Big kick

摘要

Even at a time of World Cup mania, pro soccer is in a global financial mess. But one club's business goes from strength to strength. Manchester United is arguably the most valuable sports team brand in the world. It makes a very healthy profit and is poised to perform even better, as it develops new businesses in television and retailing. The hundred-year-old football club, located in a rainy, industrial city in northeast England, estimates that worldwide it has 50 million fans―almost 30 million of them in Asia. Manchester United listed on London's stock exchange in 1991 and has a market capitalization of $466 million (see table). Its true business value is probably well over $800 million: four times its expected revenue of $220 million in the year through July (this is roughly the formula that FORBES uses to value the upper echelon of American football teams). The most valuable U.S. sports team, the National Football League's Washington Redskins, is worth $800 million. Baseball's New York Yankees are at $730 million. The media mogul Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB bid more than $900 million for Man U in 1998; the offer was thwarted by regulators. That may have been a special case, but the bid was made on the back of a smaller revenue base-$130 million.