Daily Evolution from Mastering Tai Chi-Chapter 164: Ten-Million-Yuan Endorsement

3:00 PM.

Wang Ye finally returned to the hotel on his bike.

He changed out of his cycling gear, took a shower, and washed away the sticky sweat.

Then he lay on the bed, opened TikTok, and prepared to watch some videos.

But the first video that popped up in the recommendations made Wang Ye a bit overwhelmed.

The video featured him training with a downhill speed drop on a 70-degree slope.

And the rider in the video training on the downhill section was, without a doubt, himself.

Seeing the video had 150,000 likes, Wang Ye couldn’t help but cover his face.

"Gosh, this 5G era... Just finished training and I’m already trending..."

This kind of thing wasn’t the first time it happened.

During his national walking journey, Wang Ye often found himself being secretly filmed and posted online.

This gradually made Wang Ye realize that as his fan count grew, anything he did seemed to create a big stir on the internet.

He was even moving toward becoming a public figure.

Wang Ye even considered wearing a mask and sunglasses outside from now on.

Otherwise, there really was a feeling of being constantly watched.

However, it wasn’t all bad.

Wang Ye discovered that as he appeared in public more often, the number of people who once accused him of marathon cheating was decreasing, and his reputation was gradually turning around. But some foreign sports experts and athletes still held their beliefs, thinking that Wang Ye’s broken world record was fake.

Just as Wang Ye was pondering.

Suddenly.

Ding dong.

The doorbell rang.

Wang Ye sat up from the bed and opened the room door.

Only to find a man in a suit and tie standing outside.

An insurance salesman?

Wang Ye was taken aback and was about to politely decline when.

The suited man suddenly spoke:

"Hello, Mr. Wang Ye, I’m an employee of Anta Group’s Shandong Branch. Anta Group has noticed your influence and potential, and in the spirit of win-win cooperation, we hope to invite you to sign an endorsement contract with the Anta brand. Would you have time now to take the special car to the company to discuss cooperation matters?"

"Anta? Cooperation?" Wang Ye was a bit confused.

Anta is a world-renowned sports goods company and a very famous sports brand in China with high recognition. Typically, those who can sign legitimate endorsement contracts with Anta are usually national team athletes or high-profile celebrities.

Wang Ye truly didn’t expect that someone like him, who is neither a national team athlete nor a celebrity, could attract such a big brand like Anta to actively seek him out for an endorsement contract.

Is this the power of breaking a world record...

"Yes, it won’t take too much of your time." The suited man said respectfully.

"Then take me there." Wang Ye changed his clothes and followed the suited man into the special car.

It seems that reaching an endorsement agreement with a sports brand is probably the most lucrative way for an athlete to earn money now.

Even if you broke a world record, at most, you can only get a few million in prize money.

But if you endorse a well-known sports brand, you can earn at least a few million in endorsement fees a year.

Moreover, cooperating with a sports brand doesn’t mean only the athlete helps the brand improve its reputation and awareness. Correspondingly, the brand also helps the athlete to disseminate their achievements and awards in the sports world, and increase the athlete’s exposure and influence. It’s a mutually beneficial process, not just a one-sided effort.

Now that Anta has come knocking, Wang Ye naturally won’t miss this opportunity.

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About ten minutes later.

They arrived at a somewhat grand building.

After parking the car, Wang Ye followed the man and took the elevator to the 30th floor. They arrived at a conference room.

There was already a somewhat burly man waiting inside the conference room.

He immediately stood up, walked over quickly, and shook hands with Wang Ye, saying:

"It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Wang Ye. I’m Li Weimin, the general manager of Anta Group’s Shandong Branch. We learned that you broke the world record and won the Shenzhen Marathon, and we’ve been wanting to meet and discuss cooperation with you in person."

"Hello, Manager Li." Wang Ye said in a deep voice, "Can you elaborate on the cooperation details?"

"Ahem... I’ll get straight to the point then."

Li Weimin cleared his throat and said, "Given that you’re a top athlete who broke a world record, our Anta Group is offering an annual endorsement fee of 15 million RMB. In addition, for every international competition you participate in wearing our branded clothing and sneakers, you can receive an additional endorsement fee of 1 million RMB. By the way, I heard you’re planning to participate in a mountain bike cross-country race soon. Although participating in such small city-level events won’t add additional endorsement fees, we can provide you with professional brand cycling clothing and professional-level branded mountain bikes."

Li Weimin continued to speak non-stop; you could see he was quite eloquent, probably having started his career in sales. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Upon hearing this, Wang Ye’s eyes subtly shifted.

Fifteen million in endorsement fees.

This is a treatment even top athletes can’t get.

Even the world table tennis champion Zhang Jike can only get 10 million a year in endorsement fees.

Although Wang Ye has broken a world record and is a mega influencer on TikTok.

But he’s not in the national team, and his foundation is unsteady. Obviously, he doesn’t hold the value of a 15 million endorsement at the moment.

"That’s the general package. If you want more details, you can take a closer look at this contract." Li Weimin handed over some pages clipped together.

Wang Ye took the contract, and the densely packed clauses made his head ache, but the main point was that after signing with Anta, he could no longer endorse other sports brands. Additionally, he would need to participate in joint promotions, attend themed events to increase his exposure and recognition, as per Anta Group’s arrangements.

The contract period was 10 years, meaning he would have to be tied to the brand for a decade.

Seeing this, Wang Ye suddenly felt he should give it more thought.

After all, his potential is not limited to this.

It’s only been a month, and he’s already evolved from a regular person to this level.

Ten years is a very long time for him.

"You can go back and think it over first." Li Weimin, catching Wang Ye’s hesitant look, smiled and said, "After all, there’s still some time before the Lanzhou Marathon starts, and if there’s any issue with the contract, feel free to call me anytime."

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