From Arsenal to the Ball God

January 28th, just two days left until the big match against Manchester United.

Ma’el could clearly feel the growing pressure on the team during the past two days of training, with a tense atmosphere spreading throughout. The laughter and joy during training had noticeably decreased.

This is quite normal; they have remained unbeaten for 21 rounds, with just 17 more to achieve the remarkable feat of an undefeated season!

In such a situation, everyone is worried about falling at the hands of this old rival after working so hard for most of the season.

After all, Arsenal’s historic 49-match unbeaten run in the league was ended by Manchester United.

However, their concern isn’t just out of fear of Manchester United’s strength... The team has been performing well this season, even managing a 4-4 draw at Old Trafford.

From this perspective, they don’t consider themselves weaker than Manchester United, but the team’s current form and injury situation are indeed not looking too optimistic.

It seems that only Vermaelen and Mertesacker are unable to play, but their absence has a chain reaction, increasing the workload for Alexander Song, Sagna, and Koscielny.

These three defensive stalwarts have taken on more defensive responsibilities and done more running in this period.

Their bodies, having gone through numerous tough battles, are showing signs of fatigue and are not in their best condition.

The only good news is—Mertesacker is nearing recovery and is likely to play in the match against Manchester United.

After training ended that day, Ma’el went to the Football Record’s office to prepare for the first episode of a new column.

”Your column program has 12k subscriptions, while Arsenal’s has only about 4.9k.”

Peter sat in front of the computer, pulled up the backend data, and explained: ”Don’t worry, it’s because we released your exclusive interview, and the fans have great confidence in us broadcasting your program as promised.

”But it’s different for the Arsenal program; they fear we won’t secure the rights or be able to invite Arsenal players, so the reservations are few.

”Once both shows air a few episodes normally, the subscription numbers will rise, as about 10 million people in the United Kingdom have the habit of subscribing to these types of columns, most of whom are Sky Sports users.

”We’re in a niche field, and aiming for 200,000-300,000 subscriptions is an achievable target.

”This is also considered club and player-related content, and you should trust in the spending power of Arsenal fans and your followers. Many are eager to see this kind of star daily life and interview programs.

”They want to know more about the club, more about you, and this team’s players.”

He spoke at length, likely worried that Ma’el would lose confidence in the program upon hearing the subscription numbers and not take it seriously.

After listening, Ma’el nodded slightly and curiously asked, ”I remember the pre-order discount price was £9.9, what will the regular subscription price be set at?

”Is it annual or monthly?”

”It would definitely be annual.” Peter swiveled his chair to face Ma’el and said with a smile, ”In total, we might only air around ten episodes for each of the two programs in a year, and charging monthly would be too expensive.

”The regular annual subscription price is set at £14.9, and if subscribing to both programs, there’s a discounted price of £24.9.”

Ma’el nodded. He calculated in his mind, which means as long as the programs are good and there are 100,000 stable users, they could conservatively generate £1.49 million in sales annually.

After deducting personnel, filming, and promotional costs, they could at least earn around £1 million.

If there are 200,000 users, 300,000 users, or even slowly growing to 500,000 users, then the potential revenue is substantial.

At that time, they could also incorporate some soft advertisements into the program, like having star players reveal their various stats in football games and offer some opinions, for example.

Not only would this mean endorsing football games, but it would also be regarded as an interesting star event.

Seeing Ma’el remain silent, Peter guessed he was calculating and happily said, ”Quite a lucrative deal, isn’t it? We hardly bear any risk, and even just the pre-order fees have already covered costs.

”Next, it’ll be about how good the program can be and how much money it can make.”

He stood up, walked to the water dispenser to pour Ma’el some water, and continued: ”This is all thanks to you. No one dared to do this type of program before, mainly because the various image rights of the clubs were too expensive.

”If a large sum of money is spent to ’buy’ a way to cooperate with them, the upfront investment is too big, and no one can guarantee the show will make money.

”Moreover, the image rights of all the Arsenal stars are in their own hands; inviting them individually would certainly require a massive ad fee for each.’

”If all these were to be covered by the production company, the possibility of profit at the end would be very small.”

He brewed a cup of tea for Ma’el and returned to his seat, happily saying: ”But we have no expenses; Wenger has given his personal and the Arsenal Club’s appearance fees and various rights as a signing bonus to you.

”The club stars have a good relationship with you, and you have brought them a lot, so they would naturally give you face and participate in your program as a gesture of goodwill.

”Everyone believes that as long as they help you this time, they will certainly gain more in the future.

”This is Messi’s influence at Barcelona, Cristiano’s at Real Madrid, and Sneijder’s at Milan.”

”Haha...” Ma’el chuckled twice, as it indeed felt like he was actualizing the various values he possessed.