Global belt tightening brings mixed fortunes to the big four
Manchester Utd’s £14m-a-year- AIG shirt sponsorship looked to be on rocky ground earlier this week, and the future of the deal looked no more certain as the US Federal Reserve rescued the insurance behemoth with a £47bn refinancing package yesterday: rather understandably, they will no longer consider sports sponsorship a ‘core activity’.
According to this morning’s Guardian, however, the frailty of the American International Group should not concern United as much as the intentions of the Glazer family. Malcolm and co have been forced to spend $150bn on ‘PIK‘ loans in recent months, the interest on which is a hefty 14.45 per cent. A Glazer representative insists that “the investment is for the long term,” although the Guardian strongly suspects ex Football League chairman, United fan and major dealmaker Keith Harris is touting
Forty per cent of the top flight now owned by overseas investors
For a team like Chelsea, foreign investment has proven the difference between success and slightly more success, but not every club benefits. Now that Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim (pictured above with a Hollywood star and her grandson) has waded in with daddy’s oil cash, eight current Premier League clubs are owned by out-of-towners. Accordingly, The Spoiler has looked at the fortunes of each of foreign-owned club to find out if overseas money has helped or hindered the league…
Aston Villa Owner: Randy Lerner
So far everything seems great. Martin O’Neill and Lerner get on well, money is readily being made available to sign players and Lerner was willing to support whatever action his manager chose to take in the Gareth Barry saga. Other factors that make Aston Villa an attractive model to follow are that they target English talent and although they occasionally pay over the odds, there isn’t the “we must finish in the top four or else sack the manager” mentality.
Chelsea Owner: Roman Abramovich
Abramovich had an advantage over the likes of Lerner in that the club he bought were already a top four team, however, he still delivered a title in his second season. Wikipedia claim that “as of May 2008, Abramovich has spent approximately £600 million on the club since arriving in 2003.” Things have taken a turn
Someone will go, but will they be from the boardroom or the dressing room?
The Liverpool boardroom soap opera continued today as George Gillett told his former buddy Tom Hicks to zip it, following his outburst at Rick Parry last week:
“I am saddened at this latest outburst from Tom. If he wanted a serious discussion on the issues to help the club move forwardhe should bring his views to the board and not to Sky Sports.”
While it seems that Hicks and Parry will not part with their 50 per cent stake in the club until the other is cold in the ground, something will clearly have to give soon. So who will be forced out first? Will it be a member of the board who gives in and packs up his desk, or will a member of the coaching staff or squad be forced out by the squabbling and politics? Votes and comments below, please.
The MLS could be welcoming one of the Prem’s least lovable owners
Thoroughly unpopular American businessman George Gillett already owns an Ice Hockey team, a NASCAR team and a Premier League side, and he could be about to start a new MLS franchise.
Montreal Impact currently play in the USL First Division (the North American equivalent of the Championship), but with a brand spanking new stadium and Gillett’s help, current owner Joey Saputo (who, rather selflessly, has named the team’s stadium ‘Stade Saputo’) will put together the $30m franchise fee. The new side could be ready for some slow-placed MLS action next season, but with
Once proud club currently being mugged like a pensioner
The Liverpool Echo is reporting today that George Gillett, half of the double act which has got supporters of Liverpool Football Club so steamed up, has turned down an offer for his share of the club that would have put a breath-taking £80 million in his pocket. According to mathematicians at the paper, “that comes to £203,045 for each of the 394 days … he has been co- owner of the club.”
Liverpool fans are generally of the opinion that 200 grand is more than adequate compensation for a day’s work, yet Mr Gillett clearly believes there is room in his pocket for more. The real mystery is what precisely Mr Gillett and his partner in greed Mr Hicks believe they have done over the last year to make Liverpool so much more valuable. Whatever it is, it can’t be related to the performance of the team, whose performance if anything has slipped backwards under their stewardship.
Perhaps it has something to do with the club having taken a step toward building a new stadium, which means they can start to fantasise about raking in the same kind of cash as Arsenal are currently banking. Without Champions League football, however - and Liverpool are currently flirting with a run at the UEFA Cup next season - that pot of gold may not be as full as they’d hoped, and Mr Gillett’s big lottery-winner’s cheque might not be there next time he looks. What the hell’s the matter with you, George? Don’t you like money?
