Latest news with #SirJimRatcliffe
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Man Utd second most valuable club despite struggles
Manchester United have been named the world's second most valuable football club behind only Real Madrid despite their recent struggles on the pitch. Forbes' annual list of the world's most valuable football teams ranks United second with a value of $6.6bn (£4.9bn), and a revenue of $834m (£620m) in the 2023-24 season. According to Forbes, United's value increased by 1% despite finishing eighth in the Premier League table in 23-24 and failing to qualify for the Uefa Champions League. United did win the FA Cup that season, whereas in 24-25 they finished 15th in the Premier League and lost the Uefa Europa League final. Ruben Amorim's side will not play European football next season as a result. Despite on-pitch struggles, debts of £1bn and losses of £113.2m reported in 23-24, United continue to benefit from having one of the strongest brands in all of sport. The club has a massive global fanbase, built over two decades of dominance in the 1990s and 2000s. Embarrassing defeat and bizarre parade - inside Man Utd's troubled trip Sir Jim Ratcliffe initiated cost-saving measures after he became a minority owner of the club last year. Last summer, around 250 staff were made redundant, saving the club an estimated £8m-£10m. A further 200 staff could lose their jobs this summer. In March, United revealed plans for a new £2bn stadium on the site of Old Trafford. Real top the rankings with a value of $6.75bn and revenue of $1.129bn, while Barcelona are third. Manchester City boasted the second largest revenue in 23-24 ($901m), but are fifth in terms of total value ($5.3bn), a 4% rise on the previous year. Liverpool are the fourth most valuable football club in the world with a value of $5.4bn) and a revenue of $773m in 23-24. Forbes' team valuations are enterprise values (equity plus net debt) based on historical transactions and the future economics of each league and each team. Revenue and operating income - such as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization - reflect the 23-24 campaign. The team values include the economics of each team's stadium but not the value of the stadium real estate itself. Debt is measured in terms of interest-bearing borrowings due in more than one year (including stadium debt). Forbes' valuations came from club annual reports and documents, team executives, investors, credit rating agency reports and sports bankers. Latest Manchester United news, analysis and fan views Get Man Utd news notifications Sign in to access your portfolio
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
Man Utd second most valuable club despite struggles
Manchester United have been named the world's second most valuable football club behind only Real Madrid despite their recent struggles on the annual list, external of the world's most valuable football teams ranks United second with a value of $6.6bn (£4.9bn), and a revenue of $834m (£620m) in the 2023-24 to Forbes, United's value increased by 1% despite finishing eighth in the Premier League table in 23-24 and failing to qualify for the Uefa Champions did win the FA Cup that season, whereas in 24-25 they finished 15th in the Premier League and lost the Uefa Europa League final. Ruben Amorim's side will not play European football next season as a on-pitch struggles, debts of £1bn and losses of £113.2m reported in 23-24, United continue to benefit from having one of the strongest brands in all of club has a massive global fanbase, built over two decades of dominance in the 1990s and 2000s. Sir Jim Ratcliffe initiated cost-saving measures after he became a minority owner of the club last summer, around 250 staff were made redundant, saving the club an estimated £8m-£10m. A further 200 staff could lose their jobs this March, United revealed plans for a new £2bn stadium on the site of Old top the rankings with a value of $6.75bn and revenue of $1.129bn, while Barcelona are City boasted the second largest revenue in 23-24 ($901m), but are fifth in terms of total value ($5.3bn), a 4% rise on the previous are the fourth most valuable football club in the world with a value of $5.4bn) and a revenue of $773m in team valuations are enterprise values (equity plus net debt) based on historical transactions and the future economics of each league and each team. Revenue and operating income - such as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization - reflect the 23-24 team values include the economics of each team's stadium but not the value of the stadium real estate is measured in terms of interest-bearing borrowings due in more than one year (including stadium debt).Forbes' valuations came from club annual reports and documents, team executives, investors, credit rating agency reports and sports bankers.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Selling Bruno Fernandes would be madness – Man Utd cannot be trusted to replace him
For Manchester United, still picking through their smouldering ruins of a season, a parallel universe without Bruno Fernandes scarcely bears thinking about. It is not simply that the captain often seems their only player with any guile or gumption, but that he has almost single-handedly saved them from oblivion. The best gauge of his influence? That if you stripped out his 19 goals, the club would have finished five points worse off, with 37, on the ragged edge of relegation in any conventional campaign. Ruben Amorim accurately diagnosed his team's priorities when, after an unusually spirited home draw with Arsenal, he declared: 'We need more Brunos.' But increasingly, it looks as if United's instinct in this cost-conscious Ineos era is to burn everything down and start afresh. Sir Jim Ratcliffe's ruthlessness has reached the extreme where even Fernandes, creator of the most chances in the Premier League for three successive seasons, is deemed dispensable, free to be offloaded by his agent to Al-Hilal in the sterile opulence of Riyadh's Four Seasons hotel. Should the move be completed, it would signify a cold, impersonal ending for a player who has carried his team-mates by pure force of personality. While his bouts of petulance might grate, the mind boggles as to how anaemic United would be if deprived of his restless energy, which against all odds helped propel the club's worst side in a generation to a European final. If you believe Fernandes should go – and there are plenty of reasons why a treble-your-money sinecure in Saudi Arabia makes sense at the age of 30 – the question to ask yourself is this: do you truly trust United to spend wisely on his replacement? On paper, the estimated £80 million to £100 million that they would recoup sounds a transformative amount. But this is the institution, lest we forget, that splashed £85 million on Antony, who would go on to register twice as many bookings than goals, and £72 million on Rasmus Hojlund, who has been about as much use as a wicker canoe. There is an argument, of course, that these deals were signed off before Ineos had a chance to scrutinise the books. But the minority owners have not exactly offered a masterclass in financial prudence themselves, coughing up £21.4 million in compensation for Erik ten Hag and his staff just five months after they decided to keep him. That is before you consider the £3 million they paid Newcastle to secure the services of Dan Ashworth, only to punt him after just 15 league games. For all that Ratcliffe proudly trumpets his mother's wisdom – 'you look after the pennies, the pounds look after themselves' – in justifying savage cuts to everything from stationery supplies to staff sandwiches, he has yet to establish himself, when it comes to the big-ticket items at United, as the shrewdest judge. For the last few benighted months, Fernandes has, with the possible exception of Amad Diallo, been the only source of light at United. To extinguish this risks plunging the place deeper into darkness. There is a danger, too, of Ineos going against the wishes of Amorim, the figure meant to be spearheading a revolution. While the manager has cut underperforming players down to size with his withering barbs, he has always kept a soft spot for his fellow Portuguese, arguing in March: 'It's not just the quality and character of Bruno that is so important. It's that he is so decisive with and without the ball.' Amorim has refused to entertain any suggestion of losing Fernandes, insisting he was 'not going anywhere because I've already told him' and reiterated that stance on Friday. On several occasions, he has lauded him for the passion so conspicuously lacking in the rest of the dressing room. This is readily quantifiable: since he arrived from Sporting Lisbon in February 2020, Fernandes has amassed the most appearances and most minutes of any outfield player in Europe's top five leagues. Beyond his irascible on-pitch persona, he also demonstrates a certain humility and empathy, the very values that Amorim has sought to instil in this squad of painfully fragile egos. When he heard that the United women's team had been given only small ticket allocations for the friends and family to travel to their FA Cup final, he and goalkeeper Tom Heaton arranged for the cost of additional tickets to be covered by the men. It is one small detail, but it illustrates the gamble that United would be taking by allowing Fernandes to depart for roughly the same fee that they paid for the absurd Antony. They would be losing, in effect, their spiritual compass, the one player who in desperate times has grasped the gravitas of his role. That is not a quality to which you can easily attach a price, especially when you consider the failings of the club's recent recruitment efforts. In the circumstances, £80 million for their one genuine leader could constitute a monumental act of self-sabotage.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Jim Ratcliffe ‘sends signal to all women' with lack of support for United's team
Kelly Simmons, the former director of the women's professional game in England, has attacked Sir Jim Ratcliffe over his remarks about Manchester United women, arguing they are 'sending a signal … about what he thinks about women, not just the women's game'. Simmons, one of the most respected voices in women's football, made the criticisms as she outlined what she saw as a general reluctance within established clubs to invest in the women's game. Ratcliffe has previously said he saw United's men's team as 'the main issue' and 'what moves the needle' at the club. He was not at Wembley when Manchester United lost to Chelsea in the Women's FA Cup final two weeks ago, nor when they won last year's final against Tottenham. 'If I was a woman working in United and heard the language Ratcliffe uses, he's sending a signal to me about what he thinks about women not just the women's game,' she said. 'I'm not sure people recognise how powerful that language is in a negative way. It's so disappointing.' Simmons was speaking at the Fair Game conference in London, where financial sustainability and issues around equality and inclusion within football were discussed. Simmons oversaw the professionalisation of the Women's Super League a decade ago and argued the further growth of women's football was being stymied by a lack of investment at club level. 'We are not there as a sustainable sport,' Simmons said, likening the current situation to that during the half-century when the Football Association banned women from playing the game in England, between 1921 and 1970. 'This is a second ban where clubs are treating the women's teams as a community endeavour, not treating it as a startup, not investing in it. 'Absolutely nothing is locked in for women's football. We're not in the conversation for funding flows. If you are going to scrutinise clubs to see that finances are robust, then you need to look at the women's game because you know where the money is going to be cut from first; it's the women's team.' Simmons said there was growing interest from private equity groups in investing in the women's game and that she welcomed the prospect. 'A number of clubs in this country and on the continent and Europe are in discussions with private equity,' she said. 'It will bring in a mindset of treating women's football like a business and that is much needed.' While Ratcliffe was not present for the FA Cup final, where United lost 3-0 to Chelsea, the club did send a senior delegation that included vice-chair Avram Glazer, as well as representatives from Ineos, Ratcliffe's conglomerate. The United chief executive, Omar Berrada, meanwhile, has made public remarks saying the club are 'very proud' of the women's team and arguing: 'It's really incumbent on us to be there to help them.' Ratcliffe has also spoken of his desire to see the women's team succeed. 'The women's team wear the Manchester United brand and the Manchester United logo, so in that sense they're every bit as important as the men's team and frankly they're doing better than the men's team,' he said.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Nine Premier League clubs in top 20 richest in Europe, report says
The Premier League's status as the richest domestic league in global football has been underlined by a new report into European club valuations, with nine of the top 20 coming from England. Now in its 10th year, the Football Clubs' Valuation report is published by the Budapest-based Football Benchmark Group and it ranks the top 32 clubs in Europe by enterprise value, which is the total value of the club's equity plus its net debt. Advertisement Having become the first club to achieve an enterprise value of €5billionn last year, Real Madrid burst through the €6bn mark this year to top the ranking with a valuation of €6.3bn (£5.2bn; $6.5bn) this year, almost £1bn clear of Manchester City in second place, with Manchester United not far behind their cross-city rivals. While Football Benchmark believes that Manchester United's enterprise value has grown by 4 per cent over the last 12 months from €4.9bn to €5.1bn, that currently converts to £4.3bn, which is lower than the price Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought in at when he paid £1.25bn for 27.7 per cent of the club in early 2024. Given the club's on-field struggles, the British billionaire may be grateful that his investment has not fallen further. Barcelona and Bayern Munich round out the top five in this year's report, with Liverpool and a resurgent Arsenal close behind, followed by Paris Saint-Germain, with Tottenham Hotspur, the biggest climber over the last decade, and Chelsea completing the top 10. It would seem that Ratcliffe is not the only Premier League investor who will have to be patient to see a return, as Football Benchmark believes Chelsea's enterprise value has dropped eight per cent year-on-year — the only faller in the top-10 — with the west London club now worth £2.5bn, which is what the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital led consortium paid Roman Abramovich for the team in 2022. Overall, though, the report is another glowing reference for the Premier League's financial success, with West Ham United, Aston Villa (up a remarkable 42 per cent year-on-year) and Everton all making the top 20. With the Premier League continuing to stretch away from its domestic competitors in terms of broadcast, commercial and matchday revenue, as well as securing six Champions League qualification spots next season, its position is only going to get stronger. Advertisement However, increased revenues are not the same as increased profits, with most of the clubs in the report posting large losses last season, although those deficits have reduced every season since 2022, when COVID-19 plunged European football into crisis. The aggregate loss for the 32 most valuable clubs in Europe last season was just over £430m, down from the catastrophic figure for 2022 of almost £2.3bn. In his foreword to the report, Football Benchmark CEO and founder Andrea Sartori notes that 'profitability remains a key challenge…largely due to squad costs growing at a faster pace than operating revenues over the past decade (78 per cent vs 72 per cent)'. But Sartori does see signs of the industry returning to its pre-pandemic levels of sustainability, the UEFA's new financial fair play regime starting to exert some downward pressure on costs, while club revenues continue to grow. The average squad cost-to-revenue ratio among the top 32 fell from 95 per cent in 2023 to 82 per cent this year, with UEFA aiming to bring clubs down to 70 per cent next year. Club valuations, of course, are notoriously difficult to calculate, with the most accurate assessment being they are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them. But Football Benchmark does explain its methodology in its report. Like most people who attempt to make these estimates, Sartori's team uses the revenue-multiple approach to valuing clubs, with each club's annual operating revenue multiplied by a number that is benchmarked against clubs from the same league that have recently been bought or are publicly listed. Football Benchmark then finesses that number with a 'proprietary algorithm' that is based on five parameters: profitability, popularity as measured by social media followings, sporting potential as defined by squad value, the league's broadcasting deals and stadium ownership. Advertisement Overall, the average revenue multiple for the enterprise values in Football Benchmark's reports over the last decade has risen from 3.4 to 4.9, which is impressive but still half the average revenue multiple that is applied to work out the value of NFL franchises. In fact, all teams in the major North American leagues are valued with a higher revenue multiple than the top European football sides, because there are stricter cost controls, longer broadcast deals, newer stadiums and no relegation. The report also explains why some teams that are almost certainly worth more than the £392m valuation given to the 32nd club in the list, Spain's Real Betis, are not included in the rankings — Newcastle United, for example, who are 15th in world football in terms of annual revenue, according to the most recent edition of the Deloitte Money League report. To qualify for the Football Benchmark report, you must be in the top 50 in operating revenues and UEFA's five-year club coefficient, or top 30 by social media followers as of January 1, 2025. This year's Carabao Cup winners do not meet the second and third criteria but another helping of Champions League football next season may remedy that.
