Club Sale | It’s done!
- Thread starter JB08
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Qatar just spaffed away 200bn on a world cup I'm finding it hard to believe they'd find it too expensive to be honest
but then, they are hardly likely to just jump at the asking price either.. business is business
but then, they are hardly likely to just jump at the asking price either.. business is business
But the real world is entirely different compared to the time this de facto was an issue.
(a) Back when this was an issue, you basically needed a physical cable to a big portion of the homes you broadcasted to and Sky owned that cable which in itself created very significant disturbances to the competitive environment for all broadcasting rights.
(b) Manchester United was extremely powerful in English football.
Today, there are zero competition concerns regarding these things. There are a bunch of potential competitors to Sky. Right?
Remember that Sky had to settle with the European Commission and give up their exclusive rights to the PL back in 2005. It was in that environment - where they more or less already breached the rules -- when the regulator said 'wait a minute, you cannot on top of everything else also buy someone who got a big say on who will buy the TV rights'. What it all boils down to is this, if say Amazon buys Man Utd today, is there a risk that Amazon will get a monopoly over all PL TV rights? Hardly, right. At most we have 1 vote of 20.
No chance of amazon buying us. Not only is it not their business model, and would place unnecessary risk on their reputation, but it would if anything put more barriers in their way for getting football streaming rights in the future.
Well, all that sounds terrible
They didn't spend that for the sake of spending it. It's part of the Qatar National vision 2030, that they partially built around tourism.
Nothing worse than your betfair app pinging you that a goal has gone in 14 seconds before the stream does.
Most important thing to me in that article is the debt that was mentioned -
580m from the loan that those rats took to buy the club, another nearly 200m for the transfers we did in the summer and another 250m that the club is owed to other clubs on previous players that we bought.
Those numbers aren't taking in consideration the fact that the dollar is weaker against the pound - something that increase our debt even higher to almost a 1bn
580m from the loan that those rats took to buy the club, another nearly 200m for the transfers we did in the summer and another 250m that the club is owed to other clubs on previous players that we bought.
Those numbers aren't taking in consideration the fact that the dollar is weaker against the pound - something that increase our debt even higher to almost a 1bn
I wonder if Glazer really want to sell United, when they set the price so high?
In the The Athletic article it suggests that Avram and Joel wanted to buyout their siblings but they couldn't financially do so. So, the only option to now sell.
Or get someone else to buy out the remaining siblings, via a partial sale.
They won't get the same voting rights. Soon as the Glazer sibling sells their Class B shares, they turn to Class A.
Sky were blocked from taking over United years back weren't they. I forget the exact reasons, but surely Amazon would be a similar situation if they have any interest in football rights.
If they do buy us they will want to field lineup with 5 men, 5 women and one gender neutral person on goal.
I think Amazon would really deliver on what we want
I think they're primed to make an offer.
It was blocked by the government the monopolies and mergers commission said it would affect competition between broadcasters and be bad for football in general.
This welcome and positive news. We really don’t need to be a plaything for a sheik or a sports-washing vehicle.
Uncle Jim to the rescue?
Good luck finding a buyer for 7bn in this financial climate. At best we might see a minority stake holder come in and nothing really changing. The only possible group who could afford us were the Saudis and they already got a different toy.
That Louis Vuitton dude can buy us. LV branded MUFC jerseys for 1k a pop would be something...
That Louis Vuitton dude can buy us. LV branded MUFC jerseys for 1k a pop would be something...
A few thoughts on the Amazon rumor.
1. Are Amazon interested in buying Manchester United? I don't know. But I do think one thing is likely, Raine Group is trying to get Amazon or Bezos on the hook. We now have a couple of reports confirming Amazon's name. In addition, just speculating here, but I do think Apple buying us would have been very unlikely, but still their name was obviously also leaked.
2. Jeff Bezos bought Washington Post through his private investment company Nash Holdings Inc (he also makes minority investments through Bezos Expeditions). A lot of those investments are of the strategic character. Different type of media platform. Twitter. It is also wildly known that Jeff Bezos is interested in buying a NFL team (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/17/jeff-bezos-can-afford-to-buy-every-nfl-team.html). They are hard to come by, but its as I understand it more or less just a matter of time before he buys one.
Even if Amazon is mentioned, I think it would make more sense for Bezos to buy the club privately. It would be a strategic play. You get no issues with an owner both having a streaming service and a sports club. Bezos is not an executive at Amazon anymore (while there of course are links, I can't see that being an issue given how small Amazon's streaming service is).
Bezos have always been a bit of a paranoid type. He wants the influence of owning a big newspaper with a great reputation. He wants to have the backing of supporters of a NFL team, to be in the room and make sure that he isn't angled out from NFL rights. Owning both a sporting franchise and broadcaster is zero problems in the US, many does it.
3. Amazon will be split up by US regulators. It is not a question on if, it is a question on when (and its probably a decade or so down the line). It is what the world's biggest cloud business, the world biggest e-commerce player and a top 5 global streaming service. They more or less has nothing to do with each other.
4. Bezos have never been interested in a PL team before. When a buyer is rumored to buy us, that wasn't linked to Chelsea -- I think the first thing to ask ourselves is -- why did this buyer not bid for Chelsea? It is really rare that big PL come up for sale. If someone was looking for a PL team, they had a great shot with an open auction for Chelsea -- surely they would have registered interest right?
To some extent, like this process is run by american advisors, they are paid great money to find a money of this club. They will have different work streams. Someone turning to the Middle East. Someone doing the talks with the hedge funds. But they will also surely have a group who is told to think outside the box. Who are they missing? Anyone want to buy us that is not even aware of it themselves yet? Someone needing a bit of a nudge? I imagine -- if nothing else -- that Bezos name would come up in those type of discussions. He got the funds. He got the ambition. He is linked to buying a NFL team. And I could definitely see Bezos going, "interesting, tell me more".
But to go from there to actually getting something done, so much remains. I don't think it is very likely. But I wouldn't rule it out.
Sorry, is it annoying? I will stop. My posts tend to get hard to read, and sometimes paragraphs, main parts bolded, and things like that can help to make it easier to read. But since neither the posts nor formatting really is done with much care I can imagine that it just becomes more messy.
I am just speculating, but I would be very surprised if it was an issue to be honest.
BSkyB was the big problem. Despite not owning Manchester United, the EU commission reviewed BSkyB for several years and forced BSkyB into striking deals with it both in 2003 and 2005 which included not shutting competitors out of their Cable platform and to sell some matches to other broadcasters.
Before that, at a time BSkyB was being scrutinized by both UK and EU authorities, news broke that they were about to buy the -- at the time -- by far most powerful Premier League club. They literary had a monopoly over a huge market, and want to buy Man Utd to strengthen that monopoly. It was anything but odd that their takeover plans was shut down.
The Cable TV market was very exposed to monopoly tendencies. To most homes, you needed a physical cable. Those who owned that cable could charge more or less what they wanted. They could bundle up a bunch of worthless channels with rights people couldn't be without, and put a really high price on it. Nobody could come in and dig down a cable in the ground to millions of homes in the UK and start to compete with BSkyB over night. I am not an expert on the UK cable TV market, but roughly this was the case at least as I understand it.
Today the market is completely different. Netflix has gone from zero to 250 million subscribers over 10 years. Amazon has a ton of competitors on the streaming market. If Amazon bought Man Utd -- is there a risk they could get a monopoly over the UK TV and streaming market? Like not at all, right?
One additional thought, I would be be surprised if ETH got "additional funds" to spend in January due to the sale of the club. I.e., I would be surprised if we took out bigger loans to pay for acquisitions. Does this mean that we can't spend a lot to buy someone?
Nah, I am not convinced about that. Without selling someone, we can probably only spend like 25m -- up front. But we could probably buy someone for 50m with 25m paid up front and 25m paid divded over two payments every 6th month -- without it being of much concern if any for a seller.
Also, ETH is tremendously driven and obviously very oriented towards solving problems. While we have a really tilted roster with like 5 LWs and so forth, we have no back up at other positions. I think ETH will be looking to unload players in January too -- to increase his budget. Pellestri and AWB are obvious candidates. But does both Sancho and Garnacho have a long term future here? Its probably one or the other. Does both Harry and Victor have a future here? Its probably one of the other. Donny? Wouldn't be surprised if we sold someone besides the obvious candidates.
Nah, I am not convinced about that. Without selling someone, we can probably only spend like 25m -- up front. But we could probably buy someone for 50m with 25m paid up front and 25m paid divded over two payments every 6th month -- without it being of much concern if any for a seller.
Also, ETH is tremendously driven and obviously very oriented towards solving problems. While we have a really tilted roster with like 5 LWs and so forth, we have no back up at other positions. I think ETH will be looking to unload players in January too -- to increase his budget. Pellestri and AWB are obvious candidates. But does both Sancho and Garnacho have a long term future here? Its probably one or the other. Does both Harry and Victor have a future here? Its probably one of the other. Donny? Wouldn't be surprised if we sold someone besides the obvious candidates.
on the Athletic article. i wouldnt mind the folks from India. i think it makes sense that they want to expand sports in that country outside of cricket and United would be breaking in the door for India.
plus they dont seem to be terrible people like the gulf states.
plus they dont seem to be terrible people like the gulf states.
Apparently the Glazers are skint and can’t afford to payout share holder dividends now. So they’ll want sell the club sooner than expected?
I don't think $6Bn sale price is realistic, given where rates are (vis-a-vis where they where when Boehly bought Chelsea). Unless someone is paying upfront cash, the cost of financing has shot up dramatically and therefore I think a $4-$4.5B in probably a more realistic acquisition price.
You're projecting.
Why are you calling me a brigadoon?
Technically if Bezos bought it like he did the Washington Post then none of the monopoly stuff applies, even if he bought via Amazon I reckon he'd be OK as Amazon don't have the sole rights to live PL football in the UK which Sky did at the time
@Messier1994 can you add bold back to your posts please? I like to look out for the important bits and without bold it’s too hard to read
Oil states not interested?
If there is any danger of us been taken over by a US consortium who are just going to be the Glazers Mk2, or worse still are willing to pump money in that will allow them to hang about for another 17 years, then the FA or the government need to be re writing the rules and stopping it.
Because it suits you. Any insights on Apple acquiring United from your "sources"?
The Glazers are greedy and incompetent so the asking price will be pie in the sky. No billionaire, state or corporation is going to throw money at such an overpriced investment. It’s probably going to be a consortium who think they can make money and there’s going to be a standoff before we get sold.
The Glazers are going to want someone to compensate them for what they think they should have been able to sell club for after the ESL. Any serious buyer is going to be prepared to make them sweat and may even wait and see if we miss out on Champions League. The Glazers will have to start dropping their price fairly quickly given the bleak outlook if they don’t sell.
The Glazers are going to want someone to compensate them for what they think they should have been able to sell club for after the ESL. Any serious buyer is going to be prepared to make them sweat and may even wait and see if we miss out on Champions League. The Glazers will have to start dropping their price fairly quickly given the bleak outlook if they don’t sell.
Smognette.
I think 4B is max what the Club will get sold for. Given the debt, Old Trafford state and the need to invest in the first Team i would not rule out something like 2-2.5B sale
No, the Glazers extracted every ounce of value out of this club. Now everything is falling apart and the squad needs to be rebuilt. Whoever is coming in is going to have to invest massive money, not take it out.
Anyone else took the time to read the really long Athletic article today?. They gave a mention of Indian businessmen who might be interested as (Mumbai?) is attracting alot of international interest in sports atm.
Also said that Amazon are focusing on the MLS sponsorship and not interested in taking on Manchester United.
Also said that Amazon are focusing on the MLS sponsorship and not interested in taking on Manchester United.
Were slaves not sold solely by owners anyway? That's a weird dilemma. I'd much rather be sold by someone who doesn't give a toss about me.
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