Can a Football Club Be Worth £5 Billion?
The Manchester United bidding war has focused a lot of attention on the eye-watering prices attached to certain football clubs. A member of the Qatari royal family and Britain’s richest man submitted offers for the English football giant. The Qataris’ opening offer—roughly £5 billion ($6 billion)—might break records. But still, it may not be enough. This week news broke that the current owners, the Glazer family, think the latest offers could be too low. In this week’s episode of In the City, reporter David Hellier joins hosts David Merritt and Francine Lacqua for a conversation about the competition to own Manchester United. He says don’t be surprised if more bids surface, and reflects on why the race to own the team feels different from last year’s competition to own Chelsea. We’re also joined by Dan Jones, a sports business adviser and former Global Lead Partner for Sports Business and Head of Sports Business Group at Deloitte, and Christina Philippou, principal lecturer in accounting, economics and finance at the University of Portsmouth. They discuss why buyers are so confident in their investments, whether prices will keep growing and where Wall Street banks fit in.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.