Chapter 449: Too Disrespectful!

"Hello, Mr. Abramovich, welcome to the Red Bull Arena in New York"

At the New York Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, representatives of the North American Invitational Tournament's organizers, Matt Higgins and Charlie Tillitano, greeted Chelsea executives from London with a smile.

Led by owner Roman Abramovich himself, accompanied by Chairman Bruce Buck and CEO Marina Granovskaia, as well as several core Chelsea executives, it is clear how much the Blues value this event.

"Come on, everyone, please come in."

A group of people walked in noisily and found that the banquet hall, which was temporarily converted from the huge restaurant, was quite empty at that moment.

Looking over there, the most noticeable thing is the big bald head.

No need to introduce, everyone familiar with football knows him, AC Milan's general manager Galliani

It's just that this bald man, who was so high-spirited a few years ago, has seemed a little lonely recently. The reason is that he is not on good terms with the team's princess Barbara, who is thinking of kicking him out of the San Siro Stadium.

AC Milan is someone else's property after all. As an employee, you are asking for trouble by having a conflict with your boss.

"Hello, Mr. Galliani," Abramovich greeted him with a smile.

"Long time no see, Mr. Abramovich." Galliani also stood up and shook hands with the Russian warmly.

I still remember that when Abramovich just bought Chelsea, Galliani was dissatisfied with it no matter how he looked at it.

But now, the two of them are as compatible as if they were wearing the same pair of pants.

It really makes people feel that things in the world are impermanent.

"It seems that we are here too early." Abramovich looked at the empty restaurant and was a little amused.

Now, apart from them, there are reporters from a few newspapers in the corner and media people from TV stations.

A hint of unnaturalness flashed across Galliani's face, but he forced a smile and nodded.

At this moment, a loud laugh came from the side.

"Haha, not too early, not too early, Mr. Abramovich, I have long hoped to have the opportunity to meet you, and now is the right time."

Abramovich and Galliani immediately turned around and found a tall, thin old man wearing glasses standing next to them.

Matt Higgins immediately came up with a smile, "You two, this is our boss, Stephen Ross."

Stephen Ross?

This is an American real estate tycoon.

I heard that he is very successful in both the political and business circles in the United States, and he is a very capable person with connections everywhere.

"Hello, Mr. Ross"

Abramovich and Galliani immediately smiled and shook his hand.

After some polite greetings, the three of them sat down.

"New York is different from other cities. During the weekends, the whole city is empty. People who work here usually live in the suburbs, and many of them live in New Jersey as well."

Abramovich and Galliani didn't understand New York, so they could only listen obediently.

"After careful consideration, our team decided to schedule the first game of the North American Invitational to kick off at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, hoping to attract more fans to the scene."

"In addition, we also attach great importance to this game. After all, it is the first game. Everyone hopes to be a hit and create a good market. Therefore, we have invested a lot of energy and effort in this game. At the same time, we also plan to hold a lively pre-game opening ceremony and invite many stars including Justin Bo to come to support."

Abramovich, Galliani and others nodded continuously after hearing this.

"Not only that, a group of New York politicians and businessmen, including the New York Red Bulls, the New York Jets, and executives from the Major League Soccer will all come to the scene to support us."

After hearing this, Abramovich and Galliani couldn't help but nod their heads repeatedly.

It can be seen that the other party has also invested a lot of effort and resources in this event.

"Mr. Ross," Galliani had a question, "I heard that the International Champions Cup, hosted by Miracle Media, will also start tonight. Where will they hold it?"

Stephen Ross laughed, "It's also in New Jersey. There's no football field in downtown New York City, but it's not far from here."

"Oh." Galliani nodded, "So what's the situation over there?"

Stephen Ross was obviously prepared and laughed out loud, "very opaque"

"What's going on?" Galliani was puzzled.

"I remember that the newspapers in Turin, Italy, reported that the ticket sales were very good."

Stephen Ross laughed and shook his head, "That's all bullshit. Let me tell you, the largest online ticketing company in the United States has only one partner, and that's our North American Invitational. They only sell our tickets."

Abramovich and Galliani were delighted when they heard this.

Online ticketing companies are of great help to ticket sales these days. Without such a partner, Miracle Media's International Champions Cup ticket sales will definitely be hit hard.

"They released news before that a certain number of tickets were sold within 24 hours, making it seem like they were in short supply. But anyone familiar with the American Internet knows that such data is simply unreliable and too exaggerated."

Everyone nodded in agreement, saying that the Internet is often based on hype.

Didn’t someone say that?

Standing at the wind's outlet, even pigs can fly to the sky

"They only sell tickets online, but we are different. We have very stable partners. We sell tickets online and offline at the same time, so the credibility of our data will be higher."

Galliani couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. "So, Mr. Rose, how was the attendance for this game?"

He is not only concerned about the attendance, but also about whether the peak showdown between AC Milan and Chelsea can detonate the American basketball market.

You know, this is not just a matter of ticket sales. Once it ignites the American ball market and arouses widespread attention from all walks of life in American society, AC Milan's influence in the United States will be greatly enhanced.

By that time, won’t American sponsors flock to the event?

"Very impressive, almost sold out long ago," Stephen Ross replied with a laugh.

After hearing this, Abramovich and Galliani felt relieved.

Are you worried about a dull atmosphere during the warm-up match? That would be so embarrassing, right?

Especially after being hyped by the media and newspapers around the world, people who don't know would think that AC Milan and Chelsea have long lost their aura of being top clubs.

"Please rest assured, we are an old partner with more than ten years of cooperation experience. The fact that we dare to arrange the game at the same time as them shows that we have extremely strong self-confidence."

Stephen Ross spoke excitedly and with great passion.

"This is America. We are confident enough to give a heavy blow to those who think they can enter the American market by acquiring a company, because no one is more familiar with and understands the American sports market better than us."

These words made both Abramovich and Galliani a little angry.

Although both teams received appearance fees, they did not care whether the game was successful or not.

But we can’t see it that way entirely.

After all, if the event is successfully run, it will definitely be beneficial to them.

Besides, the eight teams in the two groups of the International Champions Cup are already full, and they simply cannot squeeze in now. They can only hope that the North American Invitational Tournament will be successful and even surpass the International Champions Cup.

Especially someone like Galliani, who made a sky-high offer to the International Champions Cup negotiation team and scared them off. Now if the North American Invitational fails, what will they do in the future?

Do they have to take the initiative to go to the International Champions Cup and beg them to be allowed to participate?

Is there still the spirit of a top football team?

You don't have to go. You have the character, but the huge American market and huge economic benefits, why don't you want it?

Therefore, Galliani prayed to God and hoped that the North American Invitational would be a success.

A few people were chatting over there, and time passed by minute by minute.

As the lunch time approached, although guests arrived one after another, compared with the guests at the entire banquet, there were still too few people and the place seemed very empty.

This caused a lot of discussion in the banquet hall.

"How come it's already this late and no one has arrived yet?"

"You're not coming, are you?"

"How could he not come?"

"I heard that there is also a banquet across the street."

"It can't be such a coincidence, right?"

"Who said it wasn't? The other team decided the match time first, and we followed up later. The same is true for the luncheon. Many guests have already accepted the other team's invitation. Are we going to ask them to change their minds all of a sudden?"

“That makes sense”

"Also, let me tell you, the guests invited over there are not as many as here, but in addition to the team representatives, there are also representatives of sponsors. I heard before that James Murdoch from News Corporation will also be there."

“Is this true or false?”

"Fox finally negotiated the U.S. live broadcast rights for the International Champions Cup. Are you serious?"

"Hey, I heard that the overseas regions were given to EPNL, the Middle East region was given to Al Jazeera, the UK and Europe regions were given to Sky TV, and the Chinese region was given to CCTV at a low price."

"Who said it wasn't? Over there, live broadcasts are being broadcast in almost most of the world, but here, even live broadcasts on TV haven't been sold."

"It won't be that bad, will it?"

"It's so miserable. Just wait and see. No one will come."

The sound of people talking came over, and Stephen Ross's face looked quite ugly.

Abramovich and Galliani looked at each other and saw the depression in each other's hearts.

Damn, you just said so much, it turns out you were just bragging

At this moment, a reporter suddenly stood up and talked on the phone.

"…It's too noisy here, please speak louder. What? There are so many people over there? The place is packed? No way?"

"Oh, so many celebrities are singing. OK, I'll be there right away."

As he spoke, he saw the man hurriedly packing up his things and running away like the wind.

Damn, I didn't even say goodbye.

It's so disrespectful.

As soon as they saw their fellow reporters running to look for news, all the other reporters immediately followed suit.

Not long after, the second person ran to apologize to the organizer. Although he found an excuse that he had something urgent to do, everyone could see that he had gone to the other side to get news.

The third one, the fourth one...

In less than five minutes, most of the reporters had run away.

When they saw that all the reporters had run away, some of the guests could no longer sit still.

Just as Abramovich and Galliani were cursing the reporters in their hearts, someone came over.

"I'm sorry, Stephen, there's something urgent going on at the company, I have to go back and deal with it."

Stephen Ross stood up in surprise. "No way, Gabel, you are the president of the Major League Soccer. You promised me that you would take charge. Now..."

"I'm sorry, Stephen, I really have something to do, I really have something to do..."

Having said that, he walked out of the door without allowing any room for discussion.

Someone started it, and then others followed.

"Stephen, I suddenly feel a little uncomfortable and need to go back and rest."

"What's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"My butt hurts..."

"My butt hurts...I..."

Before Stephen Ross could react, the man left again.

Now everyone can see it, and people's hearts are scattered.

Even among those who choose to stay, how many of them don’t miss the other side?