Premier League club Manchester United shares dropped 7.8% in early trading in N.Y. after they were defeated in the UEFA Europe League final, dealing “another blow” to its billionaire owners the Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, according to Samuel Agini of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Winning the Europa League final was ManU’s last chance to qualify for any form of European competition next season and the loss “will cost it about” $134M in revenue. The club will now “miss out on higher ticket sales, media rights and sponsorship revenues,” though the squad’s wages and travel expenses “will also decrease.” ManU shares were trading at $13.40 on Thursday shortly after the market open, below the $14 pricing of the company’s initial public offering in 2012. That implied a market capitalization of $2.3B, although “only the A shares with inferior voting rights trade” (FINANCIAL TIMES, 5/22).
WILL ONLY GET WORSE: In London, Martyn Ziegler wrote those running ManU will “face the challenge of dealing with an extra” $107M-plus financial black hole. Ratcliffe warned early this season that ManU were in “danger of failing to comply with the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.“ That situation “looks even more challenging now.” The $94M they would have been guaranteed by qualifying for next season’s Champions League via winning the Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur “would have eased the financial pressures.” According to Kieron O’Connor, who runs the Swiss Ramble football finance blog, ManU have earned $40M from the Europa League in UEFA TV money this season, cash they “will have to budget to do without next season.” They are also “likely to see a drop in matchday receipts of about” $26M with probably five fewer home matches at Old Trafford next season. The club will also have a $13M penalty clause under their new deal with kit manufacturer Adidas invoked for 2025-26 after failing to qualify for the Champions League. That will also “apply to any future season” they are not in UEFA’s elite competition (London TIMES, 5/22).
DARKER DAYS: THE ATHLETIC’s Andy Mitten wrote he has “never felt as low about Manchester United in all my life following Wednesday night’s Europa League final defeat.” Next season will “look remarkably different” from all but one in the previous 34 for ManU: one without European football. That means a “significant hit to the club’s bottom line.” Another season where ManU “slip gradually from global consciousness.” Money for summer transfers “will be tighter,” and “pressure to sell players and bring funds in greater.” And “no trips to Europe for the thousands of fans who love them.” Mitten: “Weeks will drag with no midweek matches and when the team does play, results must improve quickly or the fans, who have been incredibly supportive of Ruben Amorim, will turn.” There are so “few answers to the many questions being asked.” Trust in ManU’s decision makers, who arrived last year “aiming to right the wrongs of poor decisions under the Glazers is in the balance.” Ratcliffe has “benefited from much supporter goodwill, but things have gone from bad to worse on his watch” (THE ATHLETIC, 5/23).
