American Owners Abroad

Discussion in 'Soccer in the USA' started by biggreenHerd, Jan 22, 2008.

  1. Schwalker

    Schwalker New Member

    Apr 15, 2007
    Gelsenkirchen/Finja
    Club:
    FC Schalke 04
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Another Jesus Gil or Romanov you mean?
     
  2. HoBo30

    HoBo30 New Member

    Jun 22, 2007
    Detroit, MI
    Well, if the Evil Empire does buy a chunk of Spurs, I'll be supporting a different club very soon.
     
  3. Devil_78

    Devil_78 Member

    May 7, 2001
    Kashiwazaki, Japan
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I have read a lot from many people on this particular discussion on Bigsoccer, and various other media sources. "Why cant Americans govern a football team?" and other threads running along those thoughts.

    Which are, of course, rot. Randy Lerner has done a wonderful job at Villa, and the guys at Derby seem to want to keep a tight ship.

    Then there are the very public examples of what could only be described as bad governance from the likes of Hicks/Gillett at Liverpool, and the Glazers at United. The fans do not hate these guys because of where they are from, but for what they have done.

    I have seen quite a large number of Americans somewhat confused as to why the hatred at the Glazers. After all, United have kept giving money to Ferguson, they have kept winning trophies, and kept announcing profits.

    Problem with the Glazers was HOW they took over. OK, it was legal, but they basically borrowed huge amounts of money to buy the club, and took what was an essentially debt free business, and plunged it into so much debt that it makes the eyes water! According to Forbes, United are worth $1.87 billion dollars, whilst the debt is about about 50% of the clubs value. Problem is, the value is not just in solid assets, but also in the clubs name and reputation. A couple of bad seasons would halve the value of the club! Whilst the debt at the moment has not really appreciably shrunk.

    Whilst at the moment the club is running relatively OK, stories are coming out about United struggling to service this massive debt, and transfer money not being quite as available as they would have the fans believe, and the £80 million for Ronaldo being coveted by the financial people to help take a bite out of the debt mountain.

    The Glazers did say that they wanted to maximise Uniteds earning potential. Problem is, United have tapped the revenue streams they needed to! The Glazers are following a path of diminishing returns. Pursuing revenue streams that are getting harder and harder to open up, and potentially not worthwhile.

    The Glazers have never been popular amongst the United supporters, with most of us treating them warily when they first arrived. The protests have built over a long period of time, and finally became much more public when Uniteds debt mountain became so eye-watering recently. Cue the fans adopting the old colours of green and gold, and the potential bid from this "Red Knights" consortium.

    A similar story over at Liverpool. The new owners came in, taking a financially stable club, and again, placed a large chunk of debt on the clubs books. Also, they did not help their cause with the very public falling out. Something that paralysed the club for a very long time, and is still affecting the club now.

    I have also seen various arguments on here about the link between the fans and the club, are they fans, or customers, and so on. This is where England and America really do diverge. Whilst many clubs in the US could in reality never move, fact is, they can, and often do! Brooklyn Dodgers becoming the LA Dodgers. Cleveland Browns moving to Baltimore. San Jose moving to Houston, Montreal becoming the Nationals, and so on. In England, we really dont have that history, and after the furore of Wimbledon moving to MK, is likely never to be allowed to happen again. Also, with pretty much every town having a club, where would a club move to?

    Fans in England rightly feel that the club is "theirs." Since you will find several generations of a family all going to games, and could well be something that stretches back over 100 years. Indeed, United had a season ticket holder who was over 150! His family just kept passing the ticket down! many of these clubs have histories stretching back over 150 years in the same city. Maybe even in the same district. Possibly even in the same stadium. Bramall Lane hosted its first football game in 1862, and has been used for football ever since. Though it did also host Cricket up to 1973.

    With such a preponderance of clubs with such histories, English fans are allowed to feel some kind of ownership of the club!
     
  4. Prenn

    Prenn Member

    Apr 14, 2000
    Ireland
    Club:
    Bolton Wanderers FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    If rumours are to be believed a certain Martin O'Neill would disagree with you.
     
  5. Devil_78

    Devil_78 Member

    May 7, 2001
    Kashiwazaki, Japan
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Maybe, but compared to the way Gillett/Hicks, and the Glazers have handled things, Lerner has been a significant improvement.
     
  6. Schwalker

    Schwalker New Member

    Apr 15, 2007
    Gelsenkirchen/Finja
    Club:
    FC Schalke 04
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Like everywhere else problems arise not so much from where owners come from, but from how they run things and what they expect to achieve.

    Basically football in Europe is not a way to make money, but a way to spend money in exchange for something else like say political power or media glamour.
     
  7. sportscrazed2

    sportscrazed2 Member+

    Jul 30, 2008
    Mordor, Middle Earth
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    i don't know about you but if you have enough money to buy a sports team you aren't really in it for the money Soccer in the USAanymore. you probably have enough money to last you the rest of your life.
     
  8. Devil_78

    Devil_78 Member

    May 7, 2001
    Kashiwazaki, Japan
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Well, you know what they say about how to make a small fortune. Start with a big fortune, and go into sports!
     
  9. Pelefan

    Pelefan Member+

    Mar 17, 1999
    Chicago
    US Combine on Dec. 11 for Fil Am soccer players(as well as those for the foreigner quota) looking to play pro soccer in the Philippines. PFL league teams will be using the combine to look for players to sign for the upcoming PFL season.

    One of the PFL teams(Maharlika FC) is owned and managed by a Fil Am Antonio Del Rosario who used to play for the Philippine national football team.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=d...jgGmqLTkGiYvZP9Crla0LQV_g6MsVhd6Sy1XBJ4AFp6f0

    The Combine will be on Dec. 11 at Skyline College in San Bruno, California.
     
  10. Chesco United repped this.
  11. M

    M Member+

    Feb 18, 2000
    Via Ventisette
    Quite amusing to see a post from 2010 on this thread that says "Randy Lerner has done a wonderful job at Villa, and the guys at Derby seem to want to keep a tight ship."


    Oops.
     
  12. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Soccer America
    Everton announced on Monday that the U.S.-based Friedkin Group has reached an agreement to buy Farhad Moshiri's majority stake in the struggling Premier League club. The deal is subject to regulatory approval from the Premier League, the Football Association and the Financial Conduct Authority. The group, led by American billionaire Dan Friedkin, had entered a period of exclusivity to negotiate a possible purchase in June, before Everton announced the following month that no deal would be struck between the parties....
     

Share This Page