Mr. Humby: Sport, in almost every club that exists, has a very strong association with its hometown. Manchester is one of the top three cities in England and has got a number of clubs. Manchester United, which was founded over 100 years ago, has been a leading football club in that city for many years. Its emergence as a sporting brand with worldwide recognition stems back to the late fifties The manager of that time, Sir Matt Busby, was creating a team of young, talented players who became known as the ‘Busby Babes.’ Tragically, on a return flight from an away match in Europe, the plane crashed and eight of those young men died. That tragedy caused a huge emotional reaction and an interest in the football club, Manchester United. Sir Matt Busby survived the crash, rebuilt the side and in 1968 Manchester United became the first English club to win the prestigious, European Cup. That heritage and the style of play that Sir Matt Busby pioneered is the essence of the Manchester United brand. In the 1990s a new competition in the UK was formed known as the Premiership, which became the leading league in English soccer. Manchester United was a founder of that. It coincided with both the floatation of Manchester United as a company and Sir Alex Ferguson as manager, leading the company to a period of unprecedented club success. Manchester United went on to win eight successive championships in eleven seasons. This success globalizes the fan base. We carried out some research two years ago and there are over 11million fans in United Kingdom who support and have an affinity with Manchester United. We believe that there are over 50 million fans worldwide, which have that affinity and 4 million of those are in the US. Now, part of our strategic goal is to build relationships with those fans as well as increase the value of our business by association with strong brands like Nike, Vodafone, Budweiser and Pepsi. TWST: Can you describe the competitive landscape? Mr. Humby: The heart of our business is the football team and the success of the football team on the playing field underpins the commercial success that we can then derive from it. There are 20 clubs in English premiership. One of them can win it. Four of them qualify for the prestigious “Champions League,” the European main club tournament and three of those get relegated to the lower divisions each season. Two or three others can qualify for lesser European tournaments. There is a very strong competition throughout the season. Right up towards the end of the season, teams are fighting to stay in the Premiership. Teams are fighting to get placed in Europe and teams are fighting to win the championship. That's what makes it a compelling television product. The team that can sustain their consistent performance over the whole season will end up winning the Premiership. Manchester United has won the Premiership 8 seasons out of the 11 years it has played in the Premiership. It is important to us to have a robust Premiership with teams that can compete; that’s what makes the television product exciting for the fans, that’s what fills the stadiums and a filled stadium enhances the TV viewing. After all, it is the medium of television that has leveraged our brand and exposed it to the new fans around the world.
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