Football fans swooping to buy shares in big clubs like Manchester United could score an own goal.
Even Manchester United, boasting the biggest global fan base, is £423 million in debt despite the years of premier league and European glory with Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm.
Debt repayments on the borrowing are huge and threatening the club’s finances.
Floating on the New York Stock Exchange is even by owners the Glazer family as the best way of raising the cash they need to repay the borrowings.
But is football flawed at the grassroots for investors?
After all, it’s the players not the clubs that call the shots.
A staggering 70% of all income in the Premier League is channelled in to the bulging bank accounts of players – to the tune of £1.6 billion.
And although revenue was up 5%, that is mostly on the back of improved revenues from selling media rights.
Following the demise of former Premier League club Portsmouth and Scottish icon Rangers for unpaid tax bills, several other clubs are rumoured to be in the sights of HM Revenue & Customs over their pay arrangements with players that could signal payments of millions to the tax man.
Manchester United had first mooted a float on the Singapore Stock Exchange, but the club held back due to volatility in the markets.
Buying shares will not give supporters any control in the club as the Glazer family intend to issue two classes of shares – one for them and a lesser class for other shareholders.
In reality, the only winners in football are the players as owners and clubs juggle their debts.
Unless clubs push down wages or accept that they will not remain competitive if they do invest in the big names, players and their agents will simply keep upping their demands for an ever bigger slice of the profits without risk to themselves as if a club goes bust, they simply move on.
