Only a handful of football (aka ‘soccer’) clubs have ever developed a global brand. Forget tentative ‘worldwide’ support for the actual teams involved; these brands manifest themselves in the form of merchandise such as replica shirts and the assorted paraphernalia that goes along with this global sport-cum-business.

Of the household names in this particular liaison bridging football and leisure-wear retailing one can cite Real Madrid (Spain), or Bayern Munich (Germany), or Juventus (Italy), or Santos (Brazil) or Kidderminster Harriers (?). Or, of course, Britain’s Manchester United which, in publicly-listed financial terms at least, is the world’s biggest football (aka ‘soccer’) club.

It emerged today that Manchester United today fell under control of the entrepreneur Malcolm Glazer, best known for his ownership of the football (aka ‘not soccer’) team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Glazer’s bid, begun in earnest more than 18 months ago, values Manchester United at around US$1.5bn. Apart from demonstrating that there is an awful lot of money to be made from football (aka ‘soccer’), the deal sheds some uncomfortable light on the way in which sponsorship actually works.

Vodafone’s aggressive and extravagant attitude towards sports sponsorship has embraced football (aka ‘soccer’) in countries such as the UK and Japan (the Urawa Reds), horse racing (the Vodafone Derby), horsepower (Ferrari) and cricket (the England cricket team — well you can’t get it right every time) carries with it at all times a potential liability.

The hostility aroused by Glazer’s perfectly legitimate takeover of Manchester United plc — effigies have been burned, etc — now extends to the pledge by the football (aka ‘soccer’) club’s supporters to boycott the goods and services associated with the club, including those of the prominent shirt sponsor Vodafone.

This is sweetly ironic, representing what in football (aka ‘soccer’) parlance is known as a ‘double’. By sponsoring Manchester United, Vodafone managed to alienate one half of this large city whose allegiances are divided between United and its less successful counterpart, Manchester City. Now it has alienated its own half of the population, too! And while Manchester United enjoys a national and global fan base, those who have not fallen under the transient and hubristic spell of the football (aka ‘soccer’) club detest it with a vehemence. I’d put my shirt on it.

It is well known that one of the benefits of sports sponsorship is the guarantee of what, to adopt a phrase from the boxing world, are known as ‘ringside seats’. If manchester United’s diaspora have half the commitment espoused by their more zealous advocates, those boxes might become lonely and atmosphereless little places before too long.
Jim Chalmers

By the way, apologies to readers who have become irritated by the repeated ‘football (aka ‘soccer’)’ references in this article. It’s just in case Malcolm Glazer, or for that matter anyone from Vodafone, happens to be reading this.