557 Laureus World Sports Awards (1/2)
”I just signed a three-year contract with a sponsor. For the next three years, I don't have to worry about the money for Zhen Chen's training or the cost of going abroad for competitions,” Jianguo Chen said through the phone.
Dai Li looked at his watch. Although the sun was already high in the sky in Los Angeles, it was still dawn in China. Of course, Jianguo was excited despite the early hour.
As Dai Li said, although Zhen Chen lost the game, he became famous overnight. In the first round of the U.S. Open, Basel had to go through an advantage set to win. His opponent would naturally attract people's attention. Everyone wanted to know what kind of opponent could give Basel such trouble.
Zhen Chen had also won the favor of many sponsors. After he returned to China, several companies took the initiative to offer advertising endorsement contracts. The most sincere of these was a car company. They gave him a five million dollar, three-year contract for endorsing their products. For the car company, five million dollars was chump change. They could earn that amount back easily. For Zhen Chen, it helped solve an urgent need.
Professional tennis players usually have to spend a lot of money. Professional tennis was a relatively expensive sport. For unassociated players, they had to bear the cost of equipment, training venues, coaches, and travel by themselves. According to some calculations, this could cost at least $40,000 a year. There were relatively fewer tennis tournaments in Asia as well, so Asian players needed to spend a little more.
According to the statistics published by the International Tennis Federation, nearly half of the professional players who were registered with the International Tennis Federation won less than a penny per year. 96% of the tennis players who participated in official competitions were not able to earn a single penny in a year.
According to another statistic, the prize money for male players could only sustain those who were ranked 336 and above, while the female players had to be ranked 253 and above. For those who were ranked lower, the prize money was not enough for them to keep joining competitions. They had to go into debt to play in tournaments.
Looking at this data alone, the world ranking of 350 for men was equivalent to the ”poverty line” for athletes. Of course, this data did not take into account endorsements. For athletes who collected sponsorship fees, it was easy to fly around the world and compete.
Zhen Chen was barely in the top 200. Before that, his world ranking was in the three or four hundred. This meant that he was living close to the ”poverty line.” If his results were a little bit worse, it meant that it would be necessary to go into debt to participate in competitions. For Zhen Chen, the five million dollar, three-year advertising contract was a well-timed miracle. He wouldn't have to worry about the cost of going abroad, and he still had enough money to hire a high-level foreign tennis coach.
Dai Li smiled after ending the call with Jianguo Chen.
Men's tennis in China was quite weak. The living conditions for players there were also very insecure. Those whose family had a good economic background were able to manage, but the average worker was not able to afford the upkeep of a professional player. Zhen Chen was an example of this. He was not the most talented, but he could be considered a top-notch tennis talent in China. This improved his chances of participating in competitions and improving his training environment. It was also good for the development of tennis in China.
Dai Li switched on his computer and took a look at the progress of the U.S. Open. At this time, the tournament had entered the final stages. Although the tennis king Basel had a somewhat bumpy start in the first round, he went straight to the finals. Victory was just around the corner.
As Dai Li was browsing the latest sports news, his phone rang. It was a call from the front desk receptionist.
”Boss, I just received an invitation from the Laureus World Sports Association. They are inviting you to the Laureus Sports Awards ceremony,” the receptionist said.
”Understood. Send the invitation to my office,” Dai Li said.
Seeing this letter made Dai Li aware that he was on the list of candidates for the Laureus Sports Award.
The Laureus Award was the most influential award in the world of sports. It was also the only global award ceremony for sports. The awards at the Laureus Awards were given at the beginning of each year, and the awards were presented to individuals and groups that had made contributions to the world of sports in the past year.
About 2,000 senior sports journalists from more than 70 countries and regions nominated six individuals or groups for each award. Then, 52 officers from the Laureus Sports Association voted in a secret ballot to determine the winners.
If the Olympics or the World Cup were held the preceding year, the Laureus Awards were inclined to include these two major sports events during the selection. For example, when the World Cup was held in the preceding year, the Best Team Award went to the World Cup champions. For example, the 2007 Best Team Award was awarded to the Italian men's soccer team. The 2011 Best Team Award was awarded to the Spanish men's soccer team. In 2015, the German men's soccer team won this award.
This year's awards coincided with the Olympics, so the Laureus Awards would be more inclined to include those athletes and groups that won in Rio. The American track and field team won 27 gold medals in the Olympic Games, so they were the favorites to win the Best Team Award in the Laureus Awards.
The Laureus Awards this year had added several new awards, such as the Sports Model Award, the Sports Charity Award, and the Best Coach of the Year award. Dai Li had a chance to win the Laureus' first Coach of the Year award.