Manchester United and David Moyes: The inside story

The club David Moyes takes charge of is vastly different to the one Ferguson took over back in 1986. Unlike his time at Everton, he would not have to worry about anything else but churning out results week in week out. With a state-of-the-art stadium, world class infrastructure and an intensive commercial strategy in place, Moyes needs to ensure that the club does not lose out on its brand worth by maintaining its competitiveness in England and beyond.

The business MUFC have done through lucrative sponsorship deals by tapping into various markets in different countries has gone a long way in recovering most of the debts. The official website of the club lists 34 sponsors from across countries like Japan, Cambodia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Middle East, Malaysia, Central Africa and others. Alexa lists the club’s official website in sixth position among football club sites with an average of 62 million views per month; notably higher than those of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, and the rest.

Manchester United must maintain its fan base in Asia

It is obvious that the global market is not static and if the club goes without a trophy for more than a couple of years, that might start to affect its revenues considerably. The huge population of United fans in Asia provides a huge market for the club in this continent. But prolonged periods without a trophy would only mean the newer fans shift their allegiance to the likes of City and Chelsea, thereby significantly denting United’s foothold in the Asian continent.

Following Ferguson’s retirement, the shares for the club initially suffered a dip from $18.77, but recovered back to $18.44. However, the transfer inactivity and the potential sale of Wayne Rooney seems to have affected them already, as a single share is now priced at $16.67 in the NYSE.

The Glazers face the possibility of losing what they have achieved so far if they adopt a pro-defensive stance in the transfer market. The current debt of the club has come down to £308.3m and the yearly interest to be paid is also not as high as it used to be. However, in an attempt to clear off the debts at the earliest, if the owners compromise their transfer budget, it could only affect their operating income and revenues.

These are testing times for the club; if Manchester United survive this and successfully repay the remaining debt amount, they would be a financial superpower in the world of football. On the other hand, there is an equal chance of things going horribly wrong and the club being forced to find a new set of investors.