"Uh, sir, are you sure we're measuring the size of our football shoes? Not ballet shoes or heels or anything like that? Looking at the staff in front of him who was measuring the size of his soles, Lu Ke was full of question marks and couldn't understand it, so he teased it in a joking way.

In the hotel room today, in addition to Lu Ke and Lehe, Under Armour sent a total of three representatives. One is Sean, the general manager of the West Coast marketing department, and the other two are assistants.

The graceful woman was Sean's personal secretary, responsible for keeping track of meetings and contract details; There is also a staff member of the design department who is dressed in a simple formal suit, who is responsible for measuring the detailed data of Lu Ke's body.

The so-called detailed data here completely opens a whole new door, like a custom suit, the data of a single arm measures the size of four different parts; There are also the dimensions of multiple details such as palms, shoulders, thighs, etc.

The most interesting thing is the measurement of the soles of the feet, not only the soles of the feet, the instep, and the arches of the feet, but also the ankles and calves. Moreover, the assistant also asked Lu Ke to walk on a tester to test his walking and running habits and see the force part of the soles of his feet.

Although Lu Ke didn't quite understand how these details were applied to the equipment, he really felt the special "tailor-made".

The conversation part of the meeting lasted about thirty-five minutes, and Lu Ke and Sean talked about various aspects, not only everything that happened in the past three weeks of competition, but also Sean took a closer look at Lu Ke's life before immigration, such as his hometown, such as his memory of China and proficiency in Chinese, and how he is now connected to his hometown. And so on and so forth.

Lech always sat by and listened, occasionally joining in some conversations, but more often he was focused on being a listener.

As an agent, he has very limited knowledge of Lu Ke, but Lech is very special, not surprisingly, in the next five to ten years, Lu Ke and Ben Roeslisberger are the only two players he has, so he can slowly, intensively, and deeply understand Lu Ke, which is important for his work.

After the conversation was over, Lu Ke entered the next room and began the relevant measurements. The whole measurement took about 45 minutes; But it wasn't over yet, and they were now back in the hall to finish measuring the soles of their feet.

The reason why Lu Ke is so joking is because the other party measured his ankle - rugby shoes are positional, and the striker needs to fight strongly, and their shoes are high-top; For quarterbacks and receivers who need to be nimble, midfielders and lowbacks are better options.

"If you're looking for high heels, I have personal relationships with some of the top designers, and I can put you in touch." Sean also joked along with the words.

Lu Ke said seriously, "I think I shouldn't be able to find an occasion to wear, so forget it." This answer was matched with the serious and indifferent face, and the joy was even greater, "Are you going to design a pair of shoes for me alone?" Measured so carefully, I felt something wasn't quite right. ”

"Design? No, no, no, it's just customized. Sean smiled and said briskly, "Maybe one day in the future, we'll have a set called Bambi, but not now." ”

Lu Ke couldn't help laughing, "It seems that I have to work harder." ”

After all the data was measured, the staff member nodded at Sean in confirmation, and Sean stood up, "Perfect! Today's task has been completed, so let's stop for the time being. Next, we will arrange the follow-up as soon as possible, and after the contract is signed, your equipment will be delivered to your door in person. ”

"Happy working together!" Sean politely shook Lu Ke's right hand again, "By the way, if the signing is completed before Friday, then I hope that you can wear Under Armour's equipment on the court during this weekend's game, and look forward to your victory." Then, Sean shook Lech's right hand again, led his two assistants, and turned away.

Lehe escorted Sean out of the hotel room, while Lu Ke sat on the sofa and slowly began to come back to his senses.

Walking back to the lobby of the hotel room, Lech saw Lu Ke raise his head, with a bright smile on his face, his eyes widened, and he said excitedly, "Really? Is all this true? Did Under Armour really choose to sponsor me? I'm also a sponsored player now? ”

For professional players, there are countless sponsors, but among them, automobiles, sports equipment, clothing and beverages are known as the "four kings", with the highest endorsement profits, the widest audience market, and the most appropriate image, which is undoubtedly the endorsement and sponsorship that every player dreams of.

Now, the first endorsement of Lu Ke's career came from sports equipment. The first step is extremely solid and extremely strong.

Such Lu Ke shows the youthful vitality that a twenty-two-year-old should have, and the excitement that a rookie player should have. Lech smiled brightly and nodded in affirmation, "Have you read the numbers on the contract?" ”

"yes, I forgot about it." Lu Ke came back to his senses and opened the contract sample on the table, but this sample was really too thick, and countless detailed rules were stipulated, and it looked like there were at least more than a hundred pages, and for a while, Lu Ke couldn't find the signing number, so he chose the most convenient way, "Remind me, what is the specific number?" ”

"$250,000 a year for two years." Lech didn't sell it, and said the answer briskly.

Lu Ke let out a long breath, and little by little let the beating heart calm down, "You mean, now Under Armour sponsors all my training equipment, and then they also pay me two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year, which is more than half of my team's salary?" ”

Lu Ke's undrafted rookie contract is $465,000 per year; Now Under Armour's sponsorship contract is $250,000 a year, requiring Lu Ke to have all of his training equipment from Under Armour.

The official sponsor of the NFL is Nike, and the jerseys and equipment of each team are Nike's, but Nike does not fully cover the buyout, and the players' gloves, sneakers, and quick-drying suits inside the jerseys, as well as personal training clothes outside the game, these are the categories that can freely choose sponsors.

As another official sponsor of the league, Under Armour has a near monopoly on personal training wear, including quick-drying suits. Players who don't have a sponsor almost always choose Under Armour for a simple reason: professional enough and good enough.

Now, Under Armour has bought out the sponsorship of other equipment on Lu Ke in addition to the jersey and equipment - in the mentality of ordinary people, there will be no shortage of sports equipment in the next two years.

Compared with Lu Ke's satisfaction, Lech seemed very calm, "250,000 a year, this is not a big contract, if you compare it with the NBA, it is almost a drop in the bucket." Don't you feel sorry? ”

"Hehe, people shouldn't be too greedy." Lu Ke waved his hand nonchalantly and said freely, "I'm a rookie who has only been drafted for three games, and being able to gain sponsors is already a rare progress." Now it's more important for me to keep my feet on the ground, aim for the next game and move forward one game at a time. When the wins accumulate to a certain point, big contracts are taken for granted. ”

For victory, Lu Ke is full of desire and will never let go easily; But for the gains off the court, Lu Ke remained modest, knew how to be content, and knew how to measure, he believed that today's contract was not the end, but the starting point. Self-confidence is not the same as arrogance.

Sponsorship from Under Armour, this is the first pot of gold in his career. Unlike the previously signed undrafted rookie contract, it is a salary, and all payments will not arrive until the season is completed; It's an off-the-field award, like a bonus, that really opens up the wide world of professional football.

In this regard, deep in Lu Ke's heart, there is joy, surprise, excitement, happiness, as if standing under the spotlight, bathed in the warm light, in the past two days, including the small changes in today's community, everything has put Lu Ke in a wonderful picture.

The only thing that doesn't have is dissatisfaction.

"As for the NBA ......," Lu Ke shrugged, "I guess I chose the wrong project from the beginning." ”

Such a joke managed to make Lech chuckle, and he nodded, "It's great that you can keep that mentality." The more they get along, the more satisfied Lech becomes, Lu Ke is indeed a rare quarterback, and he really didn't look away.

Once you're in the professional league, you're under the spotlight, you're under the microscope, and everything starts to accelerate and zoom in.

A victory may bring countless praises and shine; In the same way, a failure can also fall to the bottom completely. The pressure from the fans and the media has magnified everything several times and accelerated it several times; The ups and downs of the development curve are undoubtedly a severe test for rookie players, and the focus and attention off the court are easy to make rookie players lose their way.

Fortunately, Lu Ke didn't.

The ecstasy of three consecutive victories did not overwhelm his sanity for the time being; In particular, the huge firepower attracted by the identity of a Chinese player has not affected his judgment and concentration for the time being. This is important.

Admittedly, the $250,000 a year contract is really not worth mentioning, and the highlights are really limited.

In the NBA, LeBron James and Nike have lifetime contracts of up to one billion dollars; And there are not a few players with nine-figure sneaker sponsorship endorsement contracts, even if they are rookie players' endorsement sponsorships, the contract value is far more than 250,000.

In fact, the NFL is the number one sport in North America, with a leading audience in terms of audience size, market value, and attention, and according to incomplete statistics, the NFL has more than three times the audience ratio of the NBA; But the sponsorship contracts of the NFL's top players are just the same as ordinary players in the NBA.

Why is this anomalous phenomenon?