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Late last year, the US-based owners of Manchester United, a soccer team in the United Kingdom’s Premier League, decided to sell the team. Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the son of Qatar’s former prime minister, is trying to buy the team.
When Manchester United is sold, the price is expected to set a record as the most expensive sports business. The team’s current owners, the Glazer family, hope to get around 7 billion pounds ($8.42bn) for the team.
Manchester United has been Premier League champions a record 20 times. The team has more than 650 million fans around the world.
Money to pay for the team would come from Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation. The Nine Two Foundation would invest in the football team, the training center, the stadium, and other infrastructure.
The Qatari’s bid is only one of the multiple offers that Manchester United received. The deadline to submit a bid was last Friday.
British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe who founded the chemical company INEOS is another person who bid on the team. Ratcliffe has been a fan of Manchester United his whole life and talked about buying the team in the past.
Saudi Arabia and some investment firms have also submitted bids to buy the team.
So far, the highest price ever for a sports business was $5.2bn in 2022 for Premier League soccer team Chelsea.
The Glazers bought Manchester United for 790 million pounds ($951m) in 2005.
Vocabulary
- US-based – located or operating in the United States
- Decide – to choose something; make a choice from many different options; choose; select
- Sheikh – A title/name given to leaders or rulers in certain Arab countries
- Former – previous; past; ex-; before; in the past
- Prime minister – the head or leader of an elected government of a country
- Expect – to think something will happen; forecast; predict; suppose
- Set a record – to achieve/accomplish/do something better or more significant than anyone has done before
- Champion – the winner 🏆
- Record – the most or least ever; the highest level ever; achieved for the first time
- Fan – a person who likes a sport or team; supporter; follower
- Around the world – worldwide; in many places in the world; in many countries
- Invest – put money into; spend money on a project or business
- Infrastructure – equipment/structures for a city or society (roads, railroads, bridges, power plants, etc.)
- Qatari – A person from Qatar; something of/from or relating to Qatar
- Bid – an offer to do something when you are competing with other people to do it; an offer of money to buy something; an attempt or effort to achieve something
- Offer – an amount of money that someone is ready to pay for something; bid
- Deadline – a specific time or date that something must be completed or submitted; time limit
- Submit – to present or hand over something to be judged, considered or graded; propose; put forward;
- Billionaire – a person who has more than one billion dollars
- Founded – started; began; created
- Investment firm – a company that invests money from its clients or shareholders and tries to make more money for the clients; financial institution; bank
- So far – until now; up to the present moment or time
Quiz
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think wealthy people invest in sports businesses like Manchester United? Do they do it for the potential profits, their personal passion for sports, or something else?
- In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of an investment firm or a foreign person or company owning a popular sports team like Manchester United?
- Do you think that the government should set limits on how much investors can spend on purchasing sports teams? Why or why not? Could the high cost of buying the team be passed on to the fans?
Original Story
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