The God of Broadcasting's Gamble
Just as Tae-hyun had thought, the Chinese fans weren't stingy about their players participating in the tournament. Of course, if it had been hosted by any other country, the reaction might have been different. But this was a tournament hosted by Tae-hyun. Since it was being held in another country, there was simply too much overwhelming interest to tell their players not to go. Besides, it wasn't just one or two players participating; a significant number of them were signing up. Under these circumstances, anyone getting angry and telling them not to participate would just look like an oddball. If anything, the fans wanted a Chinese player to win the whole thing. At the very least, it would ruin Kim Tae-hyun's pride! It was somewhat pitiful to see them trying to salvage their self-esteem like this after failing to qualify in the crucial World Cup, but very few fans were capable of thinking so objectively.
At first, they cheered with the simple intention of stealing the trophy from the tournament hosted by Kim Tae-hyun to salvage a bit of their pride. However, as time passed and the broadcast went live, even the Chinese fans were shocked. The scale of the event was far larger than they had anticipated.
To be precise, it wasn't that the scale of the venue itself was massive, but rather that the lineup of participants was incredibly star-studded. Numerous active first-tier players from the Pan-On League had signed up in droves. For a small-scale tournament hosted by an individual team in a corner of Korea, with only a few broadcasting stations involved! When China had hosted tournaments, most foreign players had rejected them, saying, "You want me to participate under these rules? I'm not going unless I get shot in the head." Seeing such a small-scale tournament succeed so wildly naturally made them green with envy.
No matter how much the jealous fans grumbled, the tournament was a resounding success. It was a triumph that left even the waiting reporters utterly astonished!
“Wow. I know there haven't been any notable tournaments lately besides the World Cup, but I never expected it to blow up like this.”
“To think so many foreign players would participate...”
Players who wouldn't have shown up even if they were paid appearance fees were now coming of their own free will. This was truly unexpected. While the reputation of Team KL certainly played a part, it was also because the tournament was drawing an immense amount of public attention. From the perspective of players who needed to promote themselves, it was an incredibly attractive event they couldn't afford to miss.
“The broadcasting executives who refused to buy the broadcasting rights for this are going to have to write letters of apology.”
“Is it really that bad?”
“Ah, you probably haven't heard.”
One of the reporters shrugged and said. Having spent years as a veteran esports reporter, he was well-acquainted with the inner workings of the broadcasting stations.
“When Team KL was preparing for this tournament, they negotiated to sell the broadcasting rights.”
Broadcasting rights. To air and broadcast the matches of a tournament, a station had to purchase these rights. Whether it was soccer, basketball, or the Pan-On League, these rights were naturally expensive and brought in massive revenue for the teams.
...Of course, that was only the case for highly successful tournaments. When it came to selling the broadcasting rights for an amateur tournament hosted by amateurs, no broadcasting station would readily say, "Oh, is that so? I'll buy them!" In such cases, it was usually the other way around—the stations would demand payment just to broadcast the event. For an amateur tournament, simply having a major station broadcast it provided an immense promotional effect, so that was only natural.
“Wait, even though Kim Tae-hyun was the host, they still didn't want to buy the rights?!”
“Buying them would have been the weird thing, kid. No matter how famous Kim Tae-hyun is, broadcasting rights are no joke. Who would blindly buy them when no one knew if the tournament would succeed or fail?”
“But it did succeed.”
“True. Who could have guessed it would do this well? Rumor has it that Kim Tae-hyun personally visited several broadcasting stations to negotiate, but he got rejected quite a lot. Even though the price was incredibly cheap...”
“Wow... they must be kicking themselves right now.”
“Only the station that bought it hit the jackpot.”
“Bae Jang-wook! Bae Jang-wook! Bae Jang-wook!”
“God of Broadcasting! God of Broadcasting!”
“Let's build a statue of PD Bae Jang-wook in front of the building!”
The employees were cheering and clapping. MBS, a broadcasting station specializing in esports. With the massive success of Pan-On, numerous esports stations had emerged, and even existing major networks had jumped into the fray. Yet, despite its relatively small scale, MBS maintained its position as the undisputed number one in the esports field. This was thanks to talented individuals, outstanding programming, and a healthy dose of luck.
Wow. This actually worked.
Bae Jang-wook thought to himself as he was tossed into the air in celebration. Honestly, this time was pure luck.
No matter how bold Bae Jang-wook was, buying the broadcasting rights for a tournament that hadn't even started yet was a nerve-wracking prospect. Usually, broadcasting rights were only sold after a tournament had proven to be highly successful. If he bought them and the event flopped...
Although he hadn't mentioned it to the other members of Team KL, Tae-hyun had been continuously negotiating with various broadcasting stations.
Everyone rejoiced upon seeing Tae-hyun as if they were reuniting with a long-lost child, but they became extremely uncomfortable the moment the topic shifted to negotiations. Frankly, purchasing the broadcasting rights was too much of a gamble.
Hearing those words, Bae Jang-wook suddenly felt something boiling deep within his chest. A project led by Kim Tae-hyun, yet rejected by everyone else. His competitive spirit flared up too much to just let it go.
...I have to do it when others won't!
After asking Tae-hyun to wait, Bae Jang-wook rushed to the director's office.
“Director! How many hit shows have I produced so far?”
“...Did you get scouted by another network?”
“No! Can you trust me just this once?”
“...”
Faced with the sudden outburst, the director pondered for a moment before speaking.
“...I don't know what it is, but fine! PD Bae has never disappointed me. Whatever it is, go ahead and try it!”
“Yes, sir!”
With that, Bae Jang-wook secured permission and finalized the contract for the broadcasting rights.
...Of course, the director, who had assumed Bae Jang-wook was merely agonizing over a slightly expensive production budget, grabbed him by the collar when he heard about the broadcasting rights contract!
“PD-nim, you truly are the God of Broadcasting!”
“How on earth did you predict this?!”
Receiving the praise of his staff, Bae Jang-wook nodded with a solemn expression. If he didn't maintain his poker face now, when would he?
The other broadcasting stations must be dying of jealousy.
Who could have predicted it would do this well?
“That person is incredibly popular, huh?”
Tae-hyun said in fascination. A crowd of players had gathered around a commentator sent by MBS. It looked like they were getting autographs, and the crowd was growing faster than the commentator could sign.
“Ah, you didn't know, Tae-hyun? He's extremely popular among the MBS commentators lately. He even commentates for the Pan-On League.”
“Well, I... usually play in the matches myself or just watch them live on-site.”
“...Right, that makes sense.”
After all, domestic broadcasts naturally aired later due to the addition of commentary and analysis. Since Tae-hyun received the match footage directly from Pan-On, it was only natural that he didn't know!
“Seeing how popular he is, he must provide incredibly sharp and keen analysis.”
“Sharp and... keen? I'm not so sure about that.”
“...?”
When Lee Da-bi tilted her head in doubt, Tae-hyun was left utterly confused. If it wasn't sharp and keen analysis, how else could a commentator become so popular?
“You'll see once you watch.”
“Hmm.”
The MBS commentator finished his impromptu autograph session and hurried up to the broadcasting booth. The preliminary matches were about to begin.
“Ah! Thank you for waiting. First, a player to watch out for in this match is Penguin Panda. He's highly popular in China, and his recent performance has been quite solid.”
Seems pretty ordinary.
“And right next to him is Canada's KingTaehyunNo1! He's a player with a lot of fans in Korea as well, thanks to his unique username.”
“.......”
Tae-hyun wore a grimace, but KingTaehyunNo1 was surprisingly popular.
“Wait, a username like that is actually popular?”
“I think he's popular because of his playstyle, not his username...”
In fact, KingTaehyunNo1 not only performed exceptionally well in the All-Star Super Player, but he also possessed outstanding fan service and a great personality. On top of that, Canada had recently managed to qualify for the World Cup.
“China is beneath Canada!”
“China is beneath Canada!”
“.......”
It seemed there were Canadian fans in the crowd, chanting highly provocative slogans. Insults were already flying back and forth.
“The match begins!”
Despite the prominent names, the match unexpectedly tilted to one side right from the start. Penguin Panda made a mistake and fell far behind. Other players got caught up in the blunder and plummeted along with him! This left KingTaehyunNo1 with a massive advantage.
“Ah! KingTaehyunNo1 is surging straight ahead!”
It's going to be almost impossible to turn this around.
“Of course, the Sky Island race has rules that make it difficult to stage a comeback in this situation. However, as everyone knows, the Sky Island race is highly random! Isn't there a strong element of randomness? Furthermore, Penguin Panda is a seasoned and experienced player. He surely entered this tournament with this kind of scenario already in mind. Looking at it from that perspective, we can summarize the current situation as a tight, unpredictable match where anyone could win.”
“...????”
Dumbfounded, Tae-hyun turned his head and stared at the commentator. No... what kind of nonsense was...?
“He's popular because he makes every single match sound exciting until the very end. Remember last year during a league match when the opposing team's mental state shattered because of your play, and they just threw the game? Even then, he commentated that it was still a fifty-fifty match and that anything could happen...”
“...I-I see.”
Though it was absurd, Tae-hyun decided to accept it. After all, the most important thing was that the audience was entertained and satisfied, right?