Manchester United, with an operating income of $187 million and a valuation of $6.55 billion, is the second most valuable football/soccer club in the world. This is according to Forbes, who posted their annual study earlier today. Man United, who saw a 9% increase in value over the past year, trailed only Real Madrid ($6.6 billion), who topped the list for the third year in a row.
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Kickoff: Sat. May 25, 3pm, Wembley Stadium, London, UK
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Of course, Madrid just won their domestic league, and find themselves as strong favorites in the European Cup final on June 1. Meanwhile in Manchesterย Sirย Jim Ratcliffe,ย the billionaire founder and CEO of the Ineos chemical group, is leading a total tear down and rebuild. Ratcliffe, according to Forbes, “bought 27.7% of Manchester United in February for an enterprise value of $6.5 billion, it was the richest price ever paid for sports team in which the buyer also got operating rights.”
Ratcliffe, who owns a 25% minority interest in the club, but maintains total control of appointing the people who are making the football-related decisions, beat out Sheik Jassim, a Qatari investment banker, in the bid to buy a portion of the club from the Glazer family.
INEOS reshuffled the front office and now they’re going to let manager Erik ten Hag go, regardless of the result of tomorrow’s FA Cup Final. Here is who we see potentially taking his place.
For what it is worth, United led the list with $187 million in operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).
Also their global number of supporters is thought to be more than 650 million, which is far and away the highest; for any sport in any country.
However, barring a major upset on Saturday, they’ll end this season trophyless, for the fifth time in six years.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
He currently contributes toย Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMGโs NFL Wire Networkย and theย Internet Baseball Writers Association of America.ย His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated,ย Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times.ย You can follow himย onย Linked Inย andย Twitter.
