The Glazers, Donald Trump, and a US problem for Manchester United

While the Donald Trump/Kamala Harris race for the White House divided a nation, for Manchester United owners, the Glazer family, they hedged their bets.

The United States has long been an important market for the Premier League and its biggest clubs, and United were the club to really begin the overseas summer tour in earnest in the early 2000s, their success under Sir Alex Ferguson giving them brand recognition Stateside, even if the game itself was struggling to cut through with an American audience.

Last week saw Republican Trump re-elected as US President, with the 78-year-old to take office in the White House in January.

According to the individual contributions list on the Federal Election Commission website, which details those who have donated money to political causes, Avram Glazer donated some $3.4m to the Harris bid, while Edward Glazer backed Trump’s bid for power to the tune of $2m.

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Playing both sides sees the Glazers hedge their bets a little when it comes to who is in the White House, with the incumbent having an impact on their business dealings, something which could come to pass with Trump and the Premier League when he takes office.

There is a reason why the US has been viewed as fertile ground. For decades, the US had been seen as a nut too tough to crack for English football despite its sports-obsessed population. The existence of several major leagues in various sports, such as the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL, meant that finding a way for ‘soccer’ to cut through was very difficult indeed.

But there has been a significant shift in attitude towards football in recent years. That has been shown in the increase in fandom of Premier League clubs in the US, which has, in turn, seen broadcast rights climb to £2bn in the most recent three-year cycle. That is expected to climb further for the next one.

Pre-season tours have become commonplace in America, from East to West coast, and the rumblings about taking a regular-season game over from the Premier League continue to persist. It’s hard to envisage that doesn’t happen at some stage.

Throw into the mix the World Cup being held in the US in 2026, not to mention the FIFA Club World Cup also arriving in the country from next year, and the path to growth is clear. There is a reason why many of the top European clubs have offices stateside.

Amid all of this, does it really matter who the President of the United States of America is? Well, it could turn out to be pretty significant.

Trump is, to put it mildly, divisive, and his rhetoric throughout his political career has been one of putting America first, ensuring that they are the best in class with less reliance on imports.

For England, there have been fewer more successful exports than the Premier League in recent years from an entertainment perspective. It has given the league global recognition and encouraging significant amounts of capital to flow into the country, whether that be from North America, Abu Dhabi, or Saudi Arabia and beyond. It has turned into a multi-billion pound industry that seeps into every facet of British life.

So, what of a Trump presidency? Why might it matter and what could some Premier League team owners be thinking right now?

Professor Simon Chadwick, an expert in global sports business and co-author of The Geopolitical Economy of Football, told the MEN: “Make America great again has long been Trump’s raison d’etre.

“Something like Premier League football is seen as very un-American. There are so many major US sports, including the WWE and UFC, and Trump used the latter to try and engage with new audiences during his run for office.

“One of the issues that clubs could face is that part of the Trump manifesto was imposing sanctions on imported goods. We don’t know what form those sanctions might take put it could be potentially 30% of the value of an imported item, raising the price significantly.

“It could move into impacting TV rights or through imposing tariffs on earnings generated on pre-season tours, which have been lucrative for clubs. All this risks taking money away from clubs.”

For clubs such as United, selling merchandise in the US is a lucrative endeavour, and one that is very important to their commercial business model. Sanctions could bite, and impact the potential growth of the Premier League in the US.

“Anything that constitutes an import into the US will be subject to some sanctions,” said Chadwick.

“Suddenly, a shirt value could be inflated by import taxes by some 30%. That will be passed on to the customer in the form of higher prices. When an NFL jersey or NBA jersey costs £70, for example, and a Premier League shirt costs £100, it presents a problem for the league and clubs as it creates an added cost barrier to growing fan bases.

“Trump won’t want to see US money being spent on supporting overseas sporting teams when they have several major leagues in his country, and an MLS that they will want to see grow. So, for clubs, it could be impactful.

“Some owners have already made their allegiances known. Bill Foley (Bournemouth owner) is a major Trump supporter, Boehly (Chelsea co-owner) supported the Trump campaign through his support of Republican US House of Representatives member Patrick McHenry during his re-election campaign.

“The Glazers made donations to both the Trump and Harris bids, indicating they were hedging their bets a little. It is likely, though, that some will be concerned about the ramifications of a Trump victory for their US plans.”