REACHING OUT FROM HERE

Last updated : 02 October 2002 By Editor

Oliver Butler, Editor of Soccer Investor believes United should go it alone and sell their overseas television rights themselves. This from The MEN:

"Like many clubs, United probably feel they could exploit their supporter base more than they currently do," said Oliver Butler, editor of Soccer Investor. "However, when you consider they estimate their fan base at 50 million worldwide, there is a lot more potential than exists anywhere else.

"One of the ways of achieving that might be for the club to sell its own rights to television abroad while retaining the collective bargaining agreement domestically with the Premier League."

"The only clubs in England who might be able to get anywhere near them are Arsenal and Liverpool - and that's only if they keep qualifying for the Champions League.

"And in Arsenal's case they still have to find substantial sums of money to finance their new stadium, a cost which United have already borne.

"United have recently signed huge sponsorship deals with a number of organisations which will boost their profile worldwide, and the shirt deal with Nike will probably lift their revenue streams even further.

"The only real concern is the rise in wages but that will be halted by the deflationary pressure which is currently being applied to contracts across the board. In any event, spending 48% of your turnover on salaries is a situation most other clubs would die for."