footballnomics

purch

I went to watch my team play in Europe (Germany) and was shocked at how low the ticket prices were

It was only because they were playing YOUR team :eek:

purch

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8931026.stm

Manchester United's owners the Glazer family have been hit with a steep rise in their annual debt payments after the club exceeded a limit on their overall borrowings which form part of their controversial PIK loans agreement.

Failure to meet the borrowers' terms by 16 August meant the annual interest rose from 14.25% to 16.25%.

wymondham

Chlamydia wrote: »

Oh no it's the usual tripe. Soldiers and nurses are heroes, footballers are villains, yea yea we get it.

Footballers are entertainers and they pay what people think they're worth, just like musicians, actors, artists etc

that's even worse as they are not even entertaining! Although it is fun trying to figure out who has the current 'super injunctions' - naughty boys!!

Masomnia

purch wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8931026.stm

Manchester United's owners the Glazer family have been hit with a steep rise in their annual debt payments after the club exceeded a limit on their overall borrowings which form part of their controversial PIK loans agreement.

Failure to meet the borrowers' terms by 16 August meant the annual interest rose from 14.25% to 16.25%.

As an Oldham fan: :T

Masomnia

Chlamydia wrote: »

Really2 I doubt any club has a waiting list of 5 years. Man united supposedly had a huge waiting list but that has soon evaporated after a poor season and they haven't sold their season tickets out for this season yet. I know tottenham have a waiting list partly because of their small stadium but I doubt any other clubs have waiting lists at all, let alone ones for 5 years. At least not ones of any substance anwyay

My old housemate has been on the Liverpool season ticket waiting list for at least that long. Said something about them not having issued new season tickets since the 90s, since fans can pass them on to family...

Generali

purch wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8931026.stm

Manchester United's owners the Glazer family have been hit with a steep rise in their annual debt payments after the club exceeded a limit on their overall borrowings which form part of their controversial PIK loans agreement.

Failure to meet the borrowers' terms by 16 August meant the annual interest rose from 14.25% to 16.25%.

It's worth noting that debt is the Glazer's debt not Man Utd's, AIUI at least.

Apparently, Liverpool's owners need to repay £100,000,000 to RBS by the end of the year according to their debt covenants.

Masomnia

Generali wrote: »

It's worth noting that debt is the Glazer's debt not Man Utd's, AIUI at least.

As far as I know that's true; though I believe the debt is secured against the club, if that makes a difference.

vivatifosi

Generali wrote: »

It's worth noting that debt is the Glazer's debt not Man Utd's, AIUI at least.

The Glazer's debt is not going down too well in Tampa either, which is looking like it will have another lacklustre season (though this is probably something only my husband and purch care about).

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/venturebiz/content/world-low-interest-rates-why-do-bucs-owner-glazers-pay-1625-borrow-money

While TV blackouts of Tampa Bay Buccaneer games at home reflect fan indifference and empty seats at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium, the Bucs owners may have more pressing challenges overseas. The 82-year-old billionaire Malcolm Glazer and family who own the Bucs are now paying a whopping 16.25 percent interest on a loan they took out to refinance their purchase of the 18-time English soccer champions Manchester United, company filings show. Bloomberg reported the loan story here. ManU fans, as th e AP photo shows, clearly don't like their team being used as a piggy bank.

Why do we care? Well, if we can go out and buy a house with a fixed 30-year mortgage well under 5 percent, given today's incredibly low interest rates, why are the Glazers paying 16.25 percent? Because the lenders view the deal as risky, and they view the deal as risky most likely because the Glazers are apparently highly leveraged. Plainly speaking, they are borrowing a lotta money relative to what they can back it up with. And if the Glazers are highly leveraged (and Malcolm Glazer disappeared from public view years ago following a stroke), it raises questions about how solid is their hold on the Bucs franchise.

Thrugelmir

lemonjelly wrote: »

Which got me wondering whether this is just football & the glamour starting to wear off, the recession, bit of both...

Nothing new. Football at the top level lost its competitiveness once the Premier League was formed. Only 5 clubs have won the PL, and that includes Blackburn who for intents and purposes bought it.

Went to watch my adopted team play in Torquay in the league cup last week. Standing on the terraces took me back to how football used to be........

Once RBS takes control of Liverpool, maybe an opportunity to become the first PL community club? With the club shares owned by the fans. Interesting thought. A change for the better.

vivatifosi

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Nothing new. Football at the top level lost its competitiveness once the Premier League was formed. Only 5 clubs have won the PL, and that includes Blackburn who for intents and purposes bought it.

Out of interest, isn't that what its all about these days? Not content with yacht envy or who can buy the biggest house, the wealthy now have to throw money at football clubs to buy titles. I don't know that much about the current premier league, but which teams could win the title this year that aren't the playthings of the hyper-rich?