Who cares about United?
Of course, it is a fantastic time for all of the ABU's out there.
(For anyone not familiar with the term ABU is stands for Anyone But United
- people who care more for the demise/downfall and failings of Manchester
United than they care for anything to do with their own football club). They can hardly contain their delight at the downfall of Manchester United. Well, I have news for you - Malcolm
Glazer will screw not just United, but the majority of the clubs in the Premier League. How so? Easily.
There are only 2 possible revenue streams that Glazer can exploit in order to increase profits. The first is to 'break' football in the USA. This has been tried before and it failed. Currently, the US sporting public just aren't interested in football.
Now, in some 15 years time, this might well be different. The young boys and girls who are currently
playing the game will have grown up, and will have kids of their own who they wish to play/watch football. This may well mean that the last part of the world that is ignorant to the greatest game becomes a convert, but this will never happen in time to save
Glazer.
The only other avenue open to him is the TV deal. Currently, the Premier League, as one entity, negotiates the TV deal. Then, all revenues are shared equally amongst the 20 teams in the league. That way, the little clubs get the same money as the bigger clubs. However, if
Glazer were able to negotiate a TV deal for United separately, then he could increase TV revenue by some 3 or 4 times its current rate.
To do this, he would need the agreement of 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs. He may get agreement of the big teams, Chelsea,
Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle United, but the rest would be steadfastly against it.
The reason being that their revenue would almost disappear. Teams like Charlton, Bolton, and Portsmouth rely heavily on the TV money. They do not have large crowds or massive sponsorship deals. If the TV deal were to be scrapped, they would face financial ruin.
So, how would he go about scrapping the deal? He has 2 routes. One way is to take the Premier League to court. The TV deal could possibly be in breach of the European Anti-Competition regulations. If that court case were to succeed, or the Premier League were settle out of court, then that could signal the end of some of the teams currently in the Premier League.
There is another route Glazer could take - quite simply, he could just threaten the Premier League. If they don't remove the deal and allow United to negotiate their deal alone, then United will join a Euro Super league, and take Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and a few others with them. This would likely see the end of the Premier League and would mean that the Premier League would do anything, even acquiescing to
Glazer's demands, in order to stay in existence.
Now, United fans are not trying to come across as altruistic saviors of English
football. Our fight is to save our club from this creature, and his
intended rape, pillage and destruction of United. But, other clubs will
suffer from this man and his quest for money. His track record at the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers speaks
for itself, he cares not one iota for the fans there, nor does he care for
the fans of United, so what makes anyone think he'll care one bit for the
rest of the Premier League? He won't even give it a moments thought.