Manchester United Economic Impact
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Manchester United’s Economic Impact
By Dalton Truax
For Mike Pearson
Sports Marketing & Management
28 February 2013
Introduction
Manchester United is the most valuable sports club to exist so surely the club must make the city a lot of money every year, right? Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, and the most popular soccer club in the world is Manchester United. There is no denial that Manchester United has had a huge cultural impact as well as made many social contributions to its locale, but what about the team’s economic impact? Manchester United has influenced the local and regional economy in many ways, with most of them being exclusively positive. Some of the ways the club has influenced the local and regional economy are through networking, the economic impact of the supporters, employment, real estate, multiplier effects, and marketing of the city.
Networks, Suppliers, Supporters I will first focus on Manchester United’s economic impact through networking, suppliers, and attracted supporters. First and foremost, there is most definitely an economic impact as a result of networking and suppliers. Penn’s model illustrates how a soccer club can play a role in regional development, using three possible network types.[1] In the first model (Figure 1), the club operates as an isolated business. The development effect is limited to the income that is spent again in the local economy, the income multiplier. The second model (Figure 2) embodies the situation in which the club has relations with other local companies like suppliers, subcontractors, and others, where the club is the heart of the economical development. The given companies depend very much on the club. The last model (Figure 3) describes a network that does not exclusively depend on the soccer club. This is the case with the sponsor and merchandising network of Manchester United. Although the sponsor and merchandising networks are
Manchester United’s Economic Impact
By Dalton Truax
For Mike Pearson
Sports Marketing & Management
28 February 2013
Introduction
Manchester United is the most valuable sports club to exist so surely the club must make the city a lot of money every year, right? Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, and the most popular soccer club in the world is Manchester United. There is no denial that Manchester United has had a huge cultural impact as well as made many social contributions to its locale, but what about the team’s economic impact? Manchester United has influenced the local and regional economy in many ways, with most of them being exclusively positive. Some of the ways the club has influenced the local and regional economy are through networking, the economic impact of the supporters, employment, real estate, multiplier effects, and marketing of the city.
Networks, Suppliers, Supporters I will first focus on Manchester United’s economic impact through networking, suppliers, and attracted supporters. First and foremost, there is most definitely an economic impact as a result of networking and suppliers. Penn’s model illustrates how a soccer club can play a role in regional development, using three possible network types.[1] In the first model (Figure 1), the club operates as an isolated business. The development effect is limited to the income that is spent again in the local economy, the income multiplier. The second model (Figure 2) embodies the situation in which the club has relations with other local companies like suppliers, subcontractors, and others, where the club is the heart of the economical development. The given companies depend very much on the club. The last model (Figure 3) describes a network that does not exclusively depend on the soccer club. This is the case with the sponsor and merchandising network of Manchester United. Although the sponsor and merchandising networks are