it is also related to the market environment. Match day income depends on the stadium and is considered the most stable basic income.
St. Mary's Stadium has a capacity of more than 30,000, while Arsenal's Emirates Stadium has a capacity of 60,000. Add to that Arsenal's ticket prices, and the Gunners can earn tens of millions of pounds more in ticket revenue than Southampton a year.
If we include the rent for shops, restaurants and other facilities in the stadium, it would be at least over 100 million pounds.
With this amount of income, no matter how well you perform at Southampton, can you catch up with them?
You are playing an arms race with others. It's like lighting a light in the toilet. Aren't you looking for death?
So, the stadium is very, very important!
Yang Huan started preparing the new stadium from the first day he acquired the team.
Tottenham Hotspur is already in a financial deficit, but they have to tighten their belts and build a new stadium!
If you build it, there is still hope. If you don’t build it, you can only wait for death!
Moreover, Yang Huan gradually understood the meaning behind Daniel Levy's words.
It seems that there is no one who is not for sale in Tottenham Hotspur!
This guy deliberately said so much to me, and the subtext was also to say, little brother, the stars in our team are of good quality and cheap, if you take a fancy to any one of them, I will sell it to you, the price is fair, and I will not cheat anyone!
Who caused my financial problems?
Not selling?
Even if we win the Champions League next season, the finances won’t pass UEFA’s approval!
As for Southampton, hehe, no such worry.
The reason is simple. The money invested in the training base and the new stadium can offset the debt.
Therefore, Southampton still has plenty of room now and has no problem signing Messi.
The budget for a stadium is 700 million pounds. Isn't it easy to deal with Messi?
"Mr. Yang Huan, I heard that you signed a cooperation agreement with the Australian Real Estate Group?"
Australia Property Group is the world's largest listed retail property group, owning more than 100 high-end shopping malls around the world.
Among them, the one at the subway exit of the London Olympic Village, Europe's largest shopping mall, is owned by them. It cost 1.5 billion pounds, but its annual turnover is as high as 1 billion pounds.
“Yes, they have become our retail partner and will operate Southampton’s largest shopping centre, including a luxury goods mall, on the first floor of our new stadium in the future!”
Southampton's new stadium is shaped like a nine-clawed golden dragon, with nine small islands surrounding the main island.
At present, all nine islands have signed lease agreements. For example, Apple has decided to operate Southampton’s first Apple Store here, and Adidas and Nike will also set up Southampton’s largest flagship stores here.
The main island is divided into two layers. The bottom layer is in the shape of a five-pointed star, and the stadium is built on top of this five-pointed star shape.
Australian Real Estate is planning to operate a high-end shopping mall on the ground floor.
"Mr. Yang Huan, can you reveal the details of the cooperation?"
Yang Huan smiled slightly. This was not a secret and the media would know it sooner or later.
"One hundred million pounds, five years!"
Daniel Levi opened his eyes wide and exclaimed in astonishment, "Oh my God!"
Twenty million pounds a year?
Yang Huan smiled slightly, "Did you see those nine small islands?"
"Yeah!" Daniel Levi nodded.
"Two million pounds for a small island, five years at a time!"
"Two million?" Daniel Levy was dumbfounded.
Nine small islands, that would be 18 million pounds!
Wow, without saying anything else, the rent for these two areas alone is nearly 40 million pounds a year.
There is also a restaurant inside the stadium.
Yes, I heard that Southampton has also found a restaurant partner for its new stadium, which specializes in providing VIP boxes and Southampton’s group of rich second-generation members, with an annual rent of 20 million pounds.
In addition, there will definitely be ordinary restaurants, KFC, McDonald's and the like.
All in all, the rental income of Southampton's new stadium alone is 700 to 800 million pounds.
Wait, he just said that the contract is for five years, it seems that the money will be paid first.
In other words, Southampton wants to build this new stadium, and even before construction starts, it can get 200 to 300 million pounds just by signing these lease contracts.
That’s two or three hundred million!
Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium budget is only 400 million at most!
Until now, he is still completely in the dark and doesn't know where to raise the money!
But he just talked and got two or three hundred million!
Comparing yourself to others will definitely make you angry!
Yang Huan looked at Daniel Levy's sad expression and couldn't help laughing.
What is this?
Compared with those real estate developers in our country who make money out of nothing, I'm nothing!
Besides, the Duke of Westminster has made a lot of contributions here, and he is still eyeing a bigger piece of the pie!
Not to mention anything else, Southampton City Council supported 10 million pounds, the British government supported 25 million pounds, plus the Southampton Community Council supported 5 million pounds, Southampton received a total of 40 million pounds from the government.
The reason is simple. Once these projects are completed, they will provide thousands of jobs for Southampton, bring in rich fiscal revenue to the government every year, and even boost Southampton's economy and tourism industry.
Moreover, Southampton’s two major projects have been integrated with the city government’s old town renovation projects, so the government will naturally provide some support.
Next, Southampton is considering soliciting investment for the naming of the stadium.
It is expected to earn at least 20 million pounds in sponsorship fees a year.
When that time really comes, who dares to say that our great saint is not a wealthy man?
Looking at Daniel Levy's frightened and poor appearance, Yang Huan couldn't help but laugh.
If I really told you everything, wouldn’t you be scared to death?
However, when it comes to the poor appearance, Yang Huan remembered one thing!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
