The Cost of Manchester United’s European Exit

How much revenue will Manchester United lose by going out of the 2011-12 Champions League? Excel boredom follows:

So in the worst case United will earn €13m less than their 2010-11 European campaign in addition to the loss of five matches of revenue. In the case of a run to the final and a win United will earn €9.7m less plus the benefit of two extra matches.

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As a note these figures are based off of 2010-11 payments as UEFA does not release figures (to the public at least) until after the season is over. For a great breakdown of the 2010-11 distribution of UEFA European League money check out Avoiding the Drop.

The Women’s World Cup 2011 Final: USA vs Japan

It has been refreshing to watch the Women’s World Cup after a year of what seemed like incessant diving, media spats and general cynicism in the Men’s leagues.  In honor of that the highlights from Sunday’s WWC Final featuring the solid US Ladies and the surprise-package Japanese Women.

Well done Japan.  Here’s to you ladies, it’s nice to see people playing for the love of the game.

Liverpool Is No Laughing Matter For ManUtd Supporters

Some Manchester United supporters maybe watching the troubles at Liverpool with a grin, but the mess at Anfield is no smiling matter because the contagion could spread to Old Trafford much more easily than many are ready to admit.

1. Both Liverpool and Manchester United were bought by ownership groups who used a leveraged buy out, a transaction in which the target being acquired is used to fund its own purchase by taking out debt against its value.

2. Each of those ownership groups is the sole owner of the club.  Should external conditions render the owners financially unstable it would be disastrous for the club (see Sacha Gaydamak’s exit at Portsmouth). While many other clubs bear the risk of having a single owner, the consequences are magnified in a highly leveraged situation.  A debt laden balance sheet hinders the ability to find reasonably priced financing and quickly amplifies the damage an unstable owner can inflict.

Who Bankrolls the Turkish Super Lig?

While writing about the silly money spent in the transfer market I have, on several occasions, come across the surprising statistic that the Turkish Super Lig has been one of the largest spenders in recent history.  In five of the past six years the Super Lig has been one of the top five spenders in the world, at times trailing close behind giants like the Premier League and La Liga.  So what has been driving the league’s shopping spree?  Are  billionaire sugar daddies doing for Turkish football what Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour have done for the Premier League?  Or is there more organic growth going on?

Over the past six years the Super Lig has a cumulative net spend of €210m euros, €202m of which is accounted for by three clubs, Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Galatasaray.  The three have been aggressively investing  in experienced foreign talent to bolster their squads, and have been successful in raising the league’s profile with the signing of well known players like Roberto Carlos and Blumer Elano.