Chapter 17 Shoe Contract Breakthrough

The game was a week away, and fans could only patiently wait.

However, more impatient than the fans were the shoe brand companies.

Walker's shoe endorsement contract had been signed after the draft, a 4-year, 10 million deal with UA.

Tang Tian hadn't received any shoe offers yet. As a second-round pick who hadn't played a game, this was expected.

However, his recent surge in popularity had the shoe brand companies a bit restless, and they had started making offers one after another.

Tang Tian wasn't in a hurry, letting Fagan negotiate. The principle was basically the same: minimize the contract length and maximize the amount.

The shoe contract thing, aside from big men not selling shoes, was more about popularity than strength.

Both were top picks and guards, but Wall's rookie contract was 5 years for 25 million, while Rose only got 1 million a year. This was because Wall's popularity when he entered the league was much higher than Rose's.

As long as Tang Tian worked his popularity a bit, plus his Asian market backing, the contract amount might even exceed most first-round picks.

While Fagan was still negotiating, Tang Tian wasn't in a rush.

A week later, he, Walker, and Thompson appeared at the Drew League site.

In their second match, James didn't hold back from the start, putting up a super performance of 40 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists.

However, Tang Tian didn't match up with James in this game, conserving his energy on the defensive end, and scored 21 points in a tacit cooperation with Walker. His performance as a second-round pick was once again amazing.

Karl was very helpful, editing the three-pointers together into a small video. In the video, Tang Tian gave people the feeling of a Reggie Miller 2.0.

After the video was sent out, it once again exploded on social media, getting nearly 2 million likes.

The new season didn't know when it would start, but Tang Tian had become the first rookie to become popular.

James stopped playing in the Drew League after one game, but Tang Tian and his team's games continued.

As a transmigrator, Tang Tian knew very well that James' joining the Drew League was just the beginning, and the addition of Kobe and Harden later was the real climax.

"There's been a breakthrough in the shoe contract negotiations." Just then, Fagan came to Los Angeles and brought Tang Tian good news.

"Two companies are now willing to offer endorsement contracts of more than one million, and both agree to a two-year contract."

Tang Tian's approach to accumulating popularity, plus Fagan's ability, a second-round pick's million-dollar endorsement contract, went directly from a dream to reality!

"Which two?" Tang Tian asked.

"Nike and Peak."

"Peak?" Tang Tian asked in confusion.

Since missing out on Yao Ming, Nike had invested more in Chinese players. It wasn't surprising that they offered a million-dollar deal, but Peak?

But thinking about it, it was normal. In recent years, Peak had relied on playing the Rockets card, signing a group of players such as Scola, Landry, and Lowry, but these were all role players, and none of them could really make them a brand influence.

Tang Tian was Chinese, which was a new attempt for them.

"Yes, both offer the same amount of cash, 2.6 million for 2 years." Fagan nodded, and also gave Tang Tian a popular science about the classification of endorsement contracts.

Shoe endorsement contracts are divided into three levels.

The first tier is signature shoe contracts. They have brand signature shoes and are brand spokespersons. There are only seven people in the league with this: Nike's James, Kobe and Durant; AJ's Paul and Anthony; Adidas' Rose and Reebok's Iverson.

The price of these people's endorsement contracts vary, but each one is sky-high.

The second tier is cash contracts. This is the contract that most players in the league currently have. Taking lottery picks as an example, the current market is generally signing for 3 to 4 years, and the annual salary is generally between 200,000 and 700,000. Of course, there are exceptions. Nike gave Irving 30 million for 4 years, and UA gave Walker 10 million for 4 years.

As for the third tier, it is purely a merchandise contract. This is the lowest level, basically equivalent to the shoe company providing players with shoes for them to play in, the value of the shoes is generally between 5,000 and 10,000 US dollars, and there will be no cash.

After Fagan finished speaking, Tang Tian basically had a clue in his mind that what he got was the second tier.

"My personal suggestion is to choose Peak, but the final decision is in your hands." Before Tang Tian could speak, Fagan took the initiative to suggest.

Fagan's move was a bit abnormal, and Tang Tian looked at him with some doubts.

"Peak is your country's brand, and the Chinese market is very promising. If the cooperation is good, you may be able to have signature shoes in the future." Fagan explained.

Tang Tian nodded. What Fagan said was right.

Among the Chinese basketball players who went abroad, only Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian were popular players, but both of them were big men, and big men's shoes generally didn't sell well.

He is now losing weight to play as a swingman, and in terms of the Asian market for shoes, it is indeed of extraordinary significance, and it is a matter of course to have signature shoes at that time.

"Sign with Nike." However, after careful consideration, Tang Tian gave his choice.

"Why?" Fagan looked at him in surprise.

"Nike will also have signature shoes." Tang Tian replied calmly.

"No, Tang, it's not the same. The competition at Nike is too big. If Peak develops in the future, the money given will not be less." Fagan persuaded.

"No, I've made a decision." Tang Tian said, he had his own ideas.

The good thing about Nike compared to Peak is that it is an international company, and the promotion will be done better. Of course, the more important point is money. Perhaps Peak can give a contract similar to Nike for the first and second contracts, but when it comes to real billion-dollar contracts, they cannot give it.

This is also why most of the league's superstars choose big companies like Nike and Adidas.

He doesn't need to go against the trend in this regard. What he wants is to earn more money and get more krypton gold value.

"Don't you want to think about it again? I chatted with people from Peak and know that they invest a lot in scientific research..."

"I know." Tang Tian interrupted Fagan, the latter was really too abnormal today.

"Dan, we Chinese businessmen have a bad habit, they like to give gifts and money when talking about business, they shouldn't have used this trick on you, right?" Tang Tian asked.

"No, no, I said just now, I'm just giving suggestions, the specific choice is up to you." Fagan said immediately.

"Well, that's good, then choose Nike." Tang Tian said with a smile.

If he asked Fagan like that, if it were an average American, he would have jumped up and said, "Why do you doubt me? You are trampling on my personality," and so on. You must know that Americans are quite sensitive to this.

But Fagan didn't, which means he was probably right.

Fagan is indeed still greedy for money.

However, he didn't say it out loud, he could still use Fagan's ability, anyway, he was the one who made the final decision on these matters.