Free Lecture》Looking at the Professional Sports Management Major from Wei Yingjiao’s gaffe

The day before yesterday, Wei Quan Long won the 2026 secondary vocational championship with 4 wins and 2 losses. It was supposed to be an honor shared by players, coaches and fans. After the game, Wei Yingjiao said "give brothers a chance" and "Mr. Ye carefully planned" at the celebration banquet, turning the celebration banquet into a public relations storm. The reason why these remarks triggered controversy is that they touched the most sensitive bottom line in professional sports: Are the two teams suspected of match-fixing?

Wei Quan’s chairman, Wei Yingjiao, has been involved in a scandal recently. (File photo)

The author believes that there are many variables in team games. Among them, pitcher scheduling, line configuration, data analysis, and physical management are science; mental toughness, on-the-spot judgment, momentum changes, and the coach's risk-taking are art. The Dragons got a draw in the first three games, and the brothers chased two wins in a row. In the sixth game, the Dragons won the championship 6-0. This period of ups and downs is the charm of the playoffs. Every victory must be won based on strength, and every defeat should not be lightly said to leave hope for the opponent.

However, there is indeed an unspeakable business reality in professional sports today: in addition to competition, there are also box office, broadcast, sponsorship, fan stickiness and long-term brand management considerations. In the 2009 NBA playoffs, Yao Ming and Kobe Byrant belonged to the Rockets and Lakers respectively. There was a gap in strength, but the winner was not decided until the seventh game. After the game, there was an analysis that the league paid attention to the huge Chinese box office and Chinese fans. Similarly, the Dragon-Elephant battle attracts a large number of spectators in the Dome, which is enough to illustrate the value of the battle combination and the venue economy. The mentality of the fans is also the key: the vast majority of fans believe and hope that their team can win, especially the supporters of the lagging team, who absolutely look forward to reversing the situation and turning defeat into victory. Based on this, there is a winner or loser in this year's six games, which is a happy ending for both the team and the fans.

Going back to the incident where Wei Yingjiao made a mistake, and when Wei admitted his mistake and apologized, it is actually a valuable lesson for future leaders of professional sports companies: truly professional sports management and development is to make the game exciting or suspenseful, but never let people doubt the outcome. Taiwan's professional baseball has been around for 37 years. This year's championship arena is full and the game is good to watch, but there is still room for improvement in the devilish details.

Wei Chuan Long defeated CITIC Brothers in Game 6 of the Taiwan Competition and won the series with 4 wins and 2 losses. (File photo)

(The author is a teacher at the High School Affiliated to National Chengchi University)