IT WAS CHAMPIONS League week this week, so two news items may have escaped your attention. Manchester United stated that the club were assessing the possibility of playing friendly matches during the season to help ease the financial pain of missing out on Champions League football.
“That’s something we continue to look at, as always making sure that the preparations we do on the pitch come first,” United’s managing director Richard Arnold told AP.
“For many of our international tours, there is a plan to ensure we get that team building that goes together with getting the team all together in one place. That’s something that’s being looked at with regards to the future with Louis [van Gaal].”
On the same day it was revealed that AC Milan would be going back to Dubai to play against Real Madrid in the Dubai Challenge Cup – jointly sponsored by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing [DTCM] and the Emirates airline. That game is scheduled to take place on December 30 during the time put aside for a winter break in Italy and Spain. In effect it, too, is a friendly match during the season.
“In Spain we have a one-week break for Christmas, so the players will be able to come here for a few days,” Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno said at the launch event. “We are very excited about that.”
Milan and Manchester United are both without European football this season and are seeking money elsewhere. United have seen €44,755,000 wiped off their annual income due to the loss of Champions League football while Milan lost €37,599,000.
Based on the two clubs’ earnings from Uefa competition last season, there is no doubt that the Champions League is still king when it comes to providing cash – the majority of which comes from the domestic market pool TV deals.
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Wayne Rooney in action against Valencia in pre-season. Barrington Coombs
Barrington Coombs
In their latest account figures, United posted record revenues of €552m. They made a profit of €30m due in no small part to the many sponsorship deals with official partners conducted on Woodward’s watch. As proven with Real Madrid and Milan and their Emirates tie-up, these sponsors may come to expect a visit in return. United’s revenue this year is forecast to be down 10 per cent. Friendlies in midweek between now and the end of the season would top up that figure. And they have the squad to sustain it.
They will probably go out on the road on the week of 19 January when the Capital One Cup semi-finals take place having been eliminated by MK Dons. Indeed, United have only one midweek fixture pencilled in this year and in the first three months of 2015. There is plenty of time.
“I can only speak positively of my experience with the manager in terms of his understanding of what’s required to get a first-class team on to the pitch and also what’s required for running a club of our magnitude,” Arnold noted. “We have a fantastic partnership in terms of our work off the pitch and I’m very appreciative of the support we have had from him.”
Playing friendlies during the season is nothing new to them either. In January of 2008, in the midst of a run of four matches in two weeks, United played in Sami al-Jaber’s testimonial in Saudi Arabia for a reported fee of €789,000. United would command these days well over that sum they were paid in 2008.
Consider that Barcelona were reported to have been paid €5m for arranging a friendly against Kuruvchi, now Bunyodkor, of Uzbekistan in 2009. Moreover, United experimented with a €7.50 pay-per-view charge for their friendly against AIK last season so income would not be limited to a participation fee.
In the summer they, along with Real Madrid and Milan, played in the lucrative International Challenge Cup in the United States. The prize money alone was estimated to be €789,000 for the winners while a request for details of participation fees has so far gone unanswered. The ICC is organised by RSE Ventures, which is controlled by Stephen M Ross – the billionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins NFL team.
Real Madrid and Fiorentina played a friendly in Warsaw in August this year. AP / Press Association Images
AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
Ed Woodward, despite Louis van Gaal’s reservations, took United on tour in 2014 and the operation can be deemed highly valuable. A record US football attendance of 109,318 watched United play Real Madrid in Michigan, proving that the appetite on that side of the Atlantic for massive European teams remains high.
“We played five matches there to a cumulative audience of more than 360,000,” Woodward, the executive vice-chairman recently told investors. “The US attendance record which we set in Michigan of 109,000 is higher than any Super Bowl or World Series in history.
“Manchester United was the most watched club on NBC last year despite our challenging season. We have a very strong brand in the US and as the game continues to grow we are well-positioned to benefit.”
The man bringing Milan and Real Madrid to the UAE is Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – Ruler of Dubai – who has lavished massive spending on football. For context, he paid UAE’s Gulf Cup of Nations winning squad some €10.8m in 2013. Gifts from the rest of his family brought the total paid to the team to around €20m.
Sheikh Mohammed is effectively already paying for Real Madrid and AC Milan, as well as Arsenal, Paris St-Germain and Hamburger SV. He is the chairman of the Investment Corporation of Dubai – the sovereign wealth fund which operates the Emirates airline – chief sponsor of all European heavyweights.
It paid €125m to Arsenal for a 15-year deal in 2007. PSG were reported to gain €125m from their link with Emirates until 2019. Real Madrid have been earning €30m per season since 2013 in a five-year deal. AC Milan’s is smaller at €60m for four seasons in a deal that began in 2010. Nonetheless, the Italians have profited by being regular visitors to Dubai since the contract was signed. In 2012 PSG played against the Rossoneri while Hamburg have been there three times in mid-season.
AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain played a mid-season friendly in Dubai in 2012. AP / Press Association Images
AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
The current Memorandum of Understanding between the European Club Association and Uefa expires in 2018 and that will concentrate all the power in the hands of the biggest European clubs. Uefa will bend to their will, whether that means a European Super League or a continuation of the current Champions League and Europa League format. If not, then the threat of a breakaway exists. Manchester United have already demonstrated that they have the capability to attract enough sponsors so as to make money earned on the field a secondary consideration. Mid-season friendlies will be a next logical step.
While the sums for friendlies against Europe’s elite have not yet reached Champions League reward levels, they won’t be far off by 2018. The only issue would be circumventing Uefa’s rule of member associations and teams not arranging matches the same time as official Uefa fixtures. A change of time zone might be a useful workaround. This week’s announcements may not, yet, be a sign that the elite clubs will abandon Uefa competition in favour of fixing their own friendlies but it is certainly a step in that direction.
While European fans tire of the familiarity brought by the Champions League group stages, supporters across the world would relish the opportunity to see their heroes in the flesh. The clubs know it too.
Who needs Champions League money? How United & Milan are cashing in on friendlies
IT WAS CHAMPIONS League week this week, so two news items may have escaped your attention. Manchester United stated that the club were assessing the possibility of playing friendly matches during the season to help ease the financial pain of missing out on Champions League football.
“That’s something we continue to look at, as always making sure that the preparations we do on the pitch come first,” United’s managing director Richard Arnold told AP.
“For many of our international tours, there is a plan to ensure we get that team building that goes together with getting the team all together in one place. That’s something that’s being looked at with regards to the future with Louis [van Gaal].”
On the same day it was revealed that AC Milan would be going back to Dubai to play against Real Madrid in the Dubai Challenge Cup – jointly sponsored by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing [DTCM] and the Emirates airline. That game is scheduled to take place on December 30 during the time put aside for a winter break in Italy and Spain. In effect it, too, is a friendly match during the season.
“In Spain we have a one-week break for Christmas, so the players will be able to come here for a few days,” Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno said at the launch event. “We are very excited about that.”
Milan and Manchester United are both without European football this season and are seeking money elsewhere. United have seen €44,755,000 wiped off their annual income due to the loss of Champions League football while Milan lost €37,599,000.
Based on the two clubs’ earnings from Uefa competition last season, there is no doubt that the Champions League is still king when it comes to providing cash – the majority of which comes from the domestic market pool TV deals.
In their latest account figures, United posted record revenues of €552m. They made a profit of €30m due in no small part to the many sponsorship deals with official partners conducted on Woodward’s watch. As proven with Real Madrid and Milan and their Emirates tie-up, these sponsors may come to expect a visit in return. United’s revenue this year is forecast to be down 10 per cent. Friendlies in midweek between now and the end of the season would top up that figure. And they have the squad to sustain it.
They will probably go out on the road on the week of 19 January when the Capital One Cup semi-finals take place having been eliminated by MK Dons. Indeed, United have only one midweek fixture pencilled in this year and in the first three months of 2015. There is plenty of time.
“I can only speak positively of my experience with the manager in terms of his understanding of what’s required to get a first-class team on to the pitch and also what’s required for running a club of our magnitude,” Arnold noted. “We have a fantastic partnership in terms of our work off the pitch and I’m very appreciative of the support we have had from him.”
Playing friendlies during the season is nothing new to them either. In January of 2008, in the midst of a run of four matches in two weeks, United played in Sami al-Jaber’s testimonial in Saudi Arabia for a reported fee of €789,000. United would command these days well over that sum they were paid in 2008.
Consider that Barcelona were reported to have been paid €5m for arranging a friendly against Kuruvchi, now Bunyodkor, of Uzbekistan in 2009. Moreover, United experimented with a €7.50 pay-per-view charge for their friendly against AIK last season so income would not be limited to a participation fee.
In the summer they, along with Real Madrid and Milan, played in the lucrative International Challenge Cup in the United States. The prize money alone was estimated to be €789,000 for the winners while a request for details of participation fees has so far gone unanswered. The ICC is organised by RSE Ventures, which is controlled by Stephen M Ross – the billionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins NFL team.
Ed Woodward, despite Louis van Gaal’s reservations, took United on tour in 2014 and the operation can be deemed highly valuable. A record US football attendance of 109,318 watched United play Real Madrid in Michigan, proving that the appetite on that side of the Atlantic for massive European teams remains high.
“We played five matches there to a cumulative audience of more than 360,000,” Woodward, the executive vice-chairman recently told investors. “The US attendance record which we set in Michigan of 109,000 is higher than any Super Bowl or World Series in history.
“Manchester United was the most watched club on NBC last year despite our challenging season. We have a very strong brand in the US and as the game continues to grow we are well-positioned to benefit.”
The man bringing Milan and Real Madrid to the UAE is Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – Ruler of Dubai – who has lavished massive spending on football. For context, he paid UAE’s Gulf Cup of Nations winning squad some €10.8m in 2013. Gifts from the rest of his family brought the total paid to the team to around €20m.
Sheikh Mohammed is effectively already paying for Real Madrid and AC Milan, as well as Arsenal, Paris St-Germain and Hamburger SV. He is the chairman of the Investment Corporation of Dubai – the sovereign wealth fund which operates the Emirates airline – chief sponsor of all European heavyweights.
It paid €125m to Arsenal for a 15-year deal in 2007. PSG were reported to gain €125m from their link with Emirates until 2019. Real Madrid have been earning €30m per season since 2013 in a five-year deal. AC Milan’s is smaller at €60m for four seasons in a deal that began in 2010. Nonetheless, the Italians have profited by being regular visitors to Dubai since the contract was signed. In 2012 PSG played against the Rossoneri while Hamburg have been there three times in mid-season.
The current Memorandum of Understanding between the European Club Association and Uefa expires in 2018 and that will concentrate all the power in the hands of the biggest European clubs. Uefa will bend to their will, whether that means a European Super League or a continuation of the current Champions League and Europa League format. If not, then the threat of a breakaway exists. Manchester United have already demonstrated that they have the capability to attract enough sponsors so as to make money earned on the field a secondary consideration. Mid-season friendlies will be a next logical step.
While the sums for friendlies against Europe’s elite have not yet reached Champions League reward levels, they won’t be far off by 2018. The only issue would be circumventing Uefa’s rule of member associations and teams not arranging matches the same time as official Uefa fixtures. A change of time zone might be a useful workaround. This week’s announcements may not, yet, be a sign that the elite clubs will abandon Uefa competition in favour of fixing their own friendlies but it is certainly a step in that direction.
While European fans tire of the familiarity brought by the Champions League group stages, supporters across the world would relish the opportunity to see their heroes in the flesh. The clubs know it too.
– Peter Staunton, Goal.com
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