Ok, I know their are people from all over the world here. I was reading an article on an EPL website and saw a reference to buying stock in Man U. Does anyone know anything about that?
Manchester United have a listing on the London Stock Exchange. The closing price yesterday was £1.24.
The 12-month high was £2.90, and the low was £1.18.
I can’t say whether or not the club is listed on another exchange.
thanks Nostradamus,
I saw that also. I found symbol mchuf on the bulletin boards here in the US. The pricing works out considering exchange rates and so forth. I was really looking for info more along the lines of do people buy it to make money or to support the team or is it a little bit of both? I guess I sort of answered my own question about can I buy it here in America which was going to be my next part.
There is at least one professional sports franchise in the U.S. that sells shares of stock to the public: the Boston Celtics.
But dividends have been small and infrequent, and the shares haven’t appreciated all that much. My guess is that when people buy shares in the Celtics, they’re not motivated by avarice! They just think it would be cool to be part “owner” of their favorite team.
random1, I think people buy shares in Manchester United for both of the reasons you mention.
I remember reading that J.P. McManus had bought a serious number of shares a while back.
McManus is a well known figure in horse racing circles this side of the Atlantic. He is a former bookmaker and lives in Switzerland as a tax exile. What he does for a living now, I’m not quite sure, but he is not short of money.
His shares in Manchester United would not have been bought for any other reason than a perceived sound investment.
Since we seem to be the only ones that are at all interested in this. I saw in that same article that MU own a bank and a finance company. One of the things that they were talking about was giving their customers bonuses based on the team’s performance. I am not trying to turn this into ask the english guy, but is that a common practice with the larger teams? And thanks again for your input.
I recall seeing a news item about Manchester United diversifying into finance.
Let me say that, as far as I am aware, such activities taking place under the aegis of a football club in this country are unusual, if not unique.
Manchester United are pretty much brand leaders in football in the UK. This is not so much because they are currently the most successful team, it is more to do with their worldwide support, and consequent large presence in the sports merchandising market.
They were, I think, the first English club to set up their own television channel (MUTV) which is subscription based.
The market capitalisation of the club was, until quite recently, greater than any other in Europe. They were overtaken by Bayern Munich of Germany at a time when European markets in general were looking bearlike.
These comments are drawn from memory, random1, and more people are going to be interested in your questions if I have my facts wrong. 
Great. A chance to correct my erroneous self before anyone else gets the chance.
random1, check out this piece from The Times for more accurate information regarding football clubs and financing.
There is also a Manchester United website which contains the relevant press release. Enter and then click on news.
It’s a little unclear to me - what does the “United” in “Manchester United” mean or refer to?
There’s an element of cause and effect as well: success on the pitch leads to more support, which leads to higher revenue, which gives you more money to buy and retain players, which leads to success on the pitch.
Anthracite,
“United” is a common name for English football teams: Leeds United, Sheffield United, Newcastle United, West Ham United, and so on. I’m not sure about Man U, but in some cases it indicates that a club was formed by the merger of two or more smaller clubs. This was the case with Sheffield United, which was formed by a merger of Hallam FC (the first football club in England) with some smaller local clubs. IIRC, Man U was originally called Small Heath FC, so it’s possible that they also merged with some other team(s).
That’s true. However, and strangely enough, Manchester United still commanded more support and affection overseas during their fallow periods in the 1970’s and 1980’s than, say, Liverpool who were the English team during that time.
I think that the Munich air crash in 1958, in which many United players perished, put the club into the public consciousness in many countries. That is just my opinion.
This is from Brewer’s Names:
Manchester United: *The famous football club was formed in the 1870’s as the L and Y Railway Football Club, so named as its players were employees of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company. In 1878 they became *Newton Heath *after the company’s main Manchester depot. In 1902, facing liquidation, the club was rescued by a local brewer and turned into *Manchester United.
Small Heath is a district of Birmingham, and is the former name of Birmingham City Football Club.