721 A Windfall!
He did not know what kind of telepathic exchange these bidders had had, but the situation had taken a turn for the worse, and the story had developed beyond his expectations.
The three teams had originally been in high demand, but they had now become hot potatoes.
Everyone had been fighting for the teams, but no one cared about them anymore!
The managers of the three clubs were extremely anxious.
If it were possible, they would not have minded fighting for one another. They would have bought each other over at about the same price. At the very least, they would not lose their GOG teams.
However, the problem was that Boss Pei seemed to have predicted this. He had prohibited this in advance.
All the companies present had already paid a deposit beforehand. Anyone who had not paid a deposit was not qualified to bid.
Since none of the three club managers had intended to buy one another over, they had not prepared beforehand.
Furthermore, wouldn't they be making fools of themselves if they were to resort to such tricks now?
Whether Boss Pei was happy or not aside, they had probably already offended Boss Pei when they decided to sell their GOG teams.
More importantly, if the three clubs really tried to buy one another over, wouldn't they become the subject of the eSports headlines?
The clubs would probably be mocked to death by netizens. The clubs' bosses might be able to accept losing a few million yuan, but they definitely would not be able to accept damage to their reputation and becoming laughing stocks on the internet!
Thus, the three club managers looked at one another and saw panic in one another's eyes.
Finished!
This problem was completely unsolvable now!
No matter what, the three of them would have to take the blame. Being scolded severely, having their salaries reduced, or being fined would be considered light punishment.
The worst case scenario would not only be that they were fired, but that they would not be able to survive in the eSports industry at all!
Manager Li and the others broke out in cold sweat.
The two other club managers looked at Manager Li in anger.
From beginning to end, Manager Li had been the one to fan the flames. If Manager Li had not insisted, they would not have ended up like this.
However, at this point, Manager Li could not even protect himself. He could only lower his head and rack his brains, thinking of a solution.
The bidding was still ongoing. Prices were slowly approaching the limits of the bidders' expectations.
As for the limites of Boss Pei's expectations… the prices had long surpassed them.
At first, Pei Qian had thought that the three clubs' GOG teams would be sold for twenty million yuan, and each GPL slot would be sold for fifteen million yuan. That had sounded about right.
The eSports industry had only just started, and valuing each GPL slot at over ten million yuan would already have been commendable. The bidders had to abide by the market rules, right?
However, the problem now was that the GOG teams had hit a maximum of 15 million yuan. On the other hand, the GPL slots were approaching 20 million yuan!
There were six slots, and from the looks of the current situation, they would be sold for a total of 120 million yuan. That was over 30 million yuan higher than Pei Qian's limit.
One had to understand that the three clubs had only paid less than ten million yuan for breaching their contract earlier!
Pei Qian felt like his breath had been knocked out of him.
A few bidders were typing furiously on their cell phones, probably asking their subordinates to raise more funds urgently.
Although everyone had had a price limit in their hearts, it was easy for them to get excited at an event like this.
That was because the higher the bids became, the more valuable the slots would seem!
Lin Chang observed the reactions of the others with interest, as though he was sitting on a fishing platform.
Of everyone present, he was the most relaxed.
That was because he had the most funds in his hands. No one could threaten him. What's more, he was not spending his own money. He did not feel the pinch at all.
However, as the atmosphere became more and more lively, Lin Chang suddenly realized a problem.
"Eh, could Boss Pei already have planned for this situation?
"Auctioning off all the slots at the same time would prevent people from shilling, but it could also create an atmosphere of 'fairness, justice, and true valuation'.
"If we had bidded one by one, people would have chosen to wait and see. There would definitely have been differences in the bids between the slots. It would have been hard to avoid thinking that there was a bubble or that one was incurring losses.
"On the other hand, bidding together caused the value of all the slots to increase at the same time. No one was able to find loopholes, and so people gave up trying their luck and realized that these slots were indeed worth the money. Now, companies that were originally planning to give up are gritting their teeth and working hard, thinking that they can get the slots with just another million yuan.
"In other words, bidders would subconsciously think that the slots are indeed worth it…
"Impressive!"
"From the location of the auction to the method of bidding, everything had seemed ordinary. Yet, now, I see that they actually contained deep meaning!
"I'm not bad either. If I hadn't given everyone a clear hint, would everyone have understood that the slots are this valuable so quickly?"
Lin Chang could not help but feel a little proud.
One could say that he had perfectly completed his mission to buy a GPL slot for his second brother, Lin Zhou!
However, as the saying went, the closer one was to ocmpleting a task, the tougher it would become.
How should he end this?
Lin Chang fell into deep thought once again.
People were raising their hands to bid less and less frequently. Finally, everyone fell into a short period of silence.
The prices of the three eSports Clubs finally stopped increasing, and they were each fixed at about 15 million yuan. The remaining GPL spots basically hovered at around 20 million yuan.
20 million yuan was way above most bidders' limits. Many people had gritted their teeth and increased the price at the last minute.
It would be very difficult to increase it further.
After all, the current eSports industry was still not mature enough in terms of popularity, traffic flow, and profit model. It could not be compared to mature traditional sports leagues. In fact, the prices could only be raised so high because of everyone's trust in Boss Pei. 20 million yuan was already an astronomical figure.
Everyone had no doubt that once today's auction ended and this figure was released, it would immediately become a hot topic.
Even if not enough people were paying attention to the auction, people would still hire fake reviewers to hype it up. That would be in line with everyone's common interests.
They had already spent so much money. Of course, they had to let the entire world know about it!
If they could earn some attention from the money that they had spent, it would not be a loss at all.
Once the GPL name list was released, their company names would be included. Wouldn't that be equivalent to a wave of publicity efforts?
As for those companies that could not afford the slots, they had no choice but to give up.
Pei Qian felt numb. Seeing that everyone had finally stopped bidding, he heaved a sigh of relief.
It was finally over!
Although it was difficult to accept twenty million yuan per slot, there was nothing more to say now that things had come to this.
However, just as the staff was about to announce the end of the auction, something unexpected happened.
Lin Chang raised his hand. "21 million for number four."
Everyone in the conference room immediately turned to look at him in surprise.
Pei Qian was very shocked as well.
That was because Lin Chang had already been the highest bidder for the GPL slot in number four, and it had been priced at twenty million yuan.
He had already won the bid, and yet he still wanted to increase the price. What was going on?
The others were obviously confused as well. Even the staff recording it was stunned. For a moment, he did not know if he should record the bid.
Lin Chang, who was the focus of everyone's attention, shrugged. "Why are you all looking at me? The rules say that each company can only bid for one spot, but they do not restrict us from raising the price, right?"
The staff thought about it and agreed that it made sense.
Lin Chang was raising the price for himself without hindering anyone else. How could he stop Lin Chang from giving money to Tengda?
He quickly recorded the new price.
Thus, all of the GPL slots were being sold at 20 million yuan, while Shenhua Real Estate's number four was being sold at 21 million yuan.
Boss Li immediately reacted and raised his hand. "I'll bid 21 million yuan as well."
Lin Chang could not help but give him a thumbs up.
Alright, you've understood my intentions so quickly!
Li Shi smiled.
How could Lin Chang take all of the credit for something like that?
The price of each GPL slot could be raised to 20 million yuan, while the price of each GOG team was only 15 million yuan. The most important reason for that was that everyone trusted Boss Pei and wanted to express their goodwill to him.
The question was who would Boss Pei remember if everyone was paying twenty million yuan?
Lin Chang took the initiative to add another one million yuan in order to stand out from all the companies that had bought the GPL slots.
When the hot searches were out, Shenhua Real Estate would be named as the 'king of the GPL auction'.
In other words, paying another one million yuan would not only make Shenhua Real Estate's presence known to Boss Pei, but would also make the company 'first place'.
Wasn't that so worth it?
Boss Li had obviously figured this out in an instant, and so he had added one million yuan as well.
As for why he had not added two million yuan… that was because he only had a limited amount of funds. 21 million yuan was his limit. What's more, he knew full well that he would not be able to compete with Shenhua Real Estate.
Since that was the case, adding one million yuan was enough.
With Lin Chang taking the lead and Li Shi followed closely behind, more people increased their bids as well. Some increased their bids by a million yuan while others increased their bids by five hundred thousand yuan!
That was because companies that did not have money had already been eliminated, and only wealthy companies remained. Those companies could afford to increase their bids.
Some companies wanted to add more but they simply could not afford it. Thus, they could only add five hundred thousand yuan to express their sincerity.
Lin Chang raised his hand again. "22 million!"
His attitude was very clear: He was going to be king of this auction for sure.
Xue Zhebin pondered for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth and added 1.5 million yuan.
Yao Bo of Jinding Corporation added five hundred thousand yuan after much consideration.
Five hundred thousand or one million yuan were very small amounts compared to twenty million yuan.
However, those small amounts could potentially affect each person's ranking.
Adding five hundred thousand yuan or one million yuan could allow them to move up three or four places from the bottom. It was worth it!
On one hand, they could show off thei wealth and attract the public's attention. On the other hand, they could show Boss Pei that they were emptying their family fortune in order to support him.
Since they had already forked out twenty million yuan, why should they hold on to five hundred thousand yuan or one million yuan?
Of course, a few companies really did not have any money or did not mind being ranked last. Since they had already obtained a GPL slot, the rankings did not matter much to them. Such companies gave up of their own accord.
However, the two or three companies with the most money increased their bids by five hundred thousand yuan to one million yuan each time. They only stopped when the highest price became 26 million yuan!
With Lin Chang's final bid of 26 million yuan, the group finally fell silent. No one followed suit.
Each bidder had originally offered 20 million yuan. However, with Lin Chang's interference, the prices became varied.
The bids ranged from 20 million to 26 million, with the gap between each bid being five hundred thousand yuan to one million yuan.
The gaps did not seem big, but the ranking was now clear.
Most buyers had already exceeded their limits. They could not afford to squeeze out another five hundred thousand yuan.
However, no matter what - whether it was a spur of the moment or it was worth it - the bidding had finally ended. Everyone was now in the same boat.
If the GPL turned out well, everyone would earn money together;
If the GPL failed, everyone would incur losses.
Although the auction had ended, one could say that preparation for the GPL had just begun. As for how the league would turn out and whether the bidders would be able to earn back their investment, it all depended on their performance.
No matter what, the dust had settled!
Pei Qian's mouth twitched as he looked at the figures on the screen.
The three GOG teams had been sold at about 15 million yuan on average, while the GPL slots had been sold from 20 million yuan to 26 million yuan.
Altogether, they added up to 180 million yuan. Just the GPL slots alone earned Pei Qian 136 million yuan.
What a freaking windfall!
Pei Qian had originally thought that earning seventy million yuan from the sale of all the GPL slots was an optimistic estimation. His bottom line had been to sell them all for a total of ninety to a hundred million yuan.
But now, nearly 40 million yuan was sold—more than Pei Qian's worst expectations!
