Member Article

Manchester United brand affected by troubled season

The Manchester United ‘brand’ is no longer as valuable as it used to be, a report from Brand Finance has found, with the value of the club down $98m, following what it describes as ‘a weak season’.

Brand Finance is an international independent intangible asset valuation consultancy founded in 1996. It has a global network of offices and partners in 20 countries worldwide.

The company defines brand value as the cost another party would have to pay to license the use of a brand. To calculate that cost the consultancy looked at a range of factors, including the mix of revenue, value of squad, and club heritage.

In its analysis, Brand Finance warned that Manchester United’s value could “plunge” as sponsors turn away from the club. The brand’s value is now assessed as being worth $739m (£439m), while its AAA+ brand rating has also slipped to AAA.

Despite this, the Old Trafford club is still the third most valuable football brand, after Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

For the three months to the end of March, Manchester United reported profits of £11m, up from £3.6m a year ago. The club also posted record revenues of £115.5m for the period.

The Brand Finance report warned, however, that if things continue at the current state, Manchester City will soar, while Manchester United will continue to drop.

The report stated: “Provided it can navigate further significant sanctions for breaches of financial fair play regulations and manage with a restricted squad in Europe, City’s brand could soon be a far more enticing prospect than United’s for sponsors and fickle international fans.”

For several years Manchester United was football’s most valuable brand. Then in 2013, they were overtaken by Bayern Munich.

The German club is now followed by the latest winners of the Champions League, Real Madrid. The Spanish club’s brand gained $147 million in value - to $768 million. Real already boasts the biggest sales of any football team.

Below United come Barcelona, rated fourth, followed by Manchester City (5th), Arsenal (6th), Chelsea (7th) and then Liverpool in 8th place.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .