In America, the winner takes all.

Chapter 353 Burning the bridge across the river
"This is the sales data for several days." Kelsey handed the briefing sheet to Ethan.

Ethan took it and took a look. The sales figures above were bleak.

Rachel, the top seller, only sold a few hundred copies, followed closely by Belinda, followed by Christine and Lacey, and McKenna sold less than a hundred copies, let alone... Two of the team members had poor sales, and the total sales of all of them did not exceed 1000 copies. There is a big gap between cost recovery.

You must know that this is still just a few days after it was launched. After that, the weekly sales will only be lower than this, not higher. After a year, it is thankful to be able to sell more than 20,000 copies, and this is only the sales volume of the DCC wall calendar. one tenth.

Ethan thought the sales might not be too much, but he didn't expect it to be so low.

"This is just the data from our side. Maybe Palyboy's side will be higher? Maybe it can sell tens of thousands of copies." Kelsey said with relief when she saw Ethan's frowning expression.

“People today are not used to online shopping.”

This sentence is correct. Although the Angels do not have an offline souvenir sales store like the Cowboys, considering PLAYBOY's sales channels, such as bookstores, convenience stores, and newsstands, the real sales figures may be better.

"There is an essential difference between the two. Those are just for sale, and the real audience will only buy from us." Ethan shook his head.

No matter what, the first shot fired by the Angel Cheerleaders was a complete failure.

After Kelsey left, Ethan received a call from Christina. She is Hugh Hefner's eldest daughter and is about the same age as Lisa. She has gradually taken over the affairs of Palyboy since the 1970s. Regarding the previous photo album, she personally called Ethan.

"Currently, the subordinate printing factory has 30,000 copies in stock in its warehouse. The printing factory needs you to pay the balance and the storage fees in the warehouse." The other party said.

"I remember that you had a three-month payment period. What, are you afraid that I won't pay you by then?" Ethan laughed.

"The three-month billing period is based on the premise that the sales in the first week meet expectations." The other party's attitude was very cold.

We have just started cooperating, are you ready to burn bridges and try to minimize your losses?

As far as Ethan knew, the heiress's working ability was still much worse than that of his father. Since she officially took over, the magazine has been on a decline, with sales peaking at nearly 20 million copies in the s. , it is not an exaggeration to say that it has rested on years of investment.

Christina has carried out many self-rescue campaigns, actively embraced new media channels, shot videos, established pay TV stations, and filmed some reality shows. However, these actions were often quick and easy, started in a hurry, and then cut off in a hurry. In recent years, she has continued to struggle. , the old people of the previous generation should retreat and leave, but today's playboy has been seriously damaged and has long lost its glory of the past.

Cooperating with the Angel Club is one of her series of self-rescue actions. As a direct competitor of the magazine, the clothes of the girls in "Sports Illustrated" are getting less and less, and they also have a swimsuit special issue. Perhaps for this reason, Christina joined forces with sports clubs to resist the impact of Sports Illustrated.

"You also know that the Angels are a new club, and there is a lot of financial pressure in all aspects. We are renting the Rose Bowl Stadium, and there is a certain delay in the receipt of ticket revenue..." Ethan began to sell out.

"That's your internal matter and has nothing to do with me." Christina seemed cold and inhumane.

"Oh? Really? Then I have to tell you that since it is three months as agreed in advance, it will be three months, not even one day less." Seeing the other party's attitude, Ethan would not give him a good look.

"This is written in black and white in the contract!" Christina gritted her teeth.

"Yes, that's right. Then take the contract and go to the Los Angeles County judge now. I guess it will take a year and a half anyway. I will delay it until the last minute." Ethan said happily.

"Don't forget, when you first became famous, the magazine gave you a lot of space. Is this how you repay us?"

"Save it, magazines also get exclusive interviews from me. It's just mutual benefit. If you don't come to me, other media will still come to me. It's that simple. The worst I can do is to cooperate more with Sports Illustrated in the future."

"Shameless!" Christina had nothing to do with Ethan, and in the end she could only hang up the phone angrily.

·
In the next game, the Angels traveled to San Francisco in northern California to face the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Stadium.

After Stephen Young retired, the 49ers currently share the starting quarterback with Jeff Garcia and Steve Stanstrom. The former led the Calgary Stampeders to the Gray Cup last year and won the final. MVP, the Canadian Football League's highest honor.

The latter, Steve Stanstrom, was a quarterback at Stanford University. He entered the NFL in 95 and his performance was relatively stable.

In addition, Ethan's old acquaintance, Pat Barnes, is also currently on the 49ers, but he is only a third-line quarterback and has still not been able to get playing time this season.

As a showdown in California, this game attracted many Los Angeles fans to watch the game. For the first time, Ethan saw a touch of white in an away game... This was the Angels fans who came to the away game.

At the beginning of the game, Jeff Garcia did cause some trouble for the Angels' defense, but the Angels' Jet screen also made it impossible for the 49ers defense to start.

As his coordination became more and more proficient, Ethan added a variety of variant tactics to the original Jet screen. In addition to passing to running backs or fullbacks, he could also pass to tight ends, while still receiving passes to wide receivers. Ball opportunity.

The Angels only ran the ball less than five times in this game, which were performed by Ethan and Ellinge respectively. They were more used to get the first offensive attack in the third gear, or as a connection for the offense to bring rhythm. The change.

For no reason, under the influence of the Jets screen, the Angels' tactical style also quietly changed. From the original dual-threat offense, it began to gradually focus on passing the ball rather than running the ball.

Andy's choice was more inspired by the Rams.

The Angels narrowly defeated their opponents in this game.

The entire NFL regular season has officially entered the second half. It is worth mentioning that the Rams have finally broken their undefeated streak.

The Tennessee Titans had a thrilling 24-21 victory at home. The Titans scored 21 points in the first half. Kurt Warner made two turnovers in the first quarter, and the Titans converted them into touchdowns. , In addition, Rams right winger Fred Miller performed very poorly in this game, making five turnovers and two fouls.

Even after falling behind by a large margin, the Rams launched a counterattack in the second half, but the Titans maintained their lead until the end of the game.

·
After the game, Ethan, who returned to the locker room, and his teammates watched the game between the Titans and Rams end at the same time, and couldn't help but say:

“The Rams lost more to themselves.”

"To be honest, Kurt Warner's performance is really not as stable as Ethan's." Elinge, standing next to Ethan, responded.

"That's true." Another team member who was wiping his sweat immediately agreed.

It's hard for these black players to say rainbow farts so sincerely.

In this game against the 49ers, Ethan continued his hot streak and made many wonderful passes, leading the Angels to defeat their opponents.

"Ethan, someone is looking for you, and that guy is wearing a 49ers uniform." Someone shouted at Ethan at the door.

Ethan turned his head and saw the familiar figure standing at the door, and immediately walked over.

"Hey, how are you?" Ethan high-fived him.

"Same old," Pat Barnes grinned.

Ethan originally wanted to catch up with him tonight to catch up with old times, but he had to return to Los Angeles as soon as possible. For the next home game, the Angels had extra preparations...

I originally thought that Pat Barnes just came to chat with me, but I saw that he was hesitant and seemed to be seeking help from me for something.

"Ethan, you are different now. You own your own club and you are the majority shareholder!" Pat Barnes said with a smile on his face.

To be honest, this somewhat philistine look made Ethan feel a little strange.

Is this still the high-spirited Pat he once was?
Obviously not. The person standing in front of Ethan at this moment is just a substitute player who is married and has a child. His income is not very high and his life is not very satisfactory. "I heard the Angels only have two quarterbacks...Ethan, can you sign me over next season? I can't be unemployed..." Pat said with a pleading look.

The contract of the third-line quarterback is cheap, and the Angels do have an extreme situation where both quarterbacks are injured and unable to play, and they also need a third-line quarterback.

"No problem, it's a piece of cake." Ethan nodded.

"Actually, for this kind of thing, you only need to give me a call..."

"I guess you are very busy right now, so I'm afraid of disturbing you." Pat said a little embarrassed.

He could never have imagined that the insignificant teammate in the All-Star Game back then would now become an NFL superstar...

·
When Ethan hurriedly returned from San Francisco and appeared in the training room of the Angels cheerleading team, the chaotic situation made Ethan dumbfounded.

"This is much harder than the catwalk!" As soon as Ethan came in, he heard Gisele Bundchen complaining.

At this time, everyone was rehearsing a new formation. The four models stood out because of their height. In order to make them less obtrusive, Kelsey, the choreographer, placed the four models in the center of the team.

As for the training effect, just look at the stiff movements of several models and you will know that this is too difficult for them.

However, there is still a full week before the home game against the Titans. I believe that several people will be better by the time the game starts.

I don’t know if it was because of Ethan’s presence, but Gisele Bundchen seemed a little embarrassed. She came to Ethan during the break and begged Ethan to take her to the club.

"Is this your club? I haven't visited it yet. Are you taking me around?" Gisele Bundchen said.

"That will have to be after training."

"But I'm too tired. This is much more intense than model training. Can we train again tomorrow?" Giselle looked at Ethan expectantly.

Ethan glanced at Kelsey and saw that she didn't refute, so he had no choice but to agree to Giselle's request.

So Ethan was going to take the four models and Giselle's twin sister Patricia around to look around. Ethan had been training and had no time to receive them before, so this time he was able to take care of them.

As for other team members, they also benefited from finishing their work early today.

Ethan saw Rachel passing by and was about to rush to the locker room, but Ethan didn't take the initiative to stop her.

Peter was sent to investigate Rachel before, and indeed he made additional discoveries.

Rachel said that the person suffering from the rare disease was not her parents or her sister, but a four-year-old girl. In the medical records, the little girl had the same surname as Rachel. The little girl had a congenital heart defect that required multiple surgeries.

By extrapolation, Rachel got pregnant and gave birth while in college, so Kelsi, Lacey and the others didn't even know about it.

Perhaps in the religiously conservative thinking of this woman from rural southern Texas, abortion means "killing", so there is no way to have an abortion, she can only give birth. But since she didn't want to be exposed, Ethan didn't expose her lies.

·
In the evening, Ethan took five women to the training hall to briefly observe the training of his teammates.

But someone recognized Gisele Bundchen, who is now making a name for herself in the modeling world. But in fact, her fame in the United States is far less than that of Ethan.

"Shit! Couldn't the model Ethan was dating in London be Gisele Bundchen?"

"So beautiful! This is the real angel's face and devil's figure. It looks 10,000 times better than in the camera."

"That kind of temperament is really different from ordinary women."

"What a huge difference! Every time you take a step, you will be paid as much as your salary for a year."

After Ethan and his party left, some staff working at the stadium got into discussions.

The five young girls also had a new understanding of Ethan after seeing the Angels' training base.

"This is Los Angeles! It's the seat of Hollywood. Ethan has such a large training facility. How much does it cost to rent it? I'm afraid he's richer than Sarah Douglas, and there are more staff here than the employees of a modeling agency. A lot, this is the real big business." Adriana couldn't help but think about the scene she just saw.

"Only the real rich people in the United States dare to invest in football. Owning an NFL club is a symbol of the top rich. The annual salary of those players is often millions of dollars, and this does not include the coach." Alexander La Ambrosio, who has searched for information related to NFL clubs before, is now sharing knowledge with the two sisters.

"It turns out that Ethan is so rich!" Isabel Gole exclaimed.

After the visit, the three models separated from Ethan and the Bundchen sisters, and immediately started discussing on the way to Ethan's arranged accommodation.

Originally, the three of them thought Ethan was just an American athlete. After witnessing his strength, they realized that Ethan was not simple.

Through Alessandra Ambrosio's popular science, the three even mistook Ethan for the descendant of a secretive top rich man in the United States. As everyone knows, this is the most remote area in Los Angeles, and Ethan didn't pay for it at all.

"Did Sarah Douglas also tell you about that?" Alessandra Ambrosio asked the two of them at this time.

The other two nodded tacitly. The contract would expire next year. Sarah Douglas could not get Gisele Bundchen, so she openly and secretly publicized the three models, hoping that they would switch jobs and join her.

To be honest, this proposal is really touching. After all, Sarah is the insider, while Ethan is far away across the ocean.

But after today's observation, the three of them unanimously changed or strengthened their thoughts.

"Ethan is very good to us. I don't want to betray him." Adriana was the first to express her attitude.

"That's not what you said before, and you complained that he can only play basketball and can't expect anything else..." Alexandra joked.

"Isn't it the same for you? You are so close to Sarah Douglas, and you often reveal information about your boss to Sarah, right?" Adriana shrugged.

"It's all for my own future. The pace of change in this industry is very fast. How can we not ensure our competitiveness at all times?" Alexandra shrugged.

Adriana did not refute this.

Although Ethan single-handedly trained Alexandra as a model and helped Adriana solve the contract problem, the two of them may not be as grateful to Ethan as they thought.

At this time, the two noticed that Isabel was deep in thought, and they joked:

"Isabel, do you like the boss?"

"Ah? I don't have one." Isabel immediately lowered her head and said a little embarrassed.

She had very little communication with Ethan, and she didn't meet much with him. When she first met Ethan, she was actually only fourteen years old. For such a young man who took care of his own life and brought himself out of Brazil, he had already developed a dependence mentality.

Alexandra and Adriana looked at each other and knew very well that the four of them would stay in Los Angeles for several weeks. For such a long time, anything could happen.

(End of this chapter)