With the on running Wayne Rooney saga, most of the attention has focused on the fact that Manchester United have made their transfer dealings very public indeed this summer, while not landing any of their top targets.
While this will mean that whoever they do sign (rumours persist about Modric and other midfielders) is left in the awkward position of knowing that they were not top of the list for the Moyes era at Old Trafford, there has been plenty of business done behind closed doors for the club this season that won't add anything to the playing squad, but is as important.
This morning, they once again sealed another deal that the fans won't get excited about, but that will certainly keep everyone in the boardroom happy for the coming season.
United and Bulova announce three year sponsorship as watchmaker becomes Club’s Official Timekeeper and Global Partner:http://t.co/Ps38rHoNCuThis sounds like a fairly standard corporate partnership, but having spotted a fantastic article recently by Owen Gibson of The Guardian, outlining exactly what sponsorship deals Manchester United have around the globe, today's is simply another in a long list of huge deals that have moved the company (and thus the club) away from the burden of debt that the Glazers were believed to have saddled the club with when they took it over several years ago. The same paper also have a fantastic gallery that shows all these deals in pictures, from official motorcycle partners in Thailand to the Mister Potato deal, which makes them the exclusive and official partner of the savoury snack.
— MU Spokesperson (@MU_Spokesperson) August 14, 2013
In April, another deal was announced which continues to reinforce the club's credentials as a hugely powerful wordlwide brand, which was estimated to be in the region of £120 to £150 million for the naming rights to their training ground with shirt sponsors Aon, not to mention their kit sponsor Nike, who they also have a large deal with.
Most recently, at the end of July, they inked a deal with PepsiCo to increase their presence in the Asian market, making them the official sponsor of the soft drink in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei. They have deals with wine companies in Chile, diesel engine manufacturers, telecommunications firms across Asia and Africa, beers, printers, airlines, and pretty much anything you can think of. All of this means that they have a 31% increase in year on year commercial revenues, all in the midst of a global recession. If you are a fan of any other club that has been taken over in the recent few years, and are wondering how for example, John Henry at Liverpool plans to make a profit, or why Monaco, PSG, Manchester City and Chelsea aren't afraid to throw money into their squads, then this model is the reason why.
None of this will excite the fans, who wanted to buy Fabregas or Thiago Alcantara jerseys this summer, but for a club which is most certainly in transition, at the very least for the start of this season, the future is definitely not bleak.
Fans should also remember that this is the squad which one the Premier League, and they haven't lost anyone in the market (yet). They still maintain a position as a team and a brand which attracts the best names, and while the summer might not have shown that for the first team squad, the deals that were done in the boardroom should begin to quell the worries that many had about the way in which the American owners bought Manchester United by leveraging to borrow and place the club "in debt", an incredibly common practice in business and in American sports ownership. Yes, technically on the books they were in the red, but the continued success on the pitch coupled with some fantastic marketing behind the scenes has meant that they were never in any danger.
The most worrying aspect of not getting a marquee name in this summer is that they need a marketable name and face to continue to seal these deals, but for now, the very name of the club itself will ensure that they are pushed through. The two arms of this business depend very much on one another. Success on the field breeds success in the marketing department, but of course, the money for the signings which help the team win will need to be generated somehow. Perhaps, the very vocal way in which Manchester United (both Ed Woodward and David Moyes, who are the new partnership that have taken over from Gill and Ferguson as vice-chairman and manager respectively) is a learning curve for the pair, but it also may be a signal to fans and other clubs alike, that the budget is there to compete in the transfer market, but with a business sensibility from Woodward that won't see them overspend.
The haul of silverware that Manchester United have won in the past two and a half decades is an example which the other clubs in England and beyond would be desperate to achieve, but their achievements on the books are equally the envy of their competitors. Their latest deal with their "official timepiece partner" this morning is merely a further indication that indeed, the times they are a-changing.
Post a Comment