[Chapter 752: Mr. Biggest]
After sleeping in, Candace Bushnell naturally woke up, stretching luxuriously on the large bed. As her hand brushed against the wall beside the bed, she realized she was not in her familiar bedroom.
Just then, the door was pushed open, and she quickly pulled the covers up, but the man entering the room still noticed her.
"Good morning," Eric smiled at the woman on the bed, placing a woman's evening gown at the foot of the bed before turning to draw the curtains.
Candace followed Eric's figure to the window, watching him pull back the curtains. The bright light flooded into the bedroom, finally rousing her completely.
"Oh my God, this isn't a dream! I really did sleep with this little guy!" she thought to herself.
The realization that she had been with a man thirteen years her junior made her cheeks heat up with embarrassment, a mix of shyness and a hint of unexpected excitement.
As Eric approached and sat down in the chair beside the bed, Candace felt a bit awkward and pulled the covers up over her face. After a moment, she felt it was a bit silly and sluggishly offered, "Good morning... Mr. Big."
Eric looked at Candace's childlike reaction, nodding and teasingly replied, "Oh, I get it, that must be a compliment."
Candace blinked in surprise as she processed his words and couldn't help but chuckle softly, flattered but not knowing how to respond further.
Seeing that Candace wasn't saying much, Eric continued, "Candace, I had your dress from last night cleaned and pressed. Um... I have a meeting at nine o'clock."
Candace poked her head out from the covers and asked, "What time is it now?"
Eric checked his watch and replied, "It's eight-thirty. The car is waiting for me downstairs."
"Wow, it's already that late? Then I..."
Candace was about to sit up when Eric pressed a hand gently on her shoulder. "No, you can sleep a little longer. You can wake up whenever you want; I just wanted to say goodbye."
They had partied until around two in the morning. Even though she had woken up, Candace felt weak all over but was reluctant to get up. Hearing Eric's words, she decided to lie back down. Curiously about Eric, she ventured, "Was it an important meeting?"
"If you've been following the media news, you should know that ESPN is about to sign a new contract with the NFL," Eric explained before chuckling. "I almost forgot, women usually aren't as interested in sports as men are in fashion, right?"
Candace shook her head, "Not at all! I used to be the cheerleading captain for my school's football team when I was a girl."
Eric recognized her politeness with a smile and pulled a card from his suit pocket, laying it on the bedside table. "I've made some breakfast. You can have some when you get up. If you don't like it, there are others in the fridge. The card has the driver's number; you can call if you need a ride later."
Candace felt a twinge of disappointment when Eric didn't give her his personal card but didn't pursue it. They both understood this was merely a one-night stand; she wasn't foolish enough to expect anything more.
Seeing that she nodded, Eric added, "Oh, about the lead actress for Sex and the City, I discussed it with Annie this morning. Since Liz isn't quite right, we should find someone else. But let's hurry; we can't drag this out."
Candace knew that since Eric had initially chosen Elizabeth Hurley for the role, their relationship must have been significant. She asked, "What about Miss Hurley?"
"You don't have to worry about that; I'll arrange everything," Eric said before standing up. "Well, goodbye."
"Goodbye," Candace said as she stretched her hand out from under the covers to wave at Eric.
As the door closed, Candace turned over, lying on her back on the large bed, staring up at the ceiling, pondering for a moment. Eventually, she felt she could no longer sleep and decided to get up.
She found her clothes and slipped them on, padding barefoot into the bathroom. Noticing a fresh set of toiletries in a cup on the sink with a note attached, her spirits lifted significantly. She ripped off the note, reading his handwriting, which made her subconsciously bring it to her nose for a sniff, only to inwardly scold herself for this silly, infatuated action.
After putting the note down, she spotted the large bathtub in the bathroom and felt her interest pique once again.
After enjoying a lovely hot bath, wrapped in a robe, she headed downstairs. The living room coffee table was set with a simple breakfast and, as usual, a thoughtful note. Next to it were her handbag and phone. She walked over, turning on her phone that had been off since last night, and surveyed her surroundings. In the sunlight streaming through the large windows, she saw a round table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows and carried her breakfast over.
There was a stack of newspapers on the table, likely where he had sat for breakfast while reading.
Remembering Eric's offhand mention of ESPN's cooperation with the NFL, Candace, despite her lack of interest in sports, found herself flipping through the newspapers curiously while eating breakfast.
Sure enough, The New York Times had a significant article covering the negotiation between ESPN and the NFL.
Previously, ESPN had negotiated broadcast rights for NFL games on a yearly or per-season basis. However, this time, ESPN ambitiously sought to secure an eight-year, exclusive broadcast contract. If successful, ESPN would gain exclusive rights to broadcast NFL games weekly.
Candace wasn't deeply familiar with the specialized analyses in the newspaper articles but gasped when she saw the staggering total of $9 billion in contract value. The enormity of that figure was beyond her comprehension; could NFL broadcast rights truly be worth so much? After all, ESPN was under Firefly's umbrella -- they wouldn't suffer losses from this, would they?
Lost in her thoughts, her phone suddenly rang. As she answered, a somewhat screechy voice filled the receiver.
"..."
Listening to her best friend Sonia bombard her with questions with no signs of stopping, Candace soon had to interrupt, "Alright, alright, Sonia, I admit I slept with him, so please stop nagging me."
A series of gasps came from the other end. Candace helplessly moved the receiver a bit away from her ear until Sonia finished. "Come on, Sonia! I hope to find my own Mr. Big, but this guy is Mr. Biggest! A fragile little woman like me could get crushed by him; it was just one night!"
"..."
"I don't know why either; I was just a bit dazed when he took me back. Furthermore, now that you mention it, those women at the party with their glowing eyes probably hate me! I guess I need to be more careful these days to avoid getting set up."
"..."
"Oh, right now," Candace heard another question from Sonia, glancing out the window at Central Park, basked in sunshine. Early autumn had stripped the park of its summer vibrancy, but the contrasting reds and yellows still painted a beautiful mosaic. "I'm in a penthouse condo at the entrance to Sixth Avenue, enjoying breakfast made by Mr. Biggest himself while taking in the stunning views of Central Park and uptown. I have to admit; the view is just breathtaking. If I could, I would love to stay here forever -- even as a maid."
"..."
"He's already off to work! He's not going to lounge around like us little women... What? There's no way you're getting in! You could cause some chaos, and I won't let that happen -- no way!"
"..."
Sonia continued with who-knows-what on the other end, making Candace blush and huff in frustration, but the relentless questions kept coming.
"Oh my gosh, you shameless woman!" Candace squeaked, her cheeks flushed and a smile creeping onto her lips as she growled out loud.
After a moment, seemingly overwhelmed by her friend's relentless teasing, she stuttered for a bit, her fingers unconsciously gesturing, "I guess he's a bit dominant -- you know, in bed -- then, um, very comfortable. He could definitely take you to another realm, soaring through the night, but you'd still be able to walk back to your own place by the next morning... Ah, you jerk! You think I'm scandalous? You were the one who asked those dirty questions first! Oh, I get it! You're just jealous! Yes, jealous! Hmph!"
...
Eric's place was less than two miles from ABC's headquarters on West 67th Street. While Candace discussed him with her friend, Eric had already arrived at ABC.
Today, they would be discussing a matter extremely crucial for ESPN and the entire Firefly television division -- the $9 billion broadcast rights deal involving the NFL.
Of the hundreds of cable networks that had emerged in the United States, ESPN was undoubtedly the most dazzling. Since the late 1980s, thanks to securing extensive broadcast rights for various sports events, ESPN had become the go-to television network for sports fans across North America. Indeed, ESPN also stood out as the cable network with the highest average subscription fees, with its average user share surpassing one dollar, while even the competing Turner Broadcasting's averages hovered around 68 cents. In fact, the average subscription fee for all cable networks in North America was only about 20 cents, less than one-sixth of ESPN's.
In Eric's memory, ESPN was valued at approximately $75 billion, accounted for nearly one-quarter of Disney's overall revenue at the time. After the decline of public television stations, ESPN's profits and revenue accounted for more than half of Disney's total television revenue.
While Eric was not deeply entrenched in sports, he understood that in the new century, against a backdrop of emerging sports networks, ESPN maintained its dominant industry position due to monopolizing the rights to numerous live sporting events.
As America's favored sport, NFL broadcast rights were naturally under ESPN's hold.
Eric hadn't fully grasped ESPN's trajectory until recently when ESPN President Steve Bornstein presented an ambitious plan to monopolize the NFL broadcast rights, highlighting how ESPN had risen to such power.
Currently, ESPN had around 90 million subscribers, with an average subscription fee of $1.30. The total annual revenue from broadcast rights and advertising exceeded $2 billion. Thus, when the enormous $9 billion plan was unveiled, Robert Iger, who had just taken over television operations from Tom Murphy, was taken aback. Iger found Bornstein's proposal very enticing yet deemed the likelihood of its implementation slim. Though his expectations were muted, he still submitted the proposal to Katzenberg.
Katzenberg, with his sharp perspective, recognized the tremendous potential of the proposal, but also the significant risks hidden within it. If they were to secure the contract for $9 billion but failed to deliver the projected returns, the consequences could be disastrous. Additionally, there was another disadvantage -- securing all broadcasting rights at a price surpassing 50% of the existing rates would inevitably lead other sports leagues to raise their prices. If after the contract was secured, ESPN's revenue did not meet expectations, the newly inflated licensing costs would slowly drag ESPN into the mud.
In the end, Katzenberg couldn't make a decision and had to refer the matter back to Eric himself.
While aware that monopolizing various live sports broadcasts was the route to maintaining ESPN's dominant position, Eric was still taken aback when he first saw the potential contract amount of $9 billion. He had intended to keep Firefly's operations stable in the coming years, avoiding drastic moves, yet he knew of ESPN's glorious past. After Steve Bornstein personally elaborated on the various stakes tied to the contract, Eric ultimately agreed, leading to today's high-level meeting.
In the meeting room at ABC headquarters, apart from Eric, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Frank Wells, Robert Iger, and other top executives, alongside board representatives like Tom Murphy and Warren Buffett sat attentively, focused as they listened to ESPN CEO Steve Bornstein discussing the outcomes of the negotiation with the NFL.
*****
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