Old Trafford

With tradition being a large part of the Manchester United way to play football, their grounds in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England are among the most influential and traditional symbols of the club. Nicknamed the Theatre of Dreams, Old Trafford has been open since 1910, serving the club loyally for over 100 years. With many additions in the 1990's and 2000's, Old Trafford's attendance is quickly rising and they hope to be able to squeeze as many Manchester United fans in as possible.

Old Trafford has played a vital role in English history, both involving sports and not. In 1936, upon the outbreak of World War II, the stadium was used as a depot for the military and was actually damaged from a German air strike. The stadium has also held major European sports events over the years, solidifying its place as one of the most important venues in the United Kingdom. Old Stafford was home to the 1966 World Cup, 1996 Euro Cup, 2003 UEFA Champions League Final, as well as the Rugby World Cup in 2000. The stadium will also hold several football matches for the upcoming London Olympic Games.

While visiting RCD Espanyol's stadium, they told us that since the stadium was not used daily, that other uses were vital for the financial stability of the facilities. The stadium is a big concert venue, holding many concerts yearly and drawing tens of thousands of fans. The stadium is also used for many private functions, including Christmas parties, business conferences, and even weddings are very popular. This shows how important the stadium, its tradition and the team are to the people of Manchester that they are willing to pay to celebrate their events on the pitch.

In the future, Manchester United will most likely look to continue expanding both the stadium itself and the grounds surrounding it, in order to further boosten the number of fans and to separate themselves from their other competition with superior grounds. Another incentive for them to increase the capacity of the stadium could be for more use in the London Olympic games, or possibly in order to be a regular venue for the English National Team, when they play in either competitive play or friendlies, or the host of the Premier League championships. One criticism of this expansion however is the height of the stadium. Due to the large height already, adding more on to the top of the stadium would further reduce the lighting hitting the pitch. Manchester United must be aware of this as they hit the planning stages of their additions. The stadium has served Manchester and the people of Manchester for over 100 years, and will continue to remain an icon for Manchester United fans.

1958 Plane Crash

On February 6th 1958 a plane taking off in Munich crashed into a house after skidding off the runway. 8 Manchester United players died along with 23 other passengers aboard the plane. The team was returning from a European Cup match in Yugoslavia against Red Star Belgrade. The team, nicknamed Busy Babes was named after the coach at the time Matt Busby. At the time this Manchester United team was the best in England. They had won the English Cup the previous 2 years and participated in the European Cup despite discouragement from the rest of the English league. 13 days after the crash Manchester resumed play among 60,000 fans in a very sad and tragic moment in the clubs history. Part of Old Trafford is dedicated to this crash with memorials of the crash. Since this crash, Manchester United has tried to honor and cherish the tradition and style of play that this courageous and successful team did so. The team's style was all out attack, and considered the 'Manchester United' way to play football. Ever since, Manchester United has strived to incorporate this strategy into their game plan.


http://www.aboutmanutd.com/man-u-history/munich.html

Cross Town Rivals: City vs United

After an uninspiring 2-0 blanking of FC Galati at Old Trafford, Manchester United hoped to erase the memories of a previous 6-1 blasting at the hands of cross-town rival Manchester City. While Manchester City has lived in the shadows of their seemingly larger than life older brother Manchester United, City broke out in a big way against a slipping team and managed to continually attack against a team with a man down, ending with the most goals Man City had ever scored in Old Trafford since their 5-0 victory 56 years ago (news.bbc.co.uk). Coming with this loss was the glaring absence of ability in the midfield of Manchester United, an area of concern for faithful followers coming into the season. While it is not only bad that Manchester lost to their cross town rival, the loss also brings with it glaring similarities to Manchester United's own game with Arsenal back in August. In just the beginning of Premier League competition, Manchester romped Arsenal by a score of 8-2. Following this extreme loss and a 2-0 blanking by Liverpool the previous game, Arsenal still has had trouble regaining its composure, consistency and ability. Such a lopsided loss can really have a lasting effect on a team's attitude and performance, something that Sir Alex Ferguson should be vigilant for and look to overcome. It is imperative for him to keep the team's focus on overcoming Manchester City's five point Premier League lead and not dwelling back on a previous loss like this, something that Arsenal may have showed is a poor strategy in competition.. While it's obvious Manchester City can outspend their rivals, Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United must remain focused on capturing their traditional style of attacking and attempting to turn their season in a more positive direction after their 6-1 loss to Manchester City.

Zong Signs 3-year Deal With Man U

Man U has joined forces with yet another international partner. The club has signed a 3 year deal with Zong, the leading mobile telecom company of Pakistan. It is estimated that the club has 10 million fans in Pakistan, and the new deal will give these fans the opportunity to see all the goals scored, exclusive interviews, news, and behind-the-scenes access. Both sides see the deal as a great investment. Zong hopes the Man U brand will help with their brand advertising and promotion, and Man U is hoping Zong will help the club communicate with their millions of supporters in Pakistan. Man U's deals with Zong and DHL and its international tours are helping the club further internationalize their brand and fan base.

http://propakistani.pk/2011/10/25/manchester-united-sings-partnership-deal-with-zong/

DHL sponsors warmups, Man U expands in vietnam

DHL is paying Manchester United 10 million pounds to sponsor their warm up gear. This will include; bibs, tracksuits, and training shirts of the first team, reserves, and youth players. The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will also show the sponsorship in press briefings. DHL is already the logistics sponsor for Manchester United so they are expanding their relationship with the club. This 10 million pound deal is contracted for 4 years totaling 40 million pounds. There is limited television exposure for DHL in this deal. The only television exposure for DHL in this deal is sports news bulletins and programs. DHL will not been seen during match coverage of Manchester United. This deal with DHL is worth more than the previous sponsorship Manchester United had for its jersey over 10 years ago. At the same time, Manchester United announced a deal with Vietnamese telecom company Beeline to distribute Manchester United content in the countries of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Manchester United claims to have 16 million supporters in Vietnam and 192 million throughout asia. A rumored deal being put together is with Malaysian snack food company Mamee Double Decker. This deal would associate Manchester United's name with the potato chip brand Mister Potato.

Man U: World's Most Valuable Sports Brand

Despite doubts of Malcolm Galzer's ownership abilities, based on the debt incurred in buying the club and the fears of insolvency; Galzer has managed to turn the team around. Manchester United is now ranked as the most valuable sporting brand in the world. The team's brand value has more than doubled under the Glazer family's ownership. Numerically speaking, the club's brand value has increased 109% since 2005 to £412m in 2011. The brand's success may be attributable to Glazer's NFL based marketing. As the owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Glazer uses a policy of "on field performance underpins financial success" to grow the club. Glazer has taken that policy and applied it to Manchester United. This seems to be working, as in 2011 Man U became the most successful team in English football history, having won the Premier League 19 times. Also attributable to the brand's success may be it's 20 global partners. The list includes Nike, AON, Audi, and DHL; who together pay £110m a year to be affiliated with the club. Another key attribute is media. Under the Glazer's ownership, international and domestic media deals have increased by 150% to £120m. Lastly, Man U's brand represents more than 20% of the club's £2b proposed IPO valuation. With its recent approval to float on the Singapore stock exchange, the proceeds from a successful listing will allow the Glazer's to clear some of the club's debt. Unfortunately despite these figures outlining the Glazer's success with the team, members of MUST (Manchester United Supporters Trust) insist that the increase in the brand's value is directly related to the team's success on the pitch and the commercial department's achievements in securing deals, and not the Glazer's.

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/sport/man-u-is-worlds-most-valuable-sports-brand/3030422.article

Manchester United Purchases Land Around Old Trafford Stadium

Manchester United has recently purchased the land around Old Trafford stadium for 8.2 million pounds. Man U bought the land from SEGRO, an investment and development company, that owns more than 110 businesses in Trafford Park. The deal includes Trafford Gateway, a one-acre piece of land directly accross the stadium; Three Wharfside, a 177,000 sq ft industrial warehouse; and Canalside, an estate of seven industrail units behind Three Wharfside. As of now it is unknown what Man U plans to do with these these areas but according to a club spokesperson, "The stadium is an iconic assest for the club and we feel it is beneficial to invest in the surrouding areas." The deal is seen as a good investment for both parties. By disposing of these small units, SEGRO can now focus on retained assets at Trafford Park; and Man U now has access to more property and land around its stadium for redevelopment.

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/business/s/1461258_manchester-united-pays-82m-for-land-around-old-trafford-stadium

Malcolm Glazer

When Malcolm Glazer purchased Manchester United in September 2003, buying the profitable club for over 700 million pounds, Glazer looked to continue Manchester United's success as an on field power house and a financial success. Glazer has a long history of large acquisitions, including his ownership of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beginning in 1995, and also his attempts to purchase corporate freight rail, kitchen design and motorcycle manufacturers throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Since arriving in 2003, some of Glazer’s moves have caused uproar among the fan community. After using a leverage buyout to purchase the club, Glazer immediately lost support from the Manchester faithful for his dealings in the negotiations. This immediately put one of the few remaining profitable teams back into debt with annual payments of almost 60 million pounds. This is not the first time Glazer has made a bad first impression, however. After first arriving in Tampa in 1995 following ten over a decade of consecutive losing seasons, Glazer looked to shake things up. He immediately declared the stadium inadequate and filed for relocation to another US city. Glazer’s record of getting on fan’s bad side can clearly be seen in its foundations here, by coming in and immediately trying to rip a team that has been cemented there for years and relocate it somewhere else. It seemed to make a poor impression on the fans, although the success of the Buccaneers immediately rose after Glazer’s arrival, even propelling them to a Super Bowl victory in 2002 under coach Jon Gruden, a fantastic signing in Glazer’s reign.

While his purchases of Manchester United and the Buccaneers seem somewhat similar by the parallel fan reactions, they are more linked than you think. After the 2003 purchase of Manchester United, the Buccaneers suspiciously began spending far less on player salaries than what is allowed under the NFL’s salary cap. In order to compete at the highest level, you think that they would spend as much money as they are allowed to. However, suspicion rose that Glazer was using some of the Buccaneers’ funds in order to account for the debt accumulated in the Manchester United purchase. While these accusations were never proved, it seems clear that Glazer let his overseas purchase affect his beloved Buccaneers back at home, even if it was at the expense of using some of the Buccaneers funds. While Malcolm Glazer on record has been involved with numerous large franchises in sports and in the corporate world, other evidence suggests he is just another corrupt owner looking to make a buck. It seems fun for him to purchase 2 enormous franchises and use the money from one to help out the other, but in reality he has taking away from the integrity of each game and setting his teams, respectively, up for a financial and cultural meltdown. A large number of fans have already protested Glazer’s Manchester United so badly, that a new team has been made to incorporate the true spirit that Manchester United desires, for the love of the game and history, and not about the money. The leverage buyout was a poor enough choice, but trying to use the Buccaneers to bail himself out will come back to not only greatly hurt him, but also tarnish the Buccaneers, Manchester United, the NFL and the FA Premier League.

Potential IPO

Rumor's exist that the Glazier family is looking into taking Manchester United Football Club public on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The family says that they are not looking to sell out of the team, which means they likely are looking into reducing the amount of debt the team has. Reducing debt can help the team potentially with "Financial Fair Play" rules. Singapore is an attractive place to take the team public because of the increasing popularity among Manchester United football club in Asia. More than half of the 330 million teams fans are in Asia.