There's money in Manchester A potential windfall awaits Malcolm Glazer if he is allowed to use American-style marketing to sell soccer. By Louis Hau, St Petersburg Times Published March 10, 2005
With its 15 English Premier League championships, no significant debt and a rabid fan base, Britain's Manchester United is in every sense a fabulously successful sports franchise. A leading British sports economist thinks the team could prove successful in another way - generating a tidy return for would-be acquirer Malcolm Glazer, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Whether Glazer will get a chance to find out remains to be seen. The Bucs owner would have to persuade Manchester's skeptical board to accept his most recent bid, reported to be $1.5-billion. Given the vociferous opposition of the team's fans and the board's concerns about the level of debt that would be involved, it is an outcome that is appearing less likely by the day. Glazer is expected to submit another formal bid next week, the Sunday Times of London has reported, saying this bid will leave 25 percent of the club's shares on Ofex, the British market for unquoted companies. But if he does succeed, Glazer, who owns nearly 29 percent of the team, could tap into significant new sources of revenue. Ironically, American-style merchandising of the mighty Manchester United brand in Britain offers little potential upside, according to Stefan Szymanski, a sports economist at Imperial College in London and the co-author of the forthcoming book, National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball And The Rest Of The World Plays Soccer. That's because Manchester has been a pioneer among British soccer clubs in exploiting its brand, attaching its Red Devil logo to everything from jerseys and soccer equipment to stationery, cuff links and coffee mugs. But Szymanski says Manchester offers other sources of untapped revenue. One is selling the naming rights to Old Trafford, the Red Devils' home stadium, a common practice among British soccer teams, he says. London soccer franchise Arsenal sold the naming rights to its new stadium last fall to Emirates, the official airline of the United Arab Emirates, for about 100-million pounds ($178.2-million at the time). TV broadcasting rights could provide another windfall. Manchester competes in two soccer leagues - the English Football Association's Premier League and the European soccer association's Champions League, which includes internationally renowned teams such as AC Milan, Juventus, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Champions League matches generate by far the most fan interest. Szymanski says that if recently renewed efforts to expand the European soccer schedule via a new "super league" bear fruit, the TV rights could prove to be far more lucrative than the Champions League TV pact, which expires in 2006. Given that the National Football League's TV contract is the most lucrative such deal in all sports, "that's where Glazer could bring something to the table," Szymanski says. "People don't have experience here," he says. "They don't know how (TV) works, how to market the whole thing." Cross-marketing of the Buccaneers and the Red Devils in one another's markets provides another opportunity. The NFL's popularity continues to grow overseas and despite professional soccer's struggles to find a foothold in the U.S. market, Manchester and its European rivals drew large crowds during their 2003 and 2004 American summer tours, says Scott Becher, president of the Miami Beach sports-marketing firm, Sports & Sponsorships Inc. "There are many creative opportunities to marry American football and soccer, especially with the power of the NFL and one of the world's most recognized (soccer) franchises," Becher says. Szymanski is more skeptical about cross-marketing opportunities. The relative competitive balance among NFL franchises because of the league's salary cap would make it difficult for any one team to generate a substantial following among foreign sports fans, he argues. But Florida's popularity as a vacation destination could enable Glazer to tempt British tourists to buy vacation packages, Szymanski says. To see the Bucs? No, to see their beloved Red Devils, he says. Organize a tournament in Tampa involving Manchester United and some of its soccer rivals, and you could draw soccer fans and their beach-loving families, Szymanski says. "Florida is a huge destination for the Brits and there's a lot of potential for tying up tourism with sports," he says. But these potential opportunities will be rendered moot if Glazer fails in his bid to acquire Manchester United. Szymanski thinks he is unlikely to succeed, noting that few British soccer teams have been owned by foreigners. Prominent examples include the Fulham soccer club, which is owned by Harrods department store owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, and Chelsea, owned by Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovitch. While Fayed remains a controversial figure, Abramovitch has endeared himself to Chelsea fans by spending freely on the team, Szymanski says. But Glazer faces an uphill climb in convincing Manchester United's board and its fans that a takeover would benefit the team, he says. The opposition is partly rooted in the politics of allowing an American to acquire the team. But more fundamental is the fear, unfounded or not, that Glazer is an asset stripper most interested in the team's considerable cash flow, Szymanski says. "I don't think he's likely to get a fair hearing over here," he says. Louis Hau can be reached at 813 226-3404 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. 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