Man U Valued at $1.5 Billion -- American takes control

[Imran Siddiqui]

The US isn't that big on for soccer. Not yet and not within the next 20 years. If that's his plan, it'll fail, badly.

[Krill]

That is why I said it "depends on if", and not "When"...

[Agathon]

Great. I love it when Manure "fans" get pissed off. Hee Hee.

[Dauphin]

He's got better chances renegotiating the currently pooled broadcast rights, which is where the Premiership gets some 40-50% of its revenues.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I don't know how well that'll work either. If he gets his own channel for ManU games, it'll really do a number on the Premier League.

[Krill]

I thought they were tied down under contract until the 2007-2008 season?

[Imran Siddiqui]

He may take the current broadcast rights to the European Court of Justice as a restraint on trade.

[alva]

And expect him to start pushing for no relegations.

(No, I don't think Manure is in that deep ****. )

[Krill]

He may take the current broadcast rights to the European Court of Justice as a restraint on trade.

How does that work?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well, I've only heard rumors, but the argument is that it is a restriction on competition to have all the teams under one TV deal. And he'd take that complaint to the ECJ.

[DanS]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
No, it isn't. I wonder why people think Peter Kenyon and his ilk didn't try to push sales. They tried just about everything they could to milk money out of the team without totally pissing off the fans (such as selling naming rights to the stadium).

The whole notion strikes me as odd.

The economics of the NFL have changed dramatically over the last decade and Glazer was a part of that. I don't know why you think there is no potential innovation at ManU just because others haven't imagined a change yet.

In many respects, the economics of MLB has changed dramatically as well, considering Japanese broadcast rights, etc. The point being that new and better mouse traps are built all the time.

[Krill]

Well, I've only heard rumors, but the argument is that it is a restriction on competition to have all the teams under one TV deal. And he'd take that complaint to the ECJ.

I can see the point. I don't agree with it, but I can see it...

One problem that i do see, however, is that it should take a while, no? About one year, at the very minimum? Could the court case take so long that the current contract runs out before the case is solved?

[JohnT]

Well, I've only heard rumors, but the argument is that it is a restriction on competition to have all the teams under one TV deal. And he'd take that complaint to the ECJ.

And if he expects to get a fair, non pre-judged hearing...

[DanS]

Originally posted by Dauphin


The overwhelming majority of MU's turnover is currently UK based. May be interesting to see if that changes.

That seems to be the key.

[Locutus]

Relying on sales for profit, especially abroad sales, is a very short-term strategy. If a team like ManU doesn't invest millions of pounds every season in player purchases, they'll soon fall behind on other teams such as Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. And nothing hurts abroad sales more than not any major winning prizes for a few seasons in a row.

The only way to keep a club like ManU successful in the long run is if the investors (i.e. now Glazer) are willing to reinvest the profits they make and keep only a small margin for themselves. Somehow I doubt that's a strategy Glazer is going to follow...

Look at Barcelona. They were immensely popular across the world in the 1990s, but after a few very mediocre seasons in the last few years many people outside Spain have started to regard it as a 2nd class team and other clubs such as Real, Valencia and Deportivo have gotten much more popular at its expense.

Fortunately for them, Barca can always count on an exceptionally devoted home crowd and an owner and board of directors that care at least as much about the well-being of the club as about making money, so they're now making a strong recovery -- after having almost completely replaced the ENTIRE selection of players in about 2 years time. That was not a very profitable operation, I assure you... I very much doubt Glazer would be willing/able to make the same investment for ManU if it ever becomes necessary.