ManU targeted a "swift return to the lucrative Champions League on Wednesday," after forecasting lower profit this season when the English football club will be "absent from European competition for the first time in more than two decades," according to Keith Weir of REUTERS. United will "pay the price in this financial year for a season of rare sporting struggles" in '13-14. Despite that poor form, improved TV and sponsorship deals helped ManU to report revenue of $698M in the year to the end of June, and core profit of £130M ($211M), both record figures. But missing out on a place in the Champions League means ManU expects a "decline in revenue" to between £385M ($624M) and £395M ($640M) in the current year. Profit is forecast to fall to between £90M ($146M) and £95M ($154M) (REUTERS, 9/10). In London, Rory Smith reported ManU's financial results for '13-14, published on Wednesday, "showcase once more their status as by some distance" the Premier League's fiscal superpower. The club reported profit of £23.9M ($38.8M). That is despite £5.2M paid to former Manager David Moyes and his coaching staff to "terminate their contracts at the club," as well as more than £110M ($178M) spent on Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata, Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera. ManU also expects its wage bill to be "reduced somewhat over the coming season" thanks to a "raft of sales and retirements" (LONDON TIMES, 9/10). The AP reported underlying profit is also forecast to drop from $210M to between $145M and $153M, although "the debt which angered fans" after the '05 Glazers' takeover has fallen to $551M. ManU has been "spending heavily in a bid to arrest the decline." ManU Exec Vice-Chair Ed Woodward said, "Our budgets assume a third-place finish" (AP, 9/10).
'VERY CHALLENGING': In London, Roger Blitz reported Woodward described '13-14 as "a very challenging and disappointing season." Spooked by last season's "swift decline" following 26 years of "near-continuous success" under former Manager Alex Ferguson, ManU is "now on a mission to plough its profits into strengthening its squad in order to ensure a swift return to the Champions League" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 9/10).
MANU EYES U.S.: In London, Jamie Jackson reported ManU is targeting the burgeoning U.S. football market, "with the sport there undergoing a 'step-change' in popularity and commercial growth." Woodward said, "I’d like to talk about the exciting emerging market that is the U.S. We seem to be in the midst of a step-change at the moment with football or soccer breaking into the mainstream sporting consciousness. ... We played five matches there to a cumulative audience of more than 360,000. ... There are some interesting statistics that show the growing potential of the U.S. as a market for football. American supporters bought 197,000 tickets for the 2014 World Cup, trailing only local fans" (GUARDIAN, 9/10).
