"Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that the bidding for advertisements during Super Bowl XXXII, the annual championship game of the NFL (National Football League), officially begins!"
As the host's words fell, hundreds of people in the venue applauded.
The Super Bowl, watched by hundreds of millions, had that kind of appeal!
The immense exposure was something all companies dreamed of.
"This year's Super Bowl halftime commercial break will be three minutes long, which is 180 seconds. We will be offering six 30-second main ad slots and twelve on-field advertisements."
"First, we will start bidding on the first 30-second commercial. The starting price is $200,000, and each bid increment must be no less than $10,000."
The auction host passionately shouted, waving his hands continuously in the air.
A starting bid of $200,000?
To be honest, that price was quite expensive, especially since the ad time was only a short 30 seconds.
"Hiss~~!"
"This year's starting price is a full $50,000 higher than last year's $150,000."
"The NFL is trying to fleece us like fat sheep!"
Immediately, quite a few company representatives quietly started to back out.
If the starting bid this year was as high as $200,000, then the final hammer price would surely exceed a million dollars!
Not everyone had the financial resources of Kyle.
"Tsk~~!"
"If you don't have money, then don't come. A bunch of stingy people who can't bear to spend money."
Just then, a sneer suddenly came from the surrounding crowd.
Immediately, the man who spoke attracted the attention of many people present, and both Kyle and Bezos looked over in the direction of the sound.
"Who is he?"
Kyle frowned, looking at the young brown-haired man seated in the back row, who was under 30 years old.
Upon hearing this, Kyle's chief assistant, Alexander, shook his head.
"I know."
Bezos chuckled, "He's the owner of Mitch website. Similar to Yahoo, it's a portal website. Two years ago, he was still an auto mechanic, worrying about his daily meals. However, he was lucky enough to catch the wave of this great internet era. His portal plan caught the eye of a Wall Street investment bank. Now, it's developing well, and Mitch portal website has a market value of $300 million."
"Oh, you actually know that?"
Kyle became a little puzzled, and at the same time, a little sore.
Portal websites!
In the late 90s in America, running a portal website was definitely a viable venture!
Yahoo, in just a few years since its founding, had a market value of nearly $40 billion, which already said it all.
Kyle had also planned to dabble in portal websites before, but that was when the Asian financial crisis hit, so Kyle gave up on the idea.
"Kyle, don't underestimate me. I know quite a lot about the newly emerging internet companies in America."
"Oh, by the way, I even know about your 30% stake in Google."
Bezos's face was filled with pride.
Kyle's expression solidified, and he gave a thumbs-up, saying, "No wonder you're successful, you're impressive in that regard!"
"Of course." Bezos puffed up.
Lucky guy?
Kyle didn't like that term.
Because in the eyes of many outsiders, Kyle, like the owner of Mitch Portal, was also a lucky person of his time.
In America, a person who hasn't attended college or received higher education, no matter if they are a multi-millionaire, is still considered a lucky person in the eyes of many in high society.
"Hmph!"
Kyle secretly thought, "One day, when I become the richest person in the world, let's see who still dares to look down on me."
Why did ICQ's Visger fall out with Kyle?
The main reason was that he looked down on Kyle for not having received higher education. He scoffed at several development suggestions Kyle had made.
To use his words, hmm… what could a poor student possibly know?
… "$300,000!"
"What's that? I'll bid $500,000!"
"$600,000!"
In the blink of an eye, the bidding price for the first 30-second advertisement continued to climb.
Many companies felt powerless and announced their withdrawal. However, more people joined the bidding, most of them internet companies.
Before the dot-com bubble, internet companies were indeed all very wealthy.
"$1.3 million!"
The first 30-second advertisement for Super Bowl XXXII was sold for $1.3 million. The person who paid this price was none other than the owner of Mitch Portal.
"See, see, I told you long ago not to compete with me. After all that Fight, didn't I still win?" The owner of Mitch website boasted arrogantly.
These words drew angry glares from many people around him.
"This damn guy, he's really arrogant," a middle-aged man couldn't help but mutter.
Kyle shook his head.
Mitch website?
Heh heh, just a trash portal website.
Anyway, Kyle had never heard of it in his previous life.
"I guess after the internet bubble burst, it either went bankrupt or was acquired by another company," Kyle thought.
Under the internet bubble, let alone small fry like Mitch website, even giants like Yahoo suffered heavy losses.
The Nasdaq Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by nearly 3,000 points, and you think that's a joke…
In the time that followed, Kyle and Bezos also stopped sitting on the sidelines and joined the bidding.
Kyle successfully secured the third 30-second advertisement, with a transaction price of $1.19 million;
Bezos secured the fifth 30-second advertisement, with a transaction price of $1.26 million;
Ultimately, in less than an hour, all the Super Bowl XXXII advertisements were sold, totaling $11 million.
It doesn't sound like much.
In 2020, a 30-second Super Bowl ad cost as much as $5.6 million; there were as many as 77 ad slots up for grabs, with direct profits from advertising alone reaching $120 million.
But don't forget, it's 1999!
The US dollar had not yet depreciated to such an extremely low level.
The total advertising revenue of $11 million in 1999 was a direct increase of 45% compared to 1998. And out of a total of 18 advertisements, 13 were acquired by internet companies.
The financial prowess of internet companies was evident before the crisis erupted.
"These damn internet companies~"
"These damn rich people!"
"Be arrogant, keep being arrogant~"
"Next year, I'd like to see how many internet companies can still come?"
Kyle couldn't help but curl his lips.
Spending $1.19 million for a 30-second ad, Kyle truly felt a bit pained, even if it was a Super Bowl ad.
You know, in the original timeline, a 30-second Super Bowl ad in 2000 could be secured for $500,000 to $850,000… Back in Los Angeles.
"Boss, Mr. Hashimoto Taro wants to see you," Alexander said.
"Oh? Let him in."
Kyle frowned, then put down the report about "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" which was scheduled to be released on Valentine's Day.
Soon after, Hashimoto Taro entered.
"Boss, the reason I'm here this time is to propose that the group establish a new department—the Family Entertainment Department," Hashimoto Taro said directly.
Kyle pondered for a few seconds, "Family Entertainment Department? You mean, the group should acquire relevant film copyrights from other film companies to expand the company's film library?"