Fans fears remain as Glazer dodges the issues Sunday Herald July 3rd 2005 Gabriele Marcotti sees the United owners son fail to ease concerns over debt
On Friday night, while fielding the questions of an interviewer his family employs on a television channel his family owns, Joel Glazer, the most football-savvy son of Malcolm Glazer, revealed the origins of his familys love for the sport. We grew up being very passionate about two sports: American football and British football, he said. Its because when I grew up in Rochester, New York, we had the North American Soccer League, which had in it Rochester, the worst team in the league. But, week in, week out, I was there to support my team. The team Joel grew up watching was the Rochester Lancers. He would have been three in their inaugural season, 1970, and 13 when they went bankrupt, so his story checks out: it is entirely possible that when he was a boy he was one of the 7,000 or so who attended Lancer matches. He may have been watching, but he wasnt watching too closely. Far from being the worst team in the league, the Lancers finished bottom just once and won two titles in their 11-year history. The anti-Glazer brigade was no doubt looking for similar inconsistencies when Joel appeared on MUTV to allay fears and reassure everyone that his familys reign at Old Trafford would be all about business as usual. Absolutely nothing will change its one thing we keep saying and people will only see this with time, he said. We understand the scepticism ... [but] David Gill will continue doing the great things hes doing with this team. Sir Alex Ferguson will be given the resources to compete on the field at the highest possible level, so we are always going to provide them with what they need to be successful. There is no question he was telling people what they wanted to hear. But there are many definitions of what it means to be successful and compete at the highest level, just as there are different definitions of debt, according to Joel. A lot of businesses have debt, he said when asked about the £500m his family has borrowed to purchase United. Debt can mean different things to different people. But to sane people, it can only mean one thing: you owe someone something and you need to pay it back. And, to do this, you need to make money in Uniteds case, more money on an annual basis than they have ever made before. That remains the heart of the issue and Joel could not avoid the fact that the club will have to increase revenues somehow. He said ticket prices will remain competitive. But if theyre to remain competitive with Arsenal or Chelsea, it means they will just about double in price. He said the transfer kitty wont be slashed since the way this club has been operating in the past is the way its going to operate in the future ... spending wisely on the right players and being prudent, because in this game you can get reckless and it can get the club in trouble. Cryptically, he addressed the issue of breaking away to negotiate TV rights individually the most obvious way for United to boost revenues by saying We dont think its in the best interest of the Premier League. (No? Really? Except Glazer doesnt own the Premier League, he owns United. And, financially at least, it certainly would serve Uniteds interest to change the way the TV rights pie is carved up) Joel may have hoped his appearance would be a PR coup in laying to rest the fears of United fans, but he made no specific significant pledges of any kind. True, he did point out that in the NFL, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, there is even more sharing of TV money (its shared equally among the 30 clubs). But that suited Tampa Bay, as theyre a small club who receive more than they contribute. United are a different case. They are responsible for up to 40% of the Premierships TV income, yet receive less than 9%. Throw in the fact that clubs in Italy and Spain negotiate individual TV deals and that, in Germany, Bayern got an extra payment from broadcasters to accept a common contract and its easy to see the Glazers at some point demanding more. The way the Premiership is going, a top-three finish is really not much of a feat for United. You have to go back 13 years to find the last time they finished lower than third. The real danger for fans is if the Glazers realise they can cut the wage bill by 15% and still walk into the top three. All the talk that success on the pitch is a prerequisite for success on the balance sheet, and therefore spending wont be reined in, is just that: talk. Old-timers will no doubt remember United were the Englands best-supported team even when they were in the old Second Division. And in Europe, clubs like Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid continue to generate considerable box-office and sponsorship revenue despite the fact that, between them, theyve won just two league titles in 24 years. Thats why those who had misgivings about the Glazers takeover felt no better after hearing Joel speak. Far from being reassuring, his words give his family plenty of wiggle room. Its almost as if they were designed to as Joel might say mean different things to different people. Please use [email protected] for general discussion. To unsubscribe send a blank message (from the email account in question) to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Join as a full member of IMUSA today: http://www.imusa.org/join.htm Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/imusa/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
