No, Apple Isn't Planning to Buy Manchester United

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Plant specific information accessible to a select group of people. When it appears, you know who leaked it.

Similar to this:

Apple also made changes to its internal development process to prevent software leaks. Within the internal files of iOS 15 beta 1, each major feature introduced this year has a unique identifier (also known as a flag) that is associated with a “disclosure requirement.” Throughout the internal development of iOS 15, this allowed Apple to enable only certain features and changes for certain engineers and designers, thus reducing the number of Apple employees who knew the details about iOS 15 changes.

I could have sworn the false info trick was used by Apple, but my google skills could not locate it.

It’s just a theory of mine. I have no proof. Something to think about.

 

[haplain]

Doesn't see to make much sense but when you have the kind of cash Apple has, I guess why not...?

 

[Duncan-UK]

They weren't allowed. https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...ter-united-how-bskyb-nearly-bought-red-devils

Yes but that was nothing to do with the Premier League - that was the (then) government stepping in - probably politically motivated because of Murdoch owning Sky at that time.

 

[yekta1]

I know Apple buying a football team is a joke but at this point I rather ISIS as the owner than useless Glazers.

 

[4odomi]

It initially came from a reputable British newspaper reporter (not daily star)

Daily star is not a reputable publication in Britain, most of the media in Britain is as reputable as most of the media in the USA, sadly it's a theme now in the Western World 😏

 

[4odomi]

Apple is not currently planning to purchase Premier League club Manchester United, according to a source familiar with the matter.

A report earlier today from British tabloid The Daily Star claimed that Apple had expressed an interest in buying Manchester United for around $7 billion, but our source with direct knowledge of the situation said the report is false.

Manchester United has been majority owned by the Glazer family since 2005. The club announced on Tuesday that its board planned to "explore strategic alternatives," including a potential sale of the club. The news came on the same day that Manchester United announced that star player Cristiano Ronaldo would be leaving the club.

While it has no plans to buy Manchester United, Apple has been pushing into sports content. The company partnered with the MLB to air a weekly "Friday Night Baseball" doubleheader on Apple TV+ during the 2022 regular season, and it will be the exclusive provider of MLS games for the next 10 years. Apple is reportedly also considered a frontrunner for streaming rights to the NFL's Sunday Ticket package starting next season.

Article Link: No, Apple Isn't Planning to Buy Manchester United

Not sure how anyone could believe this story, then again a lot of people buy into fake news these days 😒

 

[4odomi]

What a load of nonsense. Fans and "journalists" desperate for clicks for their toilet paper publications.

Funnily enough no mention of FSG-owned Liverpool who are also up for sale and a far more attractive proposition, lower price, zero debt with a redeveloped iconic stadium (unlike leaky OT) and both historically and recently, the more successful English club and European giant.

It's laughable really to even suggest a company buyout like Apple. It's all hedge fund consortiums vs oil state sovereign wealth funds now, and even that will be one-sided very soon.

The only reason Man Utd announced the sale, was to scupper or at least dilute the interest in Liverpool

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Amazon, Apple none of them will get involved it would be too much of conflict of interest. Particularly for Amazon who hold UK broadcast rights for the premier league.

 

[Duncan-UK]

Yes but that was nothing to do with the Premier League - that was the (then) government stepping in - probably politically motivated because of Murdoch owning Sky at that time.

@pauloregan. Not sure why the smirking smilie. It was the government via the MMC. Nothing to do with PL rules.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

@pauloregan. Not sure why the smirking smilie. It was the government via the MMC. Nothing to do with PL rules.

To be fair part of the reason the Monopolies and Mergers Commission blocked the Sky takeover was mainly due to Sky being a TV rights holder and concerns that the deal would adversely effect competition for TV rights.

 

[eifelbube]

Apple is not currently planning to purchase Premier League club Manchester United, according to a source familiar with the matter.

A report earlier today from British tabloid The Daily Star claimed that Apple had expressed an interest in buying Manchester United for around $7 billion, but our source with direct knowledge of the situation said the report is false.

Manchester United has been majority owned by the Glazer family since 2005. The club announced on Tuesday that its board planned to "explore strategic alternatives," including a potential sale of the club. The news came on the same day that Manchester United announced that star player Cristiano Ronaldo would be leaving the club.

While it has no plans to buy Manchester United, Apple has been pushing into sports content. The company partnered with the MLB to air a weekly "Friday Night Baseball" doubleheader on Apple TV+ during the 2022 regular season, and it will be the exclusive provider of MLS games for the next 10 years. Apple is reportedly also considered a frontrunner for streaming rights to the NFL's Sunday Ticket package starting next season.

Article Link: No, Apple Isn't Planning to Buy Manchester United

aahh, too bad … Ted Lasso could have become Erik ten Hag#s assistant coach and eventually …

 

[IbisDoc]

Would make sense for Apple to do this.

Mobile Operating System Market Share Asia | Statcounter Global Stats

This graph shows the market share of mobile operating systems in Asia based on over 5 billion monthly page views.

gs.statcounter.com

Top 10 Football Clubs With The Most Fans In Asia - Top Soccer Blog

Football, like in other parts of the world, is hugely popular in Asia. The region which boasts the…

topsoccerblog.com

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Whilst it could well be baloney. Acquiring Man Utd would give Apple a global presence in the world’s most popular sport. It would also provide a platform from which to build an international business in sports programming, alongside the programming it already offers via its service. By owning Man Utd, the company could relatively easily make a bid to broadcast Premier League matches on a global basis. That would help to sell an awful lot of Apple TV subscriptions and phones across the world. The support Man Utd have in Asia and India is phenomenal. Man Utd are a global brand themselves who make a huge amount of money from merchandise, sponsorship and tv rights. The Glazers somehow mortgaged the club without a deposit, never invested and only taken money out. Run properly Man Utd are a cash cow.

What you say is the exact opposite of what would help them. If they bought Man Utd then they would not be able to get the TV rights because it would be a conflict of interest. TV rights holders have the possibly of being the biggest or at least one of the biggest commercial partnerships of the Premier League. The other 19 clubs would not be happy with Man Utd being owned by the same company who wants to do TV deals with the Premier League. It simply wouldn’t be allowed.

As for Man Utd being supported well in Asia, well a similar case could be made for Benfica in Latin America, as well as other clubs elsewhere. Apple would gain nothing from owning Man Utd which couldn’t be gained by entering a commercial/sponsorship deal with them.


The price of Man Utd is rumoured to be $5bn-$8bn. That’s is high compared to Apple’s highest purchase of another company, Beats for $3bn. Add on top of this that it would cost between $1.5bn-$2bn for a new stadium and training ground which is needed, and the price goes to over $10bn.


You also have to factor in that football (soccer) outside of the USA is massively tribal, especially in the U.K. So typically your rival supporters would where possible boycott major sponsors of your club. So typically this would mean that Man City’s supporters, would not buy Apple products. So therefor you have lost half the city as potential or even existing clients. But Man Utd is unique, because of their success in the past, they have rivalaries with other clubs, like Liverpool, and Arsenal. Further to this though, they are in a unique position where fans from every club in England hate them, down to years of of bad sportsmanship etc. So you have literally lost millions of football fans from being clients, and in the U.K. unlike the USA, football is the number 1 sport and our sports fans rarely support more than 1 sport.
For a company as big and as prominent to buy a team like Man Utd, would be a very bad choice in the U.K. market, and I do believe that the U.K. market is the 3rd largest market for Apple, outside of the USA, and China.

Literally everything about this rumour does not make sense and is contradictory to Apple’s market aims and their previous business behaviour.

 

[Gudi]

The way Tim Cook is running the company it wouldn't surprise me if he did.

At least Tim didn't force download a U2 album on every iTunes user like Steve did.

 

[MacGizmo]

Wait. What fool actually thought, for even a second, that Apple would BUY a sports team?

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Wait. What fool actually thought, for even a second, that Apple would BUY a sports team?

Probably, the same fools who thought Apple would never buy rights to showcase Major League Baseball or pay to have exclusive rights to broadcast the MLS for 10 years.

 

[MacGizmo]

Probably, the same fools who thought Apple would never buy rights to showcase Major League Baseball or pay to have exclusive rights to broadcast the MLS for 10 years.

I don't think anyone thought that... it makes perfect sense to buy broadcast rights for sports for a product/service they actually sell. I would venture to say that many people thought it was only a matter of time.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I don't think anyone thought that... it makes perfect sense to buy broadcast rights for sports for a product/service they actually sell. I would venture to say that many people thought it was only a matter of time.

But buying the club also makes sense. I am a MU fan and have followed the club for the last 20+ years. Manchester United is not just another sports franchise. ManU in European Football are considered to be the equivalent to the NY Yankees in baseball, the LA Lakers/Boston Celtics in basketball or Dallas Cowboys in the NFL.

Apple would be buying a sports franchise that would be seen as a positive long term investment because its value would only increase.

 

[IbisDoc]

What you say is the exact opposite of what would help them. If they bought Man Utd then they would not be able to get the TV rights because it would be a conflict of interest. TV rights holders have the possibly of being the biggest or at least one of the biggest commercial partnerships of the Premier League. The other 19 clubs would not be happy with Man Utd being owned by the same company who wants to do TV deals with the Premier League. It simply wouldn’t be allowed.

As for Man Utd being supported well in Asia, well a similar case could be made for Benfica in Latin America, as well as other clubs elsewhere. Apple would gain nothing from owning Man Utd which couldn’t be gained by entering a commercial/sponsorship deal with them.


The price of Man Utd is rumoured to be $5bn-$8bn. That’s is high compared to Apple’s highest purchase of another company, Beats for $3bn. Add on top of this that it would cost between $1.5bn-$2bn for a new stadium and training ground which is needed, and the price goes to over $10bn.


You also have to factor in that football (soccer) outside of the USA is massively tribal, especially in the U.K. So typically your rival supporters would where possible boycott major sponsors of your club. So typically this would mean that Man City’s supporters, would not buy Apple products. So therefor you have lost half the city as potential or even existing clients. But Man Utd is unique, because of their success in the past, they have rivalaries with other clubs, like Liverpool, and Arsenal. Further to this though, they are in a unique position where fans from every club in England hate them, down to years of of bad sportsmanship etc. So you have literally lost millions of football fans from being clients, and in the U.K. unlike the USA, football is the number 1 sport and our sports fans rarely support more than 1 sport.
For a company as big and as prominent to buy a team like Man Utd, would be a very bad choice in the U.K. market, and I do believe that the U.K. market is the 3rd largest market for Apple, outside of the USA, and China.

Literally everything about this rumour does not make sense and is contradictory to Apple’s market aims and their previous business behaviour.

The Asian smartphone market is massively larger than the UK market, so I would doubt that a potential boycott by rival football fans would play any role in the company’s decision to purchase. Furthermore, the “boycott by rival fans” possibility has never affected United, as they routinely sign record sponsorship deals. Only the club’s performance on the pitch affects the size of those deals.

 

[Pezimak]

The Daily Star? And people believed it? 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 must have been an interesting story amongst the nude women in that rag 😂😂.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

At least Tim didn't force download a U2 album on every iTunes user like Steve did.

Um, Jobs had been dead for three years when that happened.

 

[MacGizmo]

Um, Jobs had been dead for three years when that happened.

People have a lot of "memories" of Steve Jobs... many of which aren't memories, but figments of their imagination.

I think most people probably think that happened when Steve Jobs introduced the four versions of the U2 iPod (2004-2006).

But as you pointed out, the forced album debacle actually happened years later when Tim Cook introduced the iPhone 6 (2014). U2 performed The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) at the event, then announced that their album would be automatically deposited into the account of every one of the 500 million+ iTunes subscribers a full month before it went on sale.

I remember it was years before that album stopped automatically appearing in my iTunes account. I like U2, but I'm not that big of a fan that I wanted a full album of songs I had never heard taking up space on my storage drive.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

But buying the club also makes sense. I am a MU fan and have followed the club for the last 20+ years. Manchester United is not just another sports franchise. ManU in European Football are considered to be the equivalent to the NY Yankees in baseball, the LA Lakers/Boston Celtics in basketball or Dallas Cowboys in the NFL.

Apple would be buying a sports franchise that would be seen as a positive long term investment because its value would only increase.

How will it only increase in value?
Total commercial revenue for Man Utd last year was £600m, that’s total, not profit. Currently the biggest deal on the table is the TV rights from the Premier League. That is priced at £100m. There is scope for it to increase, but I doubt it will much as lower league clubs are wanting a bigger share of the TV money. So over 20 years I wouldn’t expect it to increase to more than £140m-£150m. That is about the same rate as the last 20 years by the way.
The European Super League was rejected by fans, and politicians. It is also going to court and we’ll soon see it disappear forever.

The Glazers are selling because they have maxed out the value of the club, and it is harder to compete which will sooner or later mean it will be harder to maintain the large commercial deals the club has. Not only this but arguably the last Middle Eastern state wanting to throw money at football has bought Newcastle United a year ago. This means that sellers are going to harder to come across. Chelsea got sold in the summer to consortium, and now Liverpool are up for sale. The amount of people coming together to buy a football club is growing smaller.

Aside from large expenses, Apple would gain nothing from owning Man Utd or indeed any other football club that they couldn’t get from commercial deals.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

👇People have a lot of "memories" of Steve Jobs... many of which aren't memories, but figments of their imagination.

I think most people probably think that happened when Steve Jobs introduced the four versions of the U2 iPod (2004-2006).

But as you pointed out, the forced album debacle actually happened years later when Tim Cook introduced the iPhone 6 (2014). U2 performed The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) at the event, then announced that their album would be automatically deposited into the account of every one of the 500 million+ iTunes subscribers a full month before it went on sale.

I remember it was years before that album stopped automatically appearing in my iTunes account. I like U2, but I'm not that big of a fan that I wanted a full album of songs I had never heard taking up space on my storage drive.

FWIW this was much worse than the album

 

[Heat_Fan89]

How will it only increase in value?
Total commercial revenue for Man Utd last year was £600m, that’s total, not profit. Currently the biggest deal on the table is the TV rights from the Premier League. That is priced at £100m. There is scope for it to increase, but I doubt it will much as lower league clubs are wanting a bigger share of the TV money. So over 20 years I wouldn’t expect it to increase to more than £140m-£150m. That is about the same rate as the last 20 years by the way.
The European Super League was rejected by fans, and politicians. It is also going to court and we’ll soon see it disappear forever.

The Glazers are selling because they have maxed out the value of the club, and it is harder to compete which will sooner or later mean it will be harder to maintain the large commercial deals the club has. Not only this but arguably the last Middle Eastern state wanting to throw money at football has bought Newcastle United a year ago. This means that sellers are going to harder to come across. Chelsea got sold in the summer to consortium, and now Liverpool are up for sale. The amount of people coming together to buy a football club is growing smaller.

Aside from large expenses, Apple would gain nothing from owning Man Utd or indeed any other football club that they couldn’t get from commercial deals.

It should increase in value because the Glazers have neglected the Club and facilities including the Stadium. That is according to CR7 and confirmed by Gary Neville and Roy Keane. There is also a toxic environment with the fanbase because of the Glazers.

Once the new owners invest in the Club and infrastructure the value can only go up, especially if the product on the pitch is successful. They are trending in that direction with Eric Ten Hag.

This is no different than selling a house. You fix it ip and the value usually goes up. This is one of the storied franchises in the EPL, so there’s value there already. Now if this were Brighten, Bolton or a Sheffield, then a case could be made that the investment might not bring much higher value.