Yesterday's dramatic scenes at Manchester United have captured plenty of media attention and reflected the frustration of the club's fans, but what impact will they have on the Glazers 3,000 miles away. For them, their commercial interests come first. This in turn are affected by a changing tax environment in the US.
Speaking to The Athletic, a financier who has
helped several entrepreneurs buy and sell sports teams said he “can’t imagine”
a circumstance that would see the Kroenkes, or any of the other American owners
of the Super League clubs, sell up.
Jordan Gardner, a US investor who owns shares in
Denmark’s Helsingor, Championship side Swansea and Dundalk of Ireland
commented: “They’ve taken the reputational hit, some of them have apologised
and they’re ready to move on. Guys like (Manchester United owners) the Glazers
and Kroenke were not particularly engaged with their clubs, so I don’t see the
fan backlash affecting them much. It’s highly unlikely any of these owners look
to sell as a direct result of recent events, especially as we now see the light
at the end of the tunnel when it comes to COVID-19.”
New Ipswich owner Brett Johnson agrees. “I don’t think any
of (the Americans who own would-be European Super League clubs) will sell,” the
Los Angeles-based investor says. “They will lay low and hope for it all to blow
over.”
"I'd argue there is always a price for the Glazers and
Fenway but, with taxes rising in the US, that increases their ask, which leads
to only sovereign wealth funds and the 50 richest people in the world being
able to afford it,” says Barnsley owner Paul Conway, whose Pacific Media Group
also owns clubs in Belgium, Denmark, France and Switzerland.
Capital gains tax has been 15 per cent in the US but will be
rising. President Biden is asking for it to be 43 per cent for the wealthiest,
which will make it much tougher to sell these clubs. They may all say, ‘Let’s
wait for five or 10 years, when the tax is lowered again’.”
Liverpool chairman Tom Werner said it would take an “insane
offer” to persuade FSG to cash in on a club that was turning a tidy profit
before the pandemic struck, as well as winning trophies. And the Glazers have
made little secret of the fact they would flog a little bit more, perhaps as
much as 20 per cent, but have no desire to give up a cash cow that returned to
profit in the final quarter of 2020, despite playing behind closed doors at
England’s biggest club ground.
The way forward in terms of examining different forms of fan involvement and more effective regulation of the game is through the review being conducted by former sports minister Tracy Crouch.
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