SEC Chapter 64: A 5 Investment!
Chapter 64: A 5 Investment!
Tiny Spark Game?
TSG!
A tiny spark?
wrong!
"A single spark can start a prairie fire..."
"Ahem, we don't need to continue from here."
Upon hearing the club's name, Qi Sheng almost instinctively connected it to its meaning, only to be interrupted by Mo Ziye's cough at the last word.
Fu Shiyan explained, "Ye Ge's original club name reflected his ambition to rise from humble beginnings, overthrow the old order, and continuously climb to the top as the club's corporate culture."
"In my opinion, HC Dynasty is results-oriented, while Tiny Spark is process- and destiny-oriented, which is more in line with the spirit of surpassing oneself in competitive sports."
"Hey, that's right, that's exactly what I was thinking. You really understand me, Xiao Fu."
"hehe……"
Seeing their childhood friend's expression, as if he would hold them in his arms regardless of whether it was true or not, they all wanted to give him the middle finger.
"Ignore him. I think Tiny Spark is a good name. Go on and tell me your thoughts."
"Yes, just as you said before, Brother Qi, HC is too closely tied to my personal traffic, which is not good for the club's future development. Tiny Spark, on the other hand, is a collective concept that includes a complete narrative chain of the weak gathering strength, turning the tide against the odds, the weak defeating the strong, and gradually dominating."
"At the same time, compared to Dynasty, Spark retains its core of 'disrupting the old order' while adding: the gentle ruthlessness of resilience, hope, new life, fearlessness, and the momentum of a wildfire. The character is more three-dimensional, the threshold for fans to empathize is lower, and the impression on casual viewers is better."
Fu Shiyan joked, "To put it more bluntly, TSG is easier to pronounce than HCG."
Having received countless training sessions in club marketing and management in his previous life, his choice of the name TSG certainly had more than just these superficial reasons.
Compared to GBG or HCG, TSG, as a club name, embodies a spirit that is more in line with the essence of esports and has a stronger appeal.
In terms of club culture, "Sparks Spread" is naturally suited to the team storyline of starting small, gradually becoming stronger, and accumulating strength for a big breakthrough, which is more layered than the straightforward "Dynasty Rule".
At the same time, HC = Huang Chao is a homophonic pun that is easy to see through and leaves little room for interpretation.
Tiny Spark, however, is a perfect example of this imagery;
Using the metaphor of "a single spark can start a prairie fire" to allude to the story of how you rose from humble beginnings to sweep across the LPL is a cultural imagery collaboration. Only those who deeply understand your target core fans can fully appreciate it, instantly maximizing the sense of exclusivity, mystery, and high-class copywriting.
In addition, from the perspective of risk avoidance and club commercialization.
TSG is a versatile name with no style constraints, while HCG Dynasty leans towards an old-fashioned, chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) style with a fixed style.
Tiny Spark leans towards an atmosphere-driven, growth-oriented, and light-artistic esports style. It can be used for both intense, hardcore esports and for engaging in youthful, trendy, campus-oriented, and new generation fan engagement, thus reaching a wider audience.
Huang Chao, in particular, is a controversial figure in history, and his straightforward and homophonic name is likely to attract controversy from a niche audience.
Using it directly for publicity risks creating negative historical associations.
He didn't want to repeat the mistakes of his past life, where a certain super league city used a fictional character from a novel as its promotional image, only to be overwhelmed by negative public opinion.
Overall, Spark's message is positive, inspiring, passionate, and uplifting, making it perfectly suited for youth training, campus esports, business sponsorship, and mainstream platform promotion, with zero risk to public opinion.
"Okay, TSG it is, high-end, classy, and sophisticated!"
"I have no objection either!"
Ultimately, the club name was chosen by Fu Shiyan, who combined the opinions of the three.
When the three of them decided on the club's name together, in a sense, they truly became partners who could sit down together.
"Now that the name is decided, let's discuss the specifics of our collaboration."
Back to the topic.
Mo Ziye pointed to the construction plan and said:
"The first step is the division of equity."
"We brothers should keep our accounts straight. My share is the largest, consisting of the club's base building and some capital investment. Lao Qi's share is second, consisting of commercial resources and capital. Xiao Fu, your share is based on technology and traffic, matching its core value."
"In addition, a certain amount of equity will be reserved for future club expansion and talent acquisition, in order to avoid the impact of three-way equity disputes on operations as much as possible."
Mr. Mo sold two of the four buildings, keeping one for use as the club's base.
Qi Sheng's family business mainly consists of physical factories, but he himself has achieved considerable success in the media industry. Both of them hold equity through a combination of resources and capital.
According to the plan, Lao Mo would own up to 40% of the shares, while Qi Sheng would own 25% to 30%.
"Xiao Fu, your equity structure is a bit special. Let me explain it to you in detail so you can understand."
"First of all, although our club has just been established and only has one team, BJBS, which is a quasi-LSPL league team, as an asset, since we have decided to go all out, I assure you that if we can enter the LPL this year, then TSG's annual investment will be no less than 50 million yuan!"
Fifty million!
That's a lot.
At this point in 2016, it was by no means a small amount.
According to the data Fu Shiyan knows, the LPL in this world has not yet implemented a slot fee system, meaning that you don't need to spend money to buy a slot; you mainly rely on playing matches to avoid relegation and get promoted.
However, after entering the LPL league, in order to prevent violations and unpaid wages, each club needs to pay a disciplinary deposit of several million yuan, which will be refunded at the end of the season if there are no violations. It can be regarded as a performance guarantee.
These millions can be considered part of the fixed expenses, but not all of them are. The fixed costs of operating a top league club mainly include base rent, personnel salaries (excluding players), and daily operations.
If the club chooses to rent a small villa-style house in Shanghai, the minimum rent would be 5 RMB/month x 12, which is 60 RMB/year.
The TSG base is Mr. Mo's own property, so this cost is not included.
而人员工资方面，LPL联赛的教练员月薪一般在5–8万/月，俱乐部经理为2-3万，领队、后勤、分析师合计3–5万/月。
Including the cost of kitchen staff and other support personnel, the total expenditure is approximately 1 yuan per month.
Therefore, the annual cost of logistics and coaching staff for an LPL club is basically between 150 million and 250 million.
Then there's the daily operations, including water and electricity, internet, equipment, travel, events, and public relations.
Even if it accounts for a slightly larger proportion, it's still only in the millions.
The real difference in club expenses, and where the costs of different teams truly diverge, actually lies in player costs.
A typical LPL team configuration typically consists of five main players plus one or two substitutes.
Among them, the average domestic player typically earns 1 to 2 yuan per month, which is not considered expensive.
However, this year LPL has ushered in the era of foreign players.
LPL teams have one or two Korean players on average. As long as they are foreign players, even if they are fringe players, their salaries are generally between 3 and 5.
This has resulted in even teams on the verge of relegation in the LPL having annual player salary costs approaching three to four million.