it means nothing. Glazer runs a professional investment company. his wife and sons will continue. in the last few years, his suns have been running things.

United fans better pay their respects. this guy has lorded over the most successful period in their history, but all they can do is moan about how he's taking money out of the club

He's been a leech who turned the most economically successful sports franchise in the world into a self-absorbing mountain of debt that will collapse some day with horrible consequences.

It doesn't mean they can't pay their respects or at least stay silent when the man dies, but they owe him nothing.

Look at how they have just left us in the revenue stakes. They can afford their debt. Basically, this narrative has been created that they have killed the club with debt. Instead they have gone out and signed numerous and massive sponsorship deals, won trophy after trophy and bought players (including our captain).

The Moyes appointment is their one misstep - less so the choice, more the execution in setting him up over his first summer. But even that has been addressed with a speedy appointment of a big name manager.

They're just a big club who fluked its way onto the best generation of homegrown players England's ever seen and a quality manager. A product of circumstance.

They're in a very good position - incumbent biggest club in England - but the idea that their success in the past few years has been the result of astute business doesn't make sense to me. They've just been in pole position in an industry that's grown massively.

On top of the extra TV money their revenue will shoot up up over £50m more once their shirt deals are active. The debt they have is easily managed now and iirc they've sorted out the more expensive loans. Read today their debt next year will be around £265m.

They've been very aggressive with sponsorship deals, they are miles ahead of any English club in that respect and that gap in the near term will only get larger.

"that gap in the near term will only get larger"

Out of curiosity, why?

It's not like a brand is infinitely valuable. Especially not the brand of a seventh placed laughing stock.

I'd say the other big clubs will catch up. Given the way Liverpool show out in online supporters' polls and so on, if they maintain their CL position they're going to expand their base fast.

Key word being near term! We've signed our deals with emirates and puma, their shirt deals might bring them almost twice as much as ours and both won't be active until next summer. Smaller sponsorship deals might help plug that gap but they are actively seeking out those as well. Liverpool could do better but too early to say anything yet because they've only had one good season. They have pretty lucrative deals in place already when you compare them to most clubs, I doubt any club could go out right now and get the £52m a season that Man Utd have got from Chevrolet!

The biggest thing that can harm them right now is if they don't get back into the CL.

united will definitely finish in the top 4 next season. and it is undebatable that their commercial team has been the best. they don't get the benefit of shady oil money "revenue" - these are legit commercial deals and the figures speak for themselves. they blow us out of the water.

Have a feeling their fanbase is very "of the moment"

Old Trafford felt like a tourist trap when I was there

I prefer the city ground. ManU stadium is half full of tourists taking photos and not watching the game. City fans are a bit of crack on game days.

Burnwinter™ wrote:

They're just a big club who fluked its way onto the best generation of homegrown players England's ever seen and a quality manager. A product of circumstance.

They're in a very good position - incumbent biggest club in England - but the idea that their success in the past few years has been the result of astute business doesn't make sense to me. They've just been in pole position in an industry that's grown massively.

look at the revenue differential now versus when the Glazers took over. when the Glazers took over, we were neck and neck with these guys. now we're minor league to them.

kamikaze wrote:

united will definitely finish in the top 4 next season.

No mate, it's definitely not definite. I've heard so much definitely this and that about United in the past twelve months and it's all been wrong.

You'd expect them to improve under Van Gaal but they'll still have a tough job and strong competition.

Claudius wrote:

look at the revenue differential now versus when the Glazers took over. when the Glazers took over, we were neck and neck with these guys. now we're minor league to them.

Growth built on success. But there's only so many times you sign Cristiano for £12m.

last i checked, they were winning titles after Cristiano was gone. don't sound like a hater, player

Sure. The titles they won with the players they bought with the eighty million quid they got for him ... but anyway, it's by the by.

This idea that they have a super-gifted commercial team doesn't gel for me Claude. In my opinion, they're not signing amazing sponsorship deals because they're good at doing business. They're signing them because they've won a large number of titles.

Yeah, moreover they won those titles when the Premiership broadcast penetration across the globe was growing. Most people, especially Asians who started watching English football did so at a time when United was incredibly successful.

It is natural for a huge percentage of those people to be inclined towards United.

They get the deals they do based on the huge fan base they have built across the world.

I think the main thing with Man U and commercial deals is that they seriously went into that market well ahead of other PL clubs. IIRC Gazidis said that Man U were about 7 years ahead of us in this department. Being ahead of the game here is their biggest achievement IMO.

Unless we recruit seriously, I fear the next season is gonna be a bit like 12-13 when wenger was notably optimistic before the season started and yet we struggled to finish 4th.

We absolutely must build on this season.