Chapter Four: Selling Tomorrow's Stands

The heat from one draw lasted forty-eight hours. On Monday morning Lanhaven had forty-six thousand euros. By afternoon, thirty-eight thousand was due in wages, and the floodlights needed repairs on Wednesday. Yet seventeen local merchants stood outside the dressing room, asking what an advertising board suddenly seen on national television might cost. Su quoted the market rate. Half the line vanished. “They can't buy exposure the way a giant does,” Gu said, looking at the rusted North Stand. “So don't sell exposure. Sell outcomes.” His new package had three parts: a base fee covering cost; shared bonuses for each thousand additional spectators; and, after every victory, half the advertising fee converted into discounts for the next crowd.