Just as Min Congda, along with Clippers players and junior staff, was eating and drinking in Chinatown and going on an adventure in Santa Barbara, at a mansion somewhere in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles' affluent district, the new owner of the Clippers, Shri Sterling, was hosting a dinner party.

It is the most luxurious residential area in Los Angeles, known as the city within a city, where many Hollywood stars and wealthy people live, and is a symbol of wealth and status.

This mansion is one of the joint property of Donald Sterling and Shelly Sterling, after the divorce, Shelly shared the ownership of this mansion, and tonight she was the hostess of many executives and leaders in the sports, media, and financial worlds.

First, it was to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new arena, and second, she still had a lot of business to negotiate.

Although she is 70 years old, for a woman, power, wealth and fame can be a good remedy for beauty.

Sheri Sterling is a glamorous this year, so she looks radiant and younger than she has been in the last decade or twenty.

This made Shelly's ex-husband Donald Sterling very unhappy, and he was also invited to the dinner tonight, and brought his young girlfriend with him, but his eyes kept lingering on Shelly.

When a person reaches a certain age, appearance and figure are no longer the best packaging, but prestige, status, and power are.

Donald Sterling has been a family figure in the past, and even if he is notorious in the NBA, he is one of the most famous and wealthy moguls in Los Angeles.

And Shelly Sterling has always been the woman behind him, and the women around him are constantly changing.

Overnight, the mountains and rivers turned upside down, and Shelly seized the opportunity to almost send Donald to a mental hospital.

Now that the property has been divided, the Clippers have taken ownership, and they have won the championship that year they could not have imagined during the Sterling period.

This was followed by a major construction project to build the largest and most luxurious gymnasium in the league, and the first gymnasium in the United States to be built entirely with private funding.

Shelly Sterling's popularity in the past six months has almost overshadowed Donald Sterling's reputation in Los Angeles over the past three decades.

It's impossible to say that I don't feel bad in my heart, it's too uncomfortable, it's too unbalanced, especially the championship trophy, which can only be touched but doesn't belong to him.

In the middle of the party, Sterling seized the opportunity to call out to Shelly, pretending to toast her, and said, "Well done Shellie, it's time to consider finding a good husband to share the joy of victory with you." ”

Donald is in his 70s, but he is still as weird as he is young with his ex-wife.

Shelly rolled her eyes at her ex-husband and said, "I'm not you Donald, you have Alzheimer's and can't do without people around you." Besides, haven't you had enough married life for more than 30 years? If you want to get married, I advise you to have a good prenuptial agreement. ”

Donald was bored with himself, waved his hand, and said, "I'm just kidding, don't get angry, have a drink~"

"By the way, I heard that the naming rights of the new stadium were given to a Chinese company, and the naming fee is only $1 million a year? Shelly, is that what you do in business? A million a year? It's called Hanako, what are you kidding? ”

The yin and yang weirdness didn't work, and Sterling began to point fingers at some of Shelly's decisions.

The new arena has not yet been built, but the naming rights were sold to Huawei for $5 million in five years, causing a lot of controversy.

Not only because Huawei is a Chinese company, but also because the 5-year contract of 5 million is too small.

Not to mention compared to Microsoft and Amazon, Burger King offers more than Huawei.

But I chose Huawei, which made many people scratch their heads.

You must know that Min Congda played a vital role in the construction of the new stadium.

But he is just a matchmaker, he doesn't contribute a penny, only a small part of the equity of the stadium.

In terms of important decisions such as naming rights, Min Congda only has the right to make suggestions but not the right to decide.

The real decision is in the hands of Clippers owner Shelly Sterling.

And Shelly Sterling, unlike Donald, is not a puppet, she has her own ideas.

No one knows what kind of considerations Shelly Sterling would have agreed to Min Congda to choose Huawei's weakest title sponsor.

Faced with her ex-husband's questioning, Shelly just sneered, took a sip of wine and didn't bother to talk to Donald.

Donald was furious when he saw Shelly's expression, and said angrily: "Five million Shelly, five million!" You want this 5 million naming fee, this money might as well be paid by me! I'll give you five million and name the arena the Stirling Centre! ”

Seeing her ex-husband's angry appearance, Xie Li felt even more funny, and she said, "Donald, your idea is really good. Stirling Centre, sounds good? However, I think the name Cheryl Center is better. ”

Donald Sterling squinted at Shelly, the years had already destroyed her face, they had known each other for so long that Sterling couldn't remember what Shelly looked like when she was younger.

But recently, he has seen a side of his wife that he has never shown, an ambitious woman.

"Cheryl Center... Do you want to take full control of the stadium one day? ”

"Why not? Wouldn't it be fun to leave behind an iconic building in Los Angeles that bears your name? ”

The smile on Shelly's face grew brighter, and she did have bigger plans of her own.

Although companies such as Microsoft and Amazon offer extremely generous sponsorship fees, the corresponding conditions are also very demanding.

In the case of Microsoft, they offered a huge contract of $150 million, but the contract period was a long 25-year contract.

And this 150 million also includes the Clippers' possible future jersey advertising sponsorship, the right to lease hundreds of advertising spaces in the stadium, and the right to supply and maintain all the software and hardware systems of the stadium.

To put it bluntly, Microsoft wants to use the $150 million to pocket most of the rights and interests in this arena, and the person behind it is naturally Ballmer.

Ballmer really wanted to stay at the Los Angeles Sports Market, but he couldn't buy the Clippers, so he wanted to save the country and start with the gymnasium.

With Ballmer's assets, it is not a problem to directly pocket the stadium in the future.

For Shelly Sterling, money is number one, but not the only thing that matters.

After becoming the owner of the Clippers, the rapid success of the Clippers made her feel the thrill of standing at the top.

For women in their 70s, it is a huge temptation to come to the stage to show off their skills when they are no longer happy in the bedroom, and they do not want to waste their last days in the kitchen, garden, and nursery.

Microsoft's all-encompassing cooperation method, of course, Shelly will not agree.

The rest, such as Amazon, General Electric, etc., also have long contracts and harsh conditions.

After all, these big companies know that the stadium is burdened with a lot of debt, and it has also sold a large number of long-term season tickets for the team, and there is a risk of failure.

Once it doesn't work, they can use the terms of the contract to grab equity, and even have the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and take control of the assets.

After the 08 financial crisis, although the U.S. real estate collapsed for a time, the value of high-quality assets often rose instead of falling after each crisis.

This kind of large-scale comprehensive stadium is definitely a high-quality asset among high-quality assets, who can not be greedy?

Shelly Sterling did not speak to Min in private, but she found that Min seemed to be resistant to the entry of these giant companies.

So she did what she wanted, and complied with Min Congda's wishes, turning down these big contracts that were tempting but pitfalls, and instead chose a little-known Chinese company and signed a short five-year contract with no strings attached.

And this contract will be implemented from the date of signing, which means that the stadium has not yet been built, and it will start counting from 5 years.

The construction of the arena will take about two years, so according to the contract, it will take about three years for Huawei to name the arena.

According to Sheri Sterling's plan, by the time the arena is successfully completed, the Clippers should become the league's premier dynasty team.

If the assets are abundant and the goal is achieved, Shelly Sterling will spend a huge amount of money to buy out the naming rights of the stadium and name the stadium Cheryl Sports Centre.

Naming a landmark after a person is no ordinary prestige.

Some of the most famous buildings in the United States that bear the names of people are often well-known political figures.

Such as JFK International Airport, the Kennedy Library, the Thomas Jefferson Building, and many more.

And a businessman named the building after himself, and there are others, such as the famous billionaire Trump who bought the Bank of Manhattan Building and named it the Trump Building.

Trump is also well-known in the American business community and belongs to the top group.

After all, if you want to name a grand building, you don't deserve it if you don't have any contribution, achievements or fame.

Donald Sterling never expected that his ex-wife would have such huge ambitions to build a monument for herself.

The expression on his face changed from surprise to incredulity, shaking his head and saying, "Xie Li, Xie Li~ You were carried away, right?" You're nothing but a woman... You're not still thinking about running for president, are you? Oh my God, it's just a championship, what did it make you look like? Think you can do anything? Is this your credit? ”

Shelly Sterling said, "Is it your credit?" That's right, when you don't do anything, it's the biggest credit to the team. ”

Sterling was speechless for a moment, thought for a moment, and said, "That... I dug it up and brought it to the Clippers! He is the greatest hero. If the arena is to be named, it should also be called Smart Center. ”

"It's a pity that Smart isn't interested in that, I think he really loves basketball," Shelly said. The reason why he uses Chinese companies is also to better promote basketball in his home country. I fulfill his wishes, and in turn, he will fulfill my thoughts. But Don, it's amazing that you can take a fancy to him and make him the general manager of the team. I still don't know, how did you do it, how did you find him? ”

Speaking of this, Sterling's mind seemed to be in a state of downtime, his eyes rolled for a while, and finally he raised his glass and said, "Smart Center, it's actually good." And he walked away.

Shelly Sterling thought to herself, "This old fellow, Alzheimer's again, right?" ”

(End of chapter)