2022 - 2023 Football Thread - Page 15

On August 20 2022 22:38 Pandemona wrote:
Whole Spurs team were bad and they won 1-0, that annoys the fuck out of me lol

Manchester United FC’s owners are considering opening up the iconic English football club to a new investor -- with private equity firms likely to be crowding the field alongside high-net worth individuals.

Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that the Glazer family may sell a minority stake in the English Premier League team. It’s the first sign the Americans are willing to cede some control at the club they have owned outright since 2005.

Buyout firm Apollo Global Management Inc. has already expressed interest, according to a person familiar the matter, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. UK businessman Jim Ratcliffe is another early name in the mix, while Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk also joked about a deal.

Sports businesses have proved themselves resilient in challenging economic times and investors see Manchester United as an underappreciated asset, said Doug Harmer, partner at boutique Oakwell Sports Advisory. “With Manchester United, they see that it has been underinvested and that it’s a bit of a fallen giant,” he said.

A representative for Manchester United declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Apollo couldn’t immediately provide comment. Apollo’s interest in Manchester United was first reported by the Daily Mail.

Inbound Interest

There’s unlikely to be a shortage of interested parties, with American investors in particular having shown themselves hungry for a slice of the world’s favorite sport. When Manchester United’s EPL rival Chelsea FC was put up for sale by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich earlier this year, it received 250 expressions of interest.

Among those linked to the more credible Chelsea bid groups were alternative investment executives and firms including Citadel founder Ken Griffin, Bain Capital co-chairman Stephen Pagliuca, Apollo co-founder Josh Harris and Oaktree Capital. In the end, Chelsea was sold to US billionaire Todd Boehly and California-based buyout house Clearlake Capital for £4.25 billion ($5.1 billion). Manchester United could be valued at closer to £5 billion.

Private equity has increasingly been venturing into European football, drawn by the high growth potential and lower valuations relative to sports franchises back in the US. A jewel in the crown is broadcast rights, which in England outstrip every other major football league in Europe. EPL revenue is expected to exceed £6 billion for the first time, according to a report from Deloitte, driven by media rights.

“Private equity investors are looking at the differential in traded multiples from American sports franchises and those in the UK,” said Harmer. “They look at the Premier League and how well they have done with their international rights.”

Private equity investors are already present in the EPL, with RedBird Capital Partners invested in Liverpool FC, Silver Lake owing a stake in Manchester City and Peak6 Investments backing Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.

Manchester United’s commercial reach and potential is massive among the EPL’s top teams. It’s one of the best-supported clubs globally thanks to its dominance of English football in the 1990s and 2000s under legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson, who delivered a record 13 EPL titles.

It was during this run in 2005 that the late Malcolm Glazer bought Manchester United in a leveraged buyout that saddled it with massive debts. The Glazer family faced distrust from hardcore supporters from the start and, while this was mitigated in the early years of their ownership as the team continued to win trophies, resentment grew after Ferguson’s retirement in 2013. Since then, the club has cycled through managers and spent heavily on star players with only a handful of trophies to show for it.

A lack of investment in Manchester United’s infrastructure, including its training ground and famous Old Trafford stadium, and anger over the Glazers’ backing of a doomed breakaway Super League in Europe last year have compounded the ill will.

While it’s unclear how much influence a new backer would yield at Manchester United, where the Glazers own nearly 97% of voting stock, a private equity firm would be keen to ensure the business was being run in a way to maximize gains for its own investors. Changes to the day-to-day running of the club, and reinvestment in key infrastructure, may be high on the agenda.

“Minority investors can push for certain powers, such as the ability to sign off on major expenditure and boardroom seats,” said Adam Sommerfeld at sports advisory firm Certus Capital Partners. “Football’s a very fluid game so these investors can often develop strong dissenting voices when the team’s not doing too well on the pitch.”

On August 21 2022 02:55 KobraKay wrote:
Arsenal looks sharp for the fight for 3rd place this year?

That is def a change in pace.

On August 21 2022 01:45 Liquid`Drone wrote:
Arsenal looking great. Ødegaard with two goals in 11 minutes, Jesus instrumental in creating the chances.

On August 21 2022 05:15 KobraKay wrote:
If they all manage to progress and get decent international exposure you guys are set for a while.

The more you have playing in CL the better too, the pressure and intensity help prepare for the struggles of the summer tournaments against more international experienced teams in the beginning.

Then again, if your youth teams do well in youth rankings most of them will already have some experience.

On August 21 2022 03:57 Liquid`Drone wrote:
We have a lot. Joshua King, who used to be our best player by a significant margin 4-5 years ago, now barely gets any playing time.

In the premier league, aside from Ødegaard and Haaland, there's Kristoffer Ajer (Brentford defender), Mohammed Elyounussi (Southampton), and Kristoffer Klaesson (Leeds). The first two are regular starters, and Ajer has a bright future ahead of him. Also Oscar Bobb and Isak Hansen-Aarøen who are very promising youth players for Manchester City and United respectively.

Leo Skiri Østigård (Napoli), Erik Botheim, Julian Kristoffersen and Emil Bohinen (all Salernitana), Kristian Thorstvedt and Emil Ceide (both Sassuolo), Martin Palumbo (Udinese) are all playing in the Serie A. Of these, Kristoffersen and Thorstvedt are the oldest, 25 and 23 years old respectively.

In the Bundesliga, we have Alexander Sørloth, Julian Ryerson, Morten Thorsby and Fredrik Bjørkan. Here, Sørloth and Thorsby are the oldest at 26.

In France, There's Patrick Berg and Birger Meling and a couple others. In addition to these players, there's Joshua King, Jonas Svensson, Omar Elabdellaoiu and Fredrik Midtsjø in Turkey, several decent players in the Netherlands, Sander Berge in the Championship, Jens Petter Hauge and Andreas Hanche-Olsen in Belgium, Ole Sælnes in Zurich. If we went 6-10 years back in time, every player mentioned would be ~top 3 in Norway, and almost all the mentioned players are younger than 25. We also have a very competent manager. Consequently, for the next decade or so, I can picture us be a team that's somewhere around top 10 in Europe. Germany France Italy Spain England Netherlands Portugal (Belgium, although I'd expect Belgium to drop off a bit in some years) are probably beyond our reach but I think we can compete with every other country, and hopefully, get results comparable to what Denmark has been achieving for the past 5~ years.

On August 21 2022 16:03 Liquid`Drone wrote:
The direct football, more physical and less finesse is definitely true historically, but much less so these days. The simple explanation is turf quality. Growing up, the quality of the fields I played on was terrible, and the climate made it even worse. Passes on the ground would have at best a 50 50 shot at making it, even if they were on target. During the late 90s-2000s however, they built thousands of artificial turfs for children all around the country, and that's where most of our current generation have earned their chops. 6 or so years ago the team was even critiqued for being too technical, and lacking players with physical prowess. Now there's a healthy balance, the Danes might still be a bit more technically inclined but when we played Sweden twice a couple months ago, we were imo better than them at that part of the game, too.