Text: Zhang Bin
The Zhang Jike incident dominated the hot search list, continued to ferment, made a fuss, and his personal image and commercial value instantly collapsed.
Perhaps no one could have imagined that Zhang Jike, who was once extremely domineering, could no longer raise his head.
On February 3, 2009, just after the Spring Festival, "Direct to Yokohama" was held at the Training Bureau of the General Administration of Sports. I made a guest appearance as a table tennis reporter and went to the scene to cover the game.
At that time, Ma Lin, Wang Hao and other famous players were in the team, and Zhang Jike, who was only 21 years old, was not the most watched player. But on his first matchday, he was the focus of all the media attention. In his match with Xu Xin, the first four games were 2-2, and when he led 10-9 in the fifth game, his coach Zhong Jinyong called a timeout, and Zhang Jike directly waved his hand and refused the coach's request. In the later game, Zhong Jinyong directly chose not to conduct on-site guidance.
Because the Spring Festival had just passed, the game was not broadcast live on CCTV, but reporters from major media, including CCTV reporters, gathered at the scene. After the all-day game, the men's team held a summary meeting according to the custom, and Liu Guoliang, who was the head coach of the men's team at the time, severely criticized Zhang Jike in front of all reporters.
In the previous national championships, Zhang Jikorenk won many Olympic champions and is already a rising star of the men's team. Facing the media camera, Liu Guoliang did not show Zhang Jike the slightest mercy, "In addition to this competition (national championship), what are his highlights?" How many matches does a man lose in an international tournament a year? Two years ago, he was able to participate in the World Championships and the coaching staff took care of him. Liu Guoliang even said cruel things like "return to the provincial team."
After being trained, Zhang Jike looked lonely, but still accepted an interview with the media, saying that he had his own ideas at that time, so he did not listen to the coach, and "it is necessary to go back to apologize to the coach." I noticed a detail: Zhang Jike, who was surrounded by a group of journalists, had red circles in his eyes.
The unscrupulous personality makes Zhang Jike full of domineering in the arena, but arrogance also goes with him. In the 2012 London Olympics, after winning the men's singles gold medal, he won the men's singles championships of the World Table Tennis Championships, the World Cup and the Olympic Games in 15 months, completing the great deeds of Grand Slam.
After completing the tasks of the London Olympics, Zhang Jike did not return to Beijing immediately with the army, he stayed in the Olympic Village to prepare for the closing ceremony. Through a Qingdao colleague, I asked to get to Zhang Jike's mobile phone number and text him to make an interview.
At that time, Zhang Jike was at the peak of his life, coupled with the relationship with me as a fellow countryman, he happily agreed to accept my exclusive interview. He asked me to meet in the international section of the Olympic Village, but I was not an official certified journalist and could not enter the Olympic Village, so he asked him to complete the interview at the entrance of the Olympic Village. He hesitated, but agreed.
I remember we met at noon. I texted him as soon as I arrived at the Olympic Village, and after a long interval, he texted back to tell me that there was a CCTV interview (or a commercial event) and asked me to wait for his news. I had to go to a mall next to the Olympic Village and find a café to kill time.
It had been almost six hours since I got in touch with him again, and it was getting late. When I went to look for him at the entrance of the Olympic Village, I didn't see him. He said he was at the door of the Olympic Village and I was at the door of the Olympic Village. I realized that we might be on the doorstep of a different Olympic village.
On the phone, he had already shown great impatience. From the mouths of my colleagues, I also know that Zhang Jike is not an ideal interviewee, and it is common to reply to reporters. Moreover, I am not familiar with the terrain of the Olympic Village, and the possibility of finding him in a short time is very small. During the communication, his mood became a little agitated, and he repeatedly said that he would not return to Beijing for another interview.
Because table tennis is not my line, I am actually no longer qualified to interview him after returning to Beijing. I proposed to complete the interview by phone, and Zhang Jike finally agreed. So, I squatted on the curb at the entrance of the Olympic Village and finished the interview in embarrassment.
His slightly perfunctory attitude to the question (his exhaustion can indeed be heard in the earpiece), resulting in an extremely hasty and hasty interview. However, even so, his arrogance can still be heard.
Talking about completing the Grand Slam in 15 months, Zhang Jike asked me: "Soon?" I don't feel fast, I feel normal, this is a manifestation of my strength, nothing special. ”
In addition to the gold medal in the men's singles, Zhang Jike also won the gold medal with the team in the men's team competition. However, in the semifinals, he lost to China's old rival Boll. I talked to him about the game, and Zhang Jike replied: "It's normal for me to lose to Boll, Boll himself is very strong, and many people in our team have lost to him." ”
When I asked him about his next goal, Zhang Jike did not show modesty and bluntly said that he wanted to win another Grand Slam. For the topic of the "first brother" of Chinese men's table tennis, Zhang Jike did not hide it, "I hope to take over the position of "one brother". I want to shoulder the heavy responsibility of Chinese men's table tennis with Ma Long. ”
In 2017, Sports Weekly published the 2016 China Sports Wealth List. I have the impression that this is also the last time Sports Weekly has launched a list of China's sports wealth.
The person in charge of this project is Cao Yaqi, deputy editor-in-chief of Sports Weekly. Cao Yaqi happens to be a good friend of mine, so I know this list well and believe in its authority.
In this list, Sun Yang topped the list with 69 million, Zhang Jike, who ranked second, earned 60 million, and Ning Zetao, who ranked third, had an income of 35 million. Of course, similar to all wealth lists, this list is also an estimated income, which comprehensively counts income such as competition prizes, business sponsorships, and social event appearance fees.
2016 is the year of the Olympic Games, and the total prize money for an Olympic gold medal, including national, provincial and sponsor awards, is about 10 million, and different provinces and cities will have obvious differences. Zhang Jike and Sun Yang are from Shandong Province and Zhejiang Province respectively, both of which are major sports provinces, and they are basically top in terms of awards. The two won 1 gold and 1 silver in Rio, and the total prize money is roughly the same, which should be more than 10 million. Ning Zetao does not have the blessing of Olympic medals, and it is not difficult to understand that his overall income has fallen off a cliff compared with Sun Yang and Ning Zetao.
For athletes, commercial endorsements are the bulk of the revenue. At that time, Sun Yang and Zhang Jike's endorsement fee was several million if it could not exceed 10 million yuan per year. Throughout the Rio Olympic cycle, Sun Yang, Zhang Jike, Ning Zetao and others have multiple endorsement contracts. In addition to commercial endorsements, Sun Yang and Zhang Jike also participated in many variety show recordings after the Olympics, and the number of commercial activities was also quite large. Coupled with the fact that it was a thousand broadcast war at that time, their live broadcast income was also very large. As far as I know, Sun Yang and Zhang Jike spent more than one million dollars on a commercial activity at that time.
Even overall, the income given by the 2016 Chinese sports wealth list may be relatively conservative. This can also be supported by side evidence. Sun Yang's brokerage team once expressed disagreement with the figure of 69 million, implying that Sun Yang's income was above this figure. I have also heard about the contract amount between Ning Zetao and Adidas, which may be close to 20 million or even more than 20 million (of course, this belongs to the category of trade secrets and cannot be confirmed or falsified). If this rumor is true, Ning Zetao's income may also be more than 35 million, and he also had endorsements such as Yili and beats at that time. Taking Zhang Jike and Sun Yang side-by-side, we seem to be able to infer that Zhang Jike's income in 2016 may be higher than 60 million.
60 million + should also be the peak of Zhang Jike's career. By 2020, the price of his participation in a business event had dropped to 300,000.
At that time, a milk tea brand wanted to invite a sports star to Lijiang to participate in offline activities. I helped ask Olympic champion Li Xiaopeng. Li Xiaopeng has gold medals in the Sydney Olympics and the Beijing Olympics, and became popular again in 2014 because of the recording of the variety show "Daddy is Back". He gave an offer, which must be more than 300,000, and the specific amount is not convenient to disclose here.
Later, the organizer told me that they asked Zhang Jike at the same time, and Zhang Jike's offer was only 300,000 yuan. Obviously, Zhang Jike's cost performance is higher, he is also a two-time Olympic champion, and he is a new champion of the Rio Olympic Games, coupled with the blessing of the halo of the national ball, his popularity and influence are above Li Xiaopeng.
As for whether Zhang Jike eventually participated in this event, I have no way of knowing. However, Zhang Jike's offer still makes me feel strange, after all, just two or three years ago, the price of a commercial activity of his was still above one million, and the price of a variety show can be as high as 20 million. In 2020, the Tokyo Olympics were postponed for a year due to the pandemic, which meant that no new Olympic champion was born, and the previous Olympic champion would be more valuable.
Hearing Zhang Jike's offer, my first reaction was how short of money he really was? In the sports circle, there have always been rumors that Zhang Jike is involved in gambling, but no media people or insiders have ever come up with evidence, and all this is limited to the extent of rumors. Zhang Jike's business activities have reduced their value, which seems to be a corroboration of rumors.
On April 3, after reporter Li Weiao exposed Zhang Jike's loan contract, many brands that had cooperative relations with Zhang Jike quickly cut off with the latter.
According to the statistics of "sports big business", 16 brands have completed the cut with Zhang Jike. 10 brands, including Mengniu, Coca-Cola, Shufajia, and Mousse Bedding, made it clear that Zhang Jike was not their spokesperson. This means that Zhang Jike's cooperation with these brands has long ended. This is not an Olympic year, and many brands will not choose to sign sports stars as spokespeople.
The brand that announced the end of the partnership with Zhang Jike is Nordland, Anta's attitude is "all cooperation with Zhang Jike has been terminated", Nivea is "the cooperation with Zhang Jike has come to an end", and WPS "has terminated cooperation with Zhang Jike". FAW Toyota and NVR Uplift are all promotional materials related to Zhang Jike that have been removed.
After ending the cooperation with these brands, Zhang Jike's loss may be close to 20 million (considering the shrinkage of Zhang Jike's commercial value, let's estimate it according to the average of 3 million households). He could also face counterclaims from these brands, although the reality is that it is almost impossible for any of these brands to file a lawsuit.
Zhang Jike is completely cool, and there is no way to talk about commercial activities, live broadcasts, and variety shows, and it is conservatively estimated that the loss will exceed 10 million. Taken together, his losses this year alone may reach 30 million. Next year is an Olympic year, and if there is no such negative event, his business value will surely usher in a rebound. If he does not have the opportunity to turn over in the future and completely disappear from public view, the total loss may approach 100 million yuan.
If Zhang Jike's involvement in gambling is true, it makes us wonder how much money he owes. From 2016 to 2022, his overall income must be more than 100 million, and even approaching 200 million is not necessarily an exaggeration, if this cannot fill the gap of some desires, it is a little too staggering.