Manchester United has become the worlds' most valuable sports team with a tag of more than $3 billion , Forbes magazine reports today
Shares of the English soccer team, offered to the public last August at $14, did poorly at first - but have soared the past few days, says Forbes. Last seen at just under $17, Manchester United’s stock has outperformed the S&P 500 since its IPO . It has "made the controlling Glazer family and legendary investor George Soros, who bought a big stake in the team shortly after it went public, wealthier."
The recent increase in it stock price rise has pushed up Manchester Untied’s enterprise value (equity plus debt) to $ $3.3 billion, the highest value of any team in the world. The world's second most valuable sports team are the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, worth $2.1 billion.
Says Forbes, "Despite a drop in first quarter earnings because of a reduction in television revenue, the appetite for shares of the 19-time English champion has increased due to better earnings, new sponsorship deals with Japan‘s Kansai, and China Construction Bank, and the potential of much more lucrative English Premiership (Manchester United currently is in first place) and Champions League payouts this year."
Says writer Mike Ozanian, "Publicly traded sports teams have traditionally been bad investments. But thus far the Red Devils are bucking history."