Odds & Ends: Bucs Blackouts & Glazers' Bucks

On Tuesday, the Tampa Sports Authority unanimously rejected the Bucs' bid to keep $12 million in unused tax funds from going back to local governments. The board ruled the team, which was promised the money for a practice complex back in 1996, lost its right to the funds by not claiming it for 16 years. The Bucs didn't like the decision, but it's a small - and rare - victory for taxpayers over a sports team.

Meanwhile, the Glazers aren't exactly hurting for money after their Manchester United IPO raised something like $200 million without giving up any real voting stake in the club. In fact, they may not mind having billionare George Soros buy up a huge chunk of the stock - with his other Tampa connections, they'll have no trouble talking business at the next Harbour Island barbeque.

Finally, all of the Bucs' preseason blackouts reinforce the point that the league's new 85% blackout threshold was no concession at all. The NFL still sends the message that it would rather make fans buy tickets to see their favorite teams than allow them to watch on TV for free. All the 85% rule does is acknowledge there isn't quite the demand for tickets there used to be.

And team owners, who could always lower the price of tickets, are sending a similar message that they'd rather sell 40,000 tickets at $40/each than 60,000 tickets at $20/each. No concession at all.

Glazers' IPO Flat but Family Still Richer

The Wall St. Journal called it"the equivalent of the game that ends in a goal-less draw."

Manchester United's IPO on the NYSE failed to excite...but it also failed to fail...which is a good thing if your last name is Glazer.

The shares of ManU, which came with virtually no voting power or expected short-term dividends, sold for $14 each. That valued the club, according to the AP, at $2.3 billion, "slightly higher than the record $2 billion paid for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team earlier this year."

It also meant the Glazers made about $110 million on the sale.

All-in-all, it has to be considered a successful day given how much power the family retained over the team and given the initial concerns about the IPO. And if any of the stockholders are unhappy, there's still the prospect of selling a whole bunch of new jerseys in Jamaica.

Forbes: Glazers Get Richer off Updated ManU IPO

Just posted from Forbes:

The amended filing for Manchester United’s public offering is going to give more of the IPO’s proceeds to the Glazer Family and less to the English soccer club than the original offering.

This change has infuriated MUST (Manchester United Supporters Trust), a large group of the club’s supporters who have been critical of the way Malcolm Glazer has run the Red Devils since gaining control in 2005 for $1.47 billion.

In an email to Forbes, Duncan Drasdo, the chief executive of Manchester United Supporters Trust wrote: “In the original filing it was made absolutely clear that ALL of the proceeds of the IPO would go to paying down debt the Glazers have loaded onto Manchester United. The revised filing reveals they now plan to take HALF OF THE IPO PROCEEDS FOR THEMSELVES. Furthermore the amount raised to pay down debt will be relatively insignificant (£75m) leaving £350m of their debt still on our club. There is now no doubt that this IPO is bad for Manchester United supporters, Manchester United Football Club and any investors gullible enough to pay the inflated price they’ve attached to inferior shares which have just 1/10 of the voting rights of the Glazers shares and no dividends. Their bare faced cheek is almost unbelievable.”

Manchester United commenced its IPO yesterday, offering of 16,666,667 Class A Ordinary Shares. Those shares consist of the club offering 8,333,334 Class A Ordinary Shares and the Glazer family offering 8,333,333 Class A Ordinary Shares. The underwriters (Jeffries Co., Credit Suisse Securities, J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities) have an option to purchase up to an additional 2,500,000 Class A Ordinary Shares from the selling shareholder. The Class A Ordinary Shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and will trade under the symbol “MANU.”

You can read the amended filing at the bottom of the page here.

Glazers File IPO for Manchester United

As first reported a month ago, the Glazer family will sell shares of Manchester United on the NYSE after filing an IPO on Tuesday, according to the New York Times:

The club set a preliminary fund-raising target of $100 million to determine registration fees. It had previously hoped to raise about $1 billion in either Hong Kong or Singapore. Manchester United had traded on the London Stock Exchange before Malcolm Glazer, an American who also controls the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team, took the company private in a $1.45 billion buyout in 2005.

In its prospectus on Tuesday, Manchester United, a soccer team founded by railway workers in 1878, says it qualifies as an “emerging growth company” under the Jumpstart Our Business Start-Ups Act of 2012 because it generated less than $1 billion in revenue in its last fiscal year. That exempts the team from some financial reporting requirements for up to five years, including having its internal controls approved by an auditor.

The filing also lays out a share structure that would allow the Glazer family to keep control of the team even while selling equity. Manchester United plans to sell an undisclosed number of Class A shares, which have one vote each. The Glazer family will hold Class B shares, which will have 10 votes apiece, effectively keeping the club’s management within its control.

The potential for Man. U - the most valuable sports franchise in the world - is great, even though the club hasn't profited very much the last few years. Part of the problem is the Glazers were paying outrageous interest rates on the majority of the team they financed, but a large 2010 payment helped alleviate the burden.

Last Time We Hear About Glazers' Financial Problems

After record profits, significant debt payment, and an impending IPO which could return another $1 biliion, it's safe to say the Glazers are is no longer over-extended.

The family, which also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has used the mega-marketing power of Manchester United to dig out of a hole after the economy collapsed in 2007/2008.

Although they seemed to have owed more than Man U was worth in 2010, Malcolm, Joel, Bryan, and company have seemed to have put the financial concerns behind them.

Update: Manchester United Seeks Singapore IPO

It was a month ago we saw the first reports from London that the Glazers may take Manchester United public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and today the Wall Street Journal reports the rumor was true...except the IPO will be in Singapore:

U.K. soccer club Manchester United Ltd. is planning to raise around $1 billion from a Singapore initial public offering in the fourth quarter, people familiar with the situation said Tuesday, in the latest foreign listing to tap Asia's funding markets.
...
The club, which was once listed on the London Stock Exchange as Manchester United PLC, had initial planned to list in Hong Kong, but changed its mind and has now picked Singapore as a listing venue, the people said.

Singapore has been pushing to position itself as one of the preferred destinations for foreign listings in a bid to compete with Hong Kong, which this year has seen companies such as commodities giant Glencore International AG raise $10 billion ahead of London and Hong Kong listings in May, and Prada SpA, which raised $2.15 billion in June.
...
Manchester United was delisted in 2005 after U.S. investor Malcolm Glazer bought the club.

Forbes this year ranked Manchester United as the world's most valuable football team in 2011, valuing the club at $1.86 billion. The club is one of U.K.'s most successful, having been crowned English league champions 19 times and European champions three times in its 133-year history.

Last week, reports indicated the Glazers, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, would sell off between 15 and 25 percent of the club in its IPO, but a $1 billion offering would appear to be more than a quarter of the club's value.

REPORT: Glazers to Sell Part of Man U

Reports out of London are that the Glazer family, which also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, could sell off between 15 and 25 percent of Manchester United to get out from some of their well-documented debt problems:

Shares in Manchester United are again up for sale.

But the plan to put a stake of the world’s most famous football club back on the market will only strengthen the Glazer family’s grip on power at Old Trafford.

Sunday Mirror Sport understands that United’s reviled American owners are preparing to sell up to a quarter of the club in a move that could raise more than £400million.

That would enable them to slash the £500m debts that are currently costing United £45million-a-year to service.

And the Glazers would then be able to pay themselves – and other new investors – millions in dividends every year.

Investment giants UBS are advising on the sale which is called an Initial Public Offering.

The Glazers are looking to cash in on between 15% and 25% of United.

They value the club at £1.7billion – an astonishing increase on the £800m they paid when purchasing the Reds in an £800m leveraged buy-out that split the club apart in May 2005.

The report, from Sunday Mirror Sport, speculates the Glazers want to retain 75 percent of the club, and thus, full control.

Glazers May Go Public with Man. U

According to The Times in London, The Glazer family, owners of Manchester United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, may go public with Man U. on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Marketwatch reports:

English football club Manchester United could have a GBP1.7 billion flotation in Hong Kong as its American owners study the possibility of the club's return to the public markets, the Sunday Times reports.

The report said the Glazer family have held talks with several investment banks on a plan to list the Premier League club on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It said advisers believe the strength of the club's brand and its following in Asia could attract a higher price for its shares in Hong Kong than in London.

However, the report also cited sources close to the discussions as saying that plans are still at an early stage and may come to nothing.

It said bankers have told the Florida-based Glazer family that the listing could value the club at GBP1.7 billion, or more than double the GBP790 million they paid for it in 2005 when the club was taken private.

A spokesman for the club couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Another Chapter in the Glazer Financial Saga

As the Associated Press reports, Manchester United posted a $171.5 million loss last season. Ouch.

The Glazer family, which is much more scrutinized in its role as owners of Man U. than they are in their role as owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are downplaying the numbers:

"But in the annual report for the year ending last June 30, director Joel Glazer
says the club has "sufficient cash reserves ... for investment in the playing
squad."

Read more here.

"I Guess the Glazers aren't Broke"

A quick follow-up to yesterday's post about the Glazers possibly selling Manchester United:

After the Bucs denied the report, news broke out of Chicago that Bryan Glazer was buying a $8.6 million condo.

That left 620 WDAE radio host Dan Sileo to Tweet me, "How funny..I guess the glazers aren't broke..wow."

British Tabloid Says Glazers Selling ManU

While its direct impact on the Bucs is unclear, The Sun in England is reporting this morning that the Glazer family will sell soccer team Manchester United, the more valuable, yet more indebted, of its two franchises. The Bucs have since dismissed the reports.

In recent months, other reports out of London indicated the Glazers were bleeding money on the team, but had begun paying off some of the debt, estimated as high as 100% of the value of the team.

The Sun reports that the Glazers will sell to "the Qatar royal family...in a ($2.3 billion) deal." Qatar, of course, just landed the 2022 World Cup.

If the report is true, the Glazers would double their investment on the team, leaving them with up to a billion dollars cash profit after paying off their ManU loans. That's money they could sink back into the Bucs...or pay Bryan's enormous Davis Islands water bill.

Report: Glazers Pay Down Huge Debt

If a 6-3 record wasn't enough to get Buccaneers fans excited, how about this sign that the team's owners may be doing better financially than previously indicated?

A person familiar with the situation says Manchester United's American owners have agreed to pay off more than a third of the club's debts.

The person says payment-in-kind (PIK) loans of around 220 million pounds (S$460.8 million) will be paid off by the Glazer family, which owns the club. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement is yet to be made.

United is set to confirm the repayment of the loan in the latest set of accounts for Red Football Joint Venture on Tuesday.

The loans carry an interest rate of 16.25 per cent and fueled fans' protests against the Glazers.

After repaying the PIK loans, the club would still have debts of around 520 million pounds.

United had no debts before Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer took control in 2005.