On the 28th, Stern received the latest season ticket sales of each team.

His brow furrowed, there are a total of 29 teams, only the Knicks, Lakers, and Bulls have completed 80% of their season ticket sales, and even the SuperSonics have only completed 60%, and the other 25 teams have not done their sales, and the worst teams have only completed 30%.

"Alas!"

Seeing these data, he couldn't help but sigh deeply.

The next day, some data on season ticket sales was exposed by the media.

"The NBA has driven away its own signature stars, and now it's constantly tasting the consequences of what they've planted." New york times.

"There is a serious problem with the operation of the NBA, and bankruptcy is imminent!" New York TV Sports Channel.

"The NBA has fallen back to four of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States, and it is now at the end of its rope." New York Sports Newspaper.

Thorn, with Stern's self-cultivation, couldn't help but be angry when he saw these newspapers, and tore them up.

Because the media that smeared Zhou Quan in the first place are the same media that are now ridiculing the NBA.

……

On the 30th, the regular season of the new season is about to begin, and the superSonics are preparing up and down, and they are very busy.

General manager Whithitter and other senior executives suddenly received a notice from their boss Ballmer that tomorrow David Stern would personally participate in the superSonics' new season opener.

Since entering the NBA league in 78 and becoming the president of the league in 84, Stern has never participated in any opening games, and suddenly wants to participate in the opening game of the supersonic team.

Because they knew, the top brass was both happy and worried about the current state of the alliance, and they also hoped that the Iron Fist King would return as soon as possible.

……

On October 31, the NBA league's 97/98 regular season kicked off.

In the evening of that day, Zhou Quan and Zeng Li drove out.

The old Center Arena has been demolished, and the new Seattle Center Arena was officially opened three months ago, with a lavish interior that can accommodate up to 22,000 people and is not only home to the SuperSonics, but also to several Seattle sports teams.

The stadium is a stadium jointly funded by the Seattle City Government and Microsoft, and the asset management rights still belong to the Seattle Sports Bureau under the city government, but Microsoft, as the funder, is the lifelong title sponsor, and the full name of the stadium is Seattle Microsoft Center Gymnasium.

He's not only here tonight to see the opener, but he's also going to pick up last season's championship ring. Stern was coming, he knew about it, Ballmer informed him.

"Didi!"

"Dididi!"

He drove a Ferrari sports car endorsed by himself, which was given by the manufacturer, and there were few people in Seattle who didn't know his license plate number, and along the way, the people who greeted him with a horn never stopped, one after another, he lowered the window and greeted them with a smile.

"Iron Fist!"

"Iron Fist!"

Outside the central gymnasium, there was already a crowd of people, and when they saw his car arrive, countless fans began to chant.

The security personnel had been prepared for a long time, separated a line of lanes with a fence in advance, and began to guide his car into the parking lot.

A group of team executives had been waiting in the parking lot for a long time, and Zhou Quan exchanged pleasantries with them after leaving the game, and then accompanied by them, he visited the brand-new stadium.

"Click, click, click......"

Along the way, several media reporters who were allowed to follow kept pressing the shutter.

General manager Whitcht gave a brief overview of the supersonic situation, the lineup has changed dramatically, the glider Drexler and McMillan have retired, Matt Geiger has left when his contract expires, Leitner has also been traded, and several fringe people have also left.

In last season's important rotation lineup, only Rodman, Schramf, Jose Hawkins, Sam Perkins and other four remained.

However, the team introduced All-Star forward Wenbeck, partnered with Rodman on the inside, introduced All-Star guard swingman Dalle Ellis, and partnered with Jose Hawkins in the backcourt, and the lineup is still okay.

Zhou Quan came to the locker room first, and was naturally greeted by everyone, and he only stayed in the locker room for two minutes, without disturbing the team's preparation too much.

After leaving the locker room, Whithitt smiled and said, "Iron Fist, we've received a lot of submissions for the sculptures, and I'd like to ask for your opinion, do you want to go and see it now?" ”

Zhou Quan smiled, waved his hand and said, "It's not good for me to interfere with this." ”

"Rest assured, we will choose the most symbolic sculpture." Whithit assured.

Arriving at the pitch, Whithitt pointed to a spot next to the home team's bench and said, "Iron Fist, this is a special place reserved for you, and if you are not there, it will be empty." ”

"Thank you!"

Zhou Quan smiled and nodded.

At this time, a team of people walked over, led by Ballmer, next to David Stern, and Zhou Quan smiled and took a few steps up.

"Mr. Stern, I haven't seen you in a while, are you okay?"

He saw that David Stern looked a little haggard, and the president was not bad for him, so he asked with concern.

Stern was very helpless, am I okay, don't you know?

"Zhou, the league has now carried out a series of anti-racial purge purges, from the teams to the headquarters, a total of more than 300 managers, including 37 executives and 68 referees, I hope you can see the league's determination to fight racial discrimination and sincerity to you, and I hope you can return to the league as soon as possible." He said sincerely.

"I see, Mr. Stern, I'm glad you have that courage, I'm happy for the league, and I'm going to seriously consider the possibility of returning to the league." Zhou Quan said with a smile.

David Stern was a little regretful, but he could get Zhou Quan's words, he already felt that the trip was worthwhile, after all, Zhou Quan did not directly reject him.

Soon after, the stadium opened its doors and fans poured in from all entrances.

"Oh, it's the Iron Fist King!"

"Iron Fist!"

"Hello!"

Zhou Quan did not leave the stadium, and the fans saw him as soon as they came in, and immediately cheered, and he kept waving to them.

Half an hour later, the huge stadium was filled with fans.

David Stern was very happy to see the arena full, and the other teams didn't know, at least the supersonic reveal game attendance gave him a small relief.

Tonight's opponent is the Trail Blazers, who started at eight o'clock and were awarded championship rings.

"Iron Fist!"

"Iron Fist!"

When Zhou Quan wore the fourth ring, the audience chanted.

……

On the afternoon of Nov. 1, Stern returned to his headquarters in New York to receive ratings and tickets for the 11 opening games.

"Alas!"

After comparing last season's data, he couldn't help but sigh deeply, falling into a daze, and after the dazedness, there was panic, and after a while, a layer of fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Ratings are down 36% in the U.S. and 21% in regional ratings overall, and it's not a playoffs, it's not a Finals, it's a regular season.

If this figure is maintained, it means that the NBA league's ratings will return to what they were three years ago, and the ratings boosted by the influence of Iron Fist will fall by 70%. And this is just the beginning, and it may continue to fall in the future.

And this will bring a series of problems, such as sponsors will run, regional broadcasters will reduce NBA broadcasts, and choose other sports events, the chairman of NBC will call him every day, the sales revenue of jerseys and other peripherals will be greatly reduced, and ticket prices will drop again and again, and they will not be sold.

"What should I do?"

He thought of asking the Iron Fist King Zhou Quan to come back immediately, but that was simply impossible.

As the first person on active duty, one of the greatest athletes on the planet, he was racially discriminated against by the referee at the finals watched by hundreds of millions of people, which was a huge humiliation for Zhou Quan, since he chose to leave, how could he come back easily?

Not to mention Stern's anxiety, Zhou Quan has received a notice from Philip that Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren are willing to continue negotiations with them on a united war.

"I've invited them to come to the United States for negotiations, and they've agreed, which is a good sign." Philip said excitedly.

"Rogge, what I'm pursuing now is not money, the benefits can be given up part, the important thing is to get them to agree to a united war." Zhou Quan said.

"I understand. Mr. Arum and Donkin and I will do our best to ensure your interests. Philip said.

"That's for the best." Zhou Quan said.

Speaking of this, he asked with some curiosity: "Rogge, Tyson hasn't heard much lately, and he's not interested in a rematch?" ”

Philip said with a smile: "There is a media in New York that broke the news, saying that Don King and Tyson had a fierce quarrel in the hospital ward a few days ago, and then Don King left with an injury on his face. ”

"Don Kim was beaten again? Iron Man's temper, does Tang Jin want to cheat his money. Zhou Quan said funny.

"Zhou, recently Mr. Luduwa contacted me, and he said that Holyfield is interested in fighting you again." Philip said.

"I didn't make a rematch with him. He doesn't have a title on him, and I don't want to fight him anymore. Zhou Quan said.

"OK, I've already rejected him." Philip said.

……

The new season of the NBA continues, as ratings drop sharply and sluggishly, operating income also declines sharply, and N sponsors choose to withdraw.

At the same time, labor negotiations are about to begin, and many reasons add up to make the NBA league panic and unable to see the future, the players' investment and attention to the game decline, the quality of the game declines, and the ratings are affected, and the league is caught in a vicious circle.

On November 24, Zhou Quan came to New York and stayed at a hotel on Long Island.

He came to the PGA Tour on Long Island, and he came alone, and Zeng Lixi didn't come, so he stayed in Seattle.

Fine Coffee has opened 95 stores and has begun to prepare for listing, although Zeng Li has not participated in the specific management of the company, but as the boss and chairman, at this critical time, she still has to sit in the headquarters, and there are many things for her to decide.

Long Island has a number of golf courses, with several century-old golf courses that are very famous all over the world, and are ranked in the top 10 courses in the world.

The four-day PGA Tour is a four-day PGA Tour tournament with a total of 72 holes, 18 holes per day, eight holes in the morning and eight in the afternoon, and nearly 6,000 participants participated in this year's tournament, which is a very large scale and the prize money for the winner is $300,000.

The venue is the Mount Sinnicock Golf Club, which is ranked sixth in the world, and Bethpage National Park, which is ranked 52nd.

Except for one club that is not private, the other golf clubs on Long Island are private membership clubs, but this is not an obstacle for Zhou Quan, Philip found a club, and the other party welcomed him to come to train and said that he would provide the best service.

Arriving at the pitch at around 9am, meeting with the club's management and having the media take pictures, he started training.

Many of the people who train at this club are professional golfers who have signed up for the PGA Tour, and some golfers who think they are a little famous have come to greet him when they see him.

"Hey, Iron Fist, I'm Woods, Tiger Woods, nice to meet you." A young black man ran up to him and shouted at him excitedly.

"Hello, lad."

Zhou Quan smiled and stretched out his hand.

Woods shook his hand excitedly and said excitedly, "They all call me Tiger, you can call me that." ”

"Okay, I'll call you Tiger. How old are you? Looking young and how many years have you played pro? Zhou Quan said with a smile.

"I'm 22 years old, I started playing professionally last year, I won my first PGA Tour title in Las Vegas last October, and my second title in April this year, the Masters title, which is my first four-major title. ”

Zhou Quan said in surprise: "Good guy, Tiger, you are much better than me, you have won one of the four Grand Slam championships, and I haven't tasted the taste of the championship yet." ”

"I'll win more titles. I hope to achieve your great achievements in the NBA and professional boxing in golf and become the king of golf, and I have a lot of confidence in myself. "Woods is looking forward to authenticity.

"Then I wish you the best of luck." Zhou Quan encouraged.

After four days of competition, Zhou Quan hit a good score, and the total of 72 holes combined was under par 15.

However, this result did not enter the top five, ranking 6th, which is also a good professional result.

Tiger Woods was two shots above him and was doing very well.

Fast forward to December, where Zhou participated in two more rounds of PGA Tour, finishing 7th and 3rd respectively.

The number of fine coffee stores has reached 100, and the listing plan has been officially launched.

1997 is over, and the time has entered 1998.

The NBA league regular season lasted for two months, and the ratings returned to four years ago, with an average of only 1.26 million viewers in the United States for the 29 teams.

"We were lucky to only give the NBA that kind of broadcast contract, otherwise we would have died." So said the CEO of NBC on a public occasion.

On January 2, the first negotiations between labor and management in the NBA lasted four hours and ended in a breakdown.

(End of chapter)