American Football: King of the Bay Area

Let’s not even talk about how absurd it was for Lech to choose to sign a player based on his commercial value—

Big Ben was obviously not the most commercially valuable quarterback in the Alliance. Even as a rookie, Big Ben was not the type of player with commercial potential. He wasn’t handsome, maybe even a little lumbering; he wasn’t well-spoken, maybe even a bit gruff. But Lech still chose Big Ben.

Besides, Lu Ke’s so-called commercial value was purely theoretical.

From a purely commercial standpoint, Cam Newton was a better choice among this year’s rookies. As a representative of the new generation of mobile quarterbacks, a Heisman Trophy winner, and the first overall pick, combined with his good looks as a black athlete, Newton’s market potential was more promising from any angle. This was an objective fact.

From another perspective, American football had no foundation in Asia. In the European market, at least, rugby was widely promoted, making it relatively easier for American football to enter. But Asia was a barren, virgin territory with almost no popular support. It was like trying to promote table tennis in the United States—fraught with too many difficulties and uncertainties.

More importantly, Lu Ke’s so-called ”commercial promotion” value had to be built on performance. Lu Ke had to deliver an excellent performance every week. As a rookie, his foundation and his track record were not quite sufficient. If his on-field performance started to decline in future games, the difficulty would be even greater. The problem was, Lu Ke’s starting position wasn’t even set in stone yet.

Ultimately, American football is different from soccer and basketball. Soccer and basketball already have mature markets in Asia, and using Asian players to open up the market is a familiar playbook. But with American football, people don’t understand the positions, the scoring rules, or even whether you kick the ball or throw it. In such a situation, the waves a player of Chinese descent could make were truly too limited.

It might just be a single news story, or perhaps several, that flashes by and is gone. Just like the promotion of the Dakar Rally back in the day; after Chinese racers participated, the bustling, sensational news coverage eventually died down. No one paid much more attention. The popular foundation was, in the end, just too weak.

When it came down to it, choosing to sign Lu Ke for his so-called commercial promotion value just didn’t hold water. It might be an additional reason, but it was definitely not the main one.

Looking at Lu Ke’s young, inexperienced face, which nonetheless showed a sophistication that belied his age, Lech realized he hadn’t been able to fool Lu Ke, and a hint of appreciation flashed in his eyes again. However, Lech didn’t say anything more. Instead, he pulled a wallet from his pocket, took out a one-hundred US Dollar bill, and handed it over. ”This is my reason.”

A one-hundred-dollar bill?

Lu Ke was slightly stunned. He hesitantly took the bill, but before he had time to think or answer—

”Bambi!” At that critical moment, a voice called out from ahead and to the side. Lu Ke and Lech both looked up toward the sound. Logan Newman was standing at the hotel’s back exit, holding his phone with a puzzled look on his face. Then, he put on an apologetic expression. ”Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. But…”

Logan shrugged, looked at Lu Ke, and continued, ”Annie said you’re not picking up your phone or answering your texts. She called me to ask what was going on. It seems like something’s come up on her end.”

Lu Ke understood immediately. He nodded to show he got it, needing no further explanation. Lech spoke up first, ”Please, it must be urgent.”

”Annie is my mother,” Lu Ke explained politely, then apologized, took out his phone, and walked to the side as he dialed his mother’s number.

Jiang Youning had a calm personality. While not completely unflappable, she wasn’t the type to make a fuss over nothing. A few hours earlier, Lu Ke had called Jiang Youning from the locker room to tell her he was safe. If it wasn’t urgent, she wouldn’t have called him repeatedly, let alone asked Logan.

”Ke, why aren’t you answering your phone?” Jiang Youning said as soon as she picked up.

”I had it on silent.” Lu Ke could sense something was off. Jiang Youning was lowering her voice, as if she were trying to avoid something. Faintly, he could hear a noisy background. Lu Ke’s brow furrowed, and he asked worriedly, ”Mom, what’s wrong? Is something going on at home?”

”We have guests at home.” Jiang Youning’s footsteps seemed to move away from the living room and into the kitchen, and her voice returned to a more normal volume. ”They say they’re sports agents who want to sign you. At first, they just wanted to meet with us, talk about their plans for your career and all that. Your dad and I thought it was a good idea to hear them out. It was the same with Logan’s family before.”

Lu Ke let out a helpless laugh and tucked his chin slightly. He already knew what was coming next. ”So, you invited them in to sit down?” Hospitable. Lu Zhengze and Jiang Youning were both hospitable people who loved having friends over. That was how they had become good friends with the Newman family.

”They were already at the door. Were we supposed to turn them away like door-to-door salesmen?” Jiang Youning confirmed. ”But after they came in, things got a little complicated.”

”They?” Lu Ke noted the change in wording.

”Yes, there are three agents sitting in our house right now. The atmosphere is a bit... I don’t know how to describe it. The three of them are having a great time talking amongst themselves, and your dad manages to chime in occasionally, but it feels like it’s all just nonsense. There’s no substance to what they’re saying.” Jiang Youning’s blunt words made Lu Ke laugh out loud.

San Francisco, located in the Bay Area, is an eight-hour drive from Los Angeles, but by plane, it only takes an hour and twenty-five minutes. Add in the travel time between the airport and the destination, and two and a half hours at most would be enough. What’s more, quite a few sports agents were also based in San Francisco—

Because Los Angeles has no football team, the San Francisco 49ers have the largest fanbase in all of California, a following that the Oakland Raiders and the more distant San Diego Lightning can’t match. Thus, a sports agency’s headquarters might be in Los Angeles, since it’s the media capital second only to New York, but the agents themselves might work out of San Francisco.

Even so, only about two to two and a half hours had passed since the final whistle of the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals, and three agents had already shown up at their door. This was a world of difference compared to the situation after the Rookie Training Camp ended.

”So what do they want?” Lu Ke asked, skillfully steering the conversation as Jiang Youning continued to ramble.

”Right, they want to talk to you. To ask your opinion and discuss their career plans for you.” After years of exposure, Jiang Youning had no problem watching the games, but her understanding of the sports industry as a whole was still relatively limited. Agents? Everything she knew came from the Newman family across the street.

”Mom, if you don’t like it, you can just send them away. I’m not home right now anyway, and you can’t make any decisions for me,” Lu Ke suggested.

Jiang Youning frowned. ”Is that really okay?” But before she could finish, she said, ”Wait.” Jiang Youning walked out again. A clamor of voices came through the receiver. Even through the phone signal, even from halfway across the United States, Lu Ke could feel how crowded and lively his house had become—

Jiang Youning stared, dumbfounded, at the scene by the door. Three well-dressed professionals in suits were scrambling forward, even starting to scuffle and shove each other, just to be the first one up the steps. It was as if falling half a step behind meant losing something vital.

But the problem was, there was nothing to lose here.

”Gentlemen! Gentlemen!” Jiang Youning called out. ”There are already three inside, so there’s no need to fight.” The three men froze, looking at each other in confusion. One of them called out, ”Ma’am, do you know who we are?”

”Sports agents, if I’m not mistaken.” Jiang Youning’s eyes widened as she stated her guess. The three men fell silent. Jiang Youning pointed to the front door behind her. ”Welcome, please come in. Wait in the living room. Lu Ke isn’t home right now; he’s in Cincinnati. I imagine you all know that. Whatever it is, please sit down, have a cup of tea, and we can talk calmly.”

After saying her piece, Jiang Youning turned with an air of command and went back inside, walking into the kitchen with her phone. ”Whew, why are a bunch of adults acting as childish as kids?” Jiang Youning complained.

Lu Ke couldn’t help but laugh. ”Mom, I’m still on the phone.” ’Was she treating the person on the other end of the line like one of her friends?’

”I know.” Jiang Youning wiped the sweat from her forehead. ”What should we do now? What should we know? Sports agents, is there anything special about them? They all look more or less the same. How do we pick one? Do you think we should call Austin and Tiffany over to help us take a look?”

Red-hot. This was what it truly meant to be red-hot.

To be honest, in the sports agent industry, aside from top-tier big shots like Tom Condon, the majority were still small-timers—there were only a few sharks. Currently, there were over eight hundred registered agents in the entire United States, while the market only had about two thousand clients up for grabs.

Considering that Tom Condon alone held contracts for over a dozen top players, it was a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. This resulted in a classic situation of too many people fighting over too few clients.

The agents Logan and Marcus signed with were both well-known in the industry, representing a double-digit number of players. While they lacked top-tier superstars, they weren’t small-timers either. As for those agents with less experience, they were bound to serve their players hand and foot, like personal butlers.

Incidentally, there were also some assistants who, after struggling and learning the ropes, would transform themselves, pass the exam, and become sports agents. This was also a shortcut to building a network and establishing connections.

Now, Lu Ke had become the target pursued by countless agents. Six agents showing up at his door within a mere two and a half hours? This was truly extraordinary.