ITS OFFICIAL, folks Manchester United will prove this
week they are still the top earners in English football, thanks to
the worlds biggest fan base. Arsenal claimed to have taken their
crown back in September, when they announced a turnover of
£201million. But they cannot compete with Uniteds mega 330m global
fan base (and no, they dont all live in Surrey!)
United will announce their own increase in turnover on Thursday to
£245m. This comes after a successful season in which they almost
repeated the Treble of 1999.
£20m interest a year
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co won the title, reached the FA Cup final
and Champions League semis. But there are still fears among some
fans over the debt of around £500m the Glazers racked up in buying
the club in 2005.
The interest on that is around £20m a year. That is money that
could otherwise be used on team-building or keeping ticket prices
down. There is fury among season ticket-holders that they are
forced to buy all cup tickets or surrender their season ticket.
Some even want them to be knocked out of the likes of the Carling
Cup so they are not paying for matches they do not go to anyway.
For the first time United have included in their figures the money
from their long-term contract with shirt suppliers Nike.
That is reckoned to be worth around £30m a year. The club have
recently moved their commercial operation from Manchester to London
to maximise money-making opportunities. In this weeks figures,
United will continue to be open about their transfer
activities.
They will detail the exact amount paid to agents for transfers,
although they will not break them down to each individual deal. The
new turnover figure means that wages now take up 43.6 per cent of
the clubs expenditure. That will please the Glazers who have set
a ceiling of 50 per cent.