Almighty Coach

George Stephen. It wasn’t an exceptional name; a lot of people in the US were called George, and many had "Stephen" as their last name too. Although it wasn’t as widespread as the names "Wang Wei" or "Li Qiang" in China, it was still a name that appeared often.

Although Dai Li felt that the name was somewhat familiar, he didn’t think about it too much and simply treated it as encountering a common American name.

"Mr. Stephen, since you aren’t here to train, and you aren’t here for a job, what are you here for? Are you a salesman?" Dai Li asked with a smile.

"Actually, I’m an agent, a sports agent," Stephen replied.

Dai Li suddenly remembered. Philip mentioned it a few days ago when he handed a 20,000 dollar check to Dai Li. He mentioned an agent named Stephen. Philip also said that he couldn’t afford an agent.

Could he be that agent? Dai Li thought. He then asked, "Are you here for Philip?"

"Oh no, no. Coach Li, I’m here for you." Stephen paused briefly before continuing, "But it is related to Philip. Can we find somewhere to sit down and talk?"

"No problem." Dai Li brought Stephen to a place where they could sit.

Americans are very direct in their speech, and Stephen was no exception. So, he said directly, "Coach Li, I’m a sports agent, and I am very optimistic about Barron Philip’s potential, which is why I’m hoping to become his agent. I can help him get in contact with more sponsors, as well as more advertising endorsements."

"I heard from Philip that he rejected you," Dai Li stated.

"Yes, it seemed like he didn’t want to depend on an agent. That’s why I came to you. I hope that you can help me persuade Philip to let me be his agent. This is a win-win situation for us both." As he spoke, Stephen continued to monitor and observe the expression on Dai Li’s face.

However, Dai Li’s expression remained unchanged, and even his eyes had a slight hint of wanting to reject the offer. Stephen noticed this and immediately corrected himself, "Let me correct myself. To be precise, it should be a win-win-win situation! Coach Li, if you are willing to help me persuade Philip, I can offer you a remuneration package worth $1000 dollars after everything is done!"

Dai Li smiled and shook his head firmly. The price that Stephen offered was too insincere.

The remuneration of sports agents in the US was commissioned from the income of athletes. Under normal circumstances, 10% of an athlete’s salary would become an agent’s income. Reputable agents might get higher commissions. In regards to advertising endorsements, the commission was much higher, sometimes going as high as 20%.

Philip had received tens of thousands of dollars from the sponsorship fee awarded by multiple charities. Moreover, there was the endorsement fee he received from the insurance company on the disability insurance product. Philip’s recent income would be around 100,000 dollars. If he had an agent, even if it were calculated according to the minimum commission percentage of 10%, the agent would receive 10,000 dollars.

And in the future, as Philip’s performance improved and he achieved better results, his exposure would also gradually increase. As such, the number of sponsors, as well as the advertisement endorsements would also increase, and as a result, the commission the agent received would also rise.

Philip had already decided to take part in races for normal athletes. A para-athlete who had lost both his legs was taking part in a race for normal and healthy individuals. It was something that was certain to attract attention. It was inevitable that Philip would become a focal point, as long as he successfully appeared on the field. He would also become an inspirational figure that the entire US knew; the hidden commercial value of Philip was definitely not worth only a few hundred thousand dollars. Millions or even tens of millions of dollars’ worth of advertisement endorsements could potentially emerge someday. For a sports agent, Philip was without a doubt a once in a lifetime treasure.

Even Dai Li could anticipate that Philip would become a golden goose in the future, and this Stephen was actually hoping to get his hands on this golden goose with only a meager 1000 dollars. In Dai Li’s opinion, Stephen was simply trying to get something for nothing.

Stephen excelled at observing the moods and emotions of people. He noticed that Dai Li looked a bit dissatisfied, so without hesitation, he immediately increased the price. "How about 2000 dollars?"

Dai Li still shook his head. Stephen intentionally gnashed his teeth and said, "2500 dollars!"

Still, Dai Li did not speak.

"Coach Li, this is already a very high amount. All you have to do is to speak a little and persuade Philip to accept this ’win-win-win’ situation! Besides, this is beneficial to you as well. Once Philip has a dedicated agent, he can invest a lot more time and effort into training, isn’t that right?" Stephen said as he attempted to persuade Dai Li.

Dai Li glared at Stephen and made a hand gesture that was used to send guests away. "Mr. Stephen, I’m not interested in your offers, please show yourself to the door!"

Dai Li stood up and decided to leave upon finishing his sentence. Stephen immediately stood up as well and said eagerly, "3000 dollars, Coach Li, this is as high as I can go!"

Dai Li smiled and shook his head and gestured for him to leave once again.

Alright then, since Coach Li isn’t interested, I’ll have to bid my farewell, Stephen said, looking disappointed as he turned around and headed towards the door.

As Dai Li looked at the back of the departing Stephen, his mind began contemplating.

Although Philip was the strongest when it came to people with disabilities, when compared to normal people with healthy bodies, there was still a large gap. Dai Li decided to use the "athlete’s patch" on Philip. The effect of the "athlete’s patch" was, simply put, a Godsend tool for athletes with physical defects such as Philip.

However, the "athlete’s patch" was a consumable item. Dai Li only had 200 of them. Each patch was only effective for one year, and Philip’s entire career might require a total of two or three patches. Dai Li felt that if he were to only gain tens of thousands of dollars in training fees, he would have made a loss.

As soon as Philip achieves decent results in normal races, his commercial value will skyrocket. It should be quite easy to sign a million-dollar endorsement deal. If he manages to break into the international stage, Philip will definitely become a world-famous superstar. By then, the endorsement fees won’t only be in the millions anymore," Dai Li began to think.

As Dai Li pondered, Stephen the agent had reached the front door. However, he did not walk out. Instead, he stopped in his tracks, and after two seconds, Stephen turned and walked back.

Why is he coming back? Did he drop something? Dai Li glanced at the ground around him, but he did not discover any item that was left behind.

Stephen opened his mouth and declared, "Alright Coach Li, you’ve won! Name a price, how much do you need to help me?"

This fellow thinks that I’m playing hard to get. He must have thought that I would stop him if he pretended to leave. He sure is calculating. He came all the way here to show off his negotiation skills. Unfortunately for him, I really do not care about those 3000 dollars. Dai Li suddenly understood Stephen’s intention.

Dai Li looked at Stephen with an expression that looked like a smile but couldn’t be called a smile, and said casually, "Mr. Stephen, I have a feeling that you will become an excellent agent one day."

Stephen laughed awkwardly. "Those of us who are in this business are all like this. Coach Li, do let me know your price, we can slowly negotiate."

Dai Li thought for a while and put out five fingers.

"5000 dollars?" Stephen breathed in a breath of cold air. He had a solemn expression, as if he was having an intense psychological battle in his mind, but it was more like he was weighing the pros and cons.

Stephen was certainly counting in his mind, calculating to see if the 5000 dollars was worth it. He was gauging to see how long it would take to break even on the investment.

However, Dai Li simply shook his head. "You are mistaken. I am not just asking for 5000 dollars."

"You can’t mean 50,000 dollars?" There was disdain in Stephen’s eyes.

"Of course not." Dai Li shook his head before continuing. "What I want is 5%!"

"5%? What 5%?" Stephen asked immediately, a sense of unease slowly building up in his mind.

"5% of Philip’s annual income!" Dai Li answered.

"That’s impossible!" Stephen shook his head without hesitation. "Coach Li, you must be kidding?"

"Do I look like I’m kidding you?" Dai Li said with a serious look on his face.

"Heh, heh, heh..." Stephen couldn’t help but laugh. "Coach Li, this is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard! Even us agents only receive a 10% commission! You only need to persuade Philip to get himself an agent, and you want to get a 5% commission? You must be dreaming. Even if I agree, Philip wouldn’t agree. Do you think that he would be willing to give you 5% of his income? Alright Coach Li, let’s stop with the jokes and talk about something more realistic."

"I never said anything about taking away 5% from Philip. You could give me 5% from your commission," Dai Li answered calmly.

"Insane, you must be insane! I never would have thought that I would spend so much time talking to an insane person!" Stephen shook his head and turned around to leave.

However, Dai Li suddenly said, "Hold on a minute, since I’ve requested a 5% commission, it’s natural that I have my reasons. Perhaps you should listen to another condition of mine."

"Heh heh..." Stephen revealed a mocking grin. He stopped and turned around. "What other conditions do you have?"

"Even I knew that you wouldn’t agree to my demand of 5%," Dai Li stated.

"No agent in the world would agree to that unless he were an idiot," Stephen said as he shook his head.

"So why don’t we add a valuation adjustment mechanism." Dai Li grinned.

"What valuation adjustment mechanism?" Stephen replied quickly.

"500,000 dollars!" Dai Li continued shaking all five of his fingers and said, "If Philip’s annual income is below 500,000 dollars, then I won’t take a single cent. However, if his income exceeds 500,000 dollars, then I want 5% of the total exceeding amount."

"500,000 dollars?" Stephen’s expression suddenly became serious. He responded, "Since this valuation adjustment mechanism is your proposal, you believe that Philip’s annual income will exceed 500,000 dollars?"

"I believe in him!" Dai Li nodded.

Stephen frowned and started to reevaluate Philip.

In the US, an individual who had an annual income of over 100,000 dollars was already in the high-income group. Even in the wealthy state of California, a household income of over 450,000 dollars would get one into the top 1%. That meant that if two people were working in a household, on average, each person would only have to earn 225,000 dollars to get into the top 1% in the wealthy state of California.

For a professional athlete, their primary sources of income were their salaries and advertising sponsorships. Athletes who managed to get into the four major leagues in the US could easily earn 500,000 dollars a year. Take for example the rookies who had just joined the NBA; their salaries already surpassed this number.

For track and field athletes, as they didn’t belong to any sports club that paid them salaries, their primary sources of income were, number one, the rewards from winning races; and number two, advertising endorsements and sponsorships. It was much more difficult for them to reach an annual income of 500,000 dollars. The monetary rewards from track and field races were modest, unlike tennis or golf competitions where the prize money was in the millions. As such, track and field athletes needed generous and large sponsors to earn that much.

Stephen was a professional sports agent. It was natural for him to know how much athletes from different levels earned annually.

Even if it were a normal track and field athlete, he would have to be among the best in the world to be able to receive sponsorship in the millions. The exposure para-athletes received is already much lower than normal athletes, how is there any chance for Philip to earn 500,000 dollars annually! He would have to be blessed by God if he could earn 300,000 dollars a year!

This Coach Li doesn’t even understand the US. He probably still thinks that the US is a land of gold and that any random athlete can earn a lot of money; that’s the only reason for him to make this sort of weird request. But this might also be good, as it’s going to save me a lot of money!

As Stephen reached his conclusion, he reached out his right hand and said, "Coach Li, I find your terms agreeable. Here’s to our future collaboration!"