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Chapter 370 The Master of Manchester United?

Aside from baseball and American football, of the four major American sports leagues, only the NHL (National Hockey League) remains, which the private equity department has not yet invested in.

Based on the materials submitted by the private equity team, there is no investment plan for NHL teams. The documents have prominent question marks for the sectors selected for NHL teams, which clearly indicates that suitable targets that meet the investment criteria have not yet been identified.

Ernst wasn't very knowledgeable in this area either. He had never watched a single ice hockey game, didn't even understand the basic rules, let alone the competitive landscape or operating model of the league.

However, compared to ice hockey, Ernst and his private equity department had significant differences of opinion regarding the selection of investment targets in the football sector.

The private equity department focused its efforts on the Italian Serie A, recommending investments in Serie A teams. After all, Serie A's reputation as a "mini-World Cup" has a strong global appeal, and it's not just for show.

It brings together many world-class stars; however, the sophistication of its tactics and the influence of the event are both at the top level globally.

"I see Napoli and Sampdoria listed as potential acquisition targets?"

This was something Ernst hadn't expected; the names of these two teams would actually appear in the information.

Whether in baseball or rugby, Ralph always adheres to the principle of balancing heritage and strength, selecting teams with a long history, a strong fan base, and above-average competitive ability in the league.

As long as you are willing to invest money, it is a viable option to compete for the league championship in the short term, thereby rapidly increasing your commercial value.

However, in football, Napoli and Sampdoria, two teams that have long been on the verge of relegation, have appeared on the potential acquisition list, and are ranked very high.

In response to Ernst's question, Ralf offered his explanation: "Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan are three traditional powerhouses that are simply not feasible for acquisition. The owners of these three teams either need these clubs to increase their influence, or they are short of money."

"Meanwhile, top-ranked Serie A teams like Parma, Florence, and Lazio are in a phase of active investment, continuously increasing their spending on player recruitment and operations in recent years, resulting in a significant premium in market valuations for these teams."

"From a return on investment perspective, acquiring these teams is not a good option."

"On the other hand, Napoli and Sampdoria, although both teams are currently in poor form and have been struggling near the relegation zone for several seasons, it must be noted that they were once important members of the Serie A 'Seven Sisters' and still have a considerable fan base worldwide."

"These two teams are cheap, and more importantly, they are willing to sell. Napoli's financial situation is in dire need of external capital injection, and Italian oil tycoon Paolo Santovani has made it clear to Sampdoria that he has no intention of running the team. All of this has created favorable conditions for us to complete the acquisition at a lower cost."

Ernst is also a casual fan; he only started watching football after 2000.

Back then, Serie A was still in its heyday, and we often heard about the "Little World Cup" and the "Seven Sisters of Serie A".

He had always thought that the "Seven Sisters of Serie A" were the most competitive teams vying for the title in Serie A at the time, but today he realized that feelings were not the same thing at all.

The term "Seven Sisters of Serie A" originally referred to seven teams in Serie A that earned the name based on their outstanding performance in domestic and continental competitions during the late 80s to mid-90s.

It is Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Parma, Napoli, Sampdoria, and Florence.

The later mention of the "Seven Sisters of Serie A," although replacing Napoli and Sampdoria with Roma and Lazio, is a view outside of Italy.

Among Italian fans, only a very small minority acknowledge Roma and Lazio as part of the "Seven Sisters," while the vast majority firmly consider Napoli and Sampdoria as core members of the Serie A "Seven Sisters."

However, Ernst knew that Serie A teams wouldn't be around for many more years, and buying Serie A teams now meant buying at a high price; the Premier League was the best option for bargain hunting.

"Why not consider Premier League teams?"

Ernst sees no problem with the top five leagues excluding the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, as the global popularity of these two leagues is questionable regardless of their performance.

Although many challengers have emerged in La Liga, it is still largely a stage dominated by the two giants, and no outsiders have been able to enter and shake their position.

But why didn't any Premier League teams consider it?

This list includes six teams, four of which are from Serie A. The remaining two teams, Villarreal and Liverpool, are listed at the bottom and are clearly just there to make up the numbers.

Ralf seemed pessimistic about the Premier League, shaking his head and saying, "The Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 and the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 dealt a devastating blow to the Premier League. Although the ban has now been lifted, the league's recovery is slow, and no one can predict when the Premier League will be able to completely emerge from the shadow of these two tragedies."

"Moreover, from a competitive perspective, the long-term ban on European competitions has led to a widening gap between Premier League teams and top European teams, resulting in a significant decline in the league's competitiveness. At the same time, due to the weakening of the league's influence, world-class stars are generally unwilling to join Premier League teams, which has greatly constrained the improvement of team reputation and the accumulation of commercial value."

"Our goal in acquiring the team is to increase the value of our related products through the team, and from this point of view, the Premier League does not meet our goals."

"Unless Premier League teams can win the Champions League again in the future and prove the league's competitive strength, it will be difficult to attract the attention of fans around the world back to the Premier League."

As Ernst listened to Ralph's analysis, he maintained a calm expression on the surface, but his heart was in turmoil.

Is this fate's arrangement? The protagonist's halo? Was he destined to acquire Manchester United and become the savior of the Premier League?

A year later, didn't Manchester United bring the world's attention back to the Premier League and then become the world's number one league?

Moreover, Manchester United's final night was not only legendary, but also extremely newsworthy.

Popping champagne at halftime and turning the tide to win the championship have become classic moments in football history.

The commercial value and global influence that this championship brought to Manchester United is something that no other Champions League winner has been able to match in the decades that followed.

Manchester United's global fan base has experienced explosive growth, with significant increases in jersey sales, sponsorship revenue, and broadcasting revenue. This has further solidified the Premier League's passionate and energetic brand image, attracting a large number of new fans and laying a solid foundation for the rapid commercialization of the Premier League.

As fans have said, there are millions of Premier League fans, and half of them are die-hard Manchester United supporters, which shows how large a fan base Manchester United has accumulated with this Champions League title.

"I don't think so. I think a Premier League team is the best choice."

Now that they've decided on Manchester United, they need to find a way to persuade Ralf.

"Serie A matches are far more tactically driven than entertaining, making them too dull for new fans and hindering their entry into the scene. On the other hand, while the Premier League, from a professional perspective, cannot compare to Serie A at all—most teams rely on long balls and crosses—it's much more visually appealing."

"Why is sprinting exciting? Isn't it because of that ten-second burst of energy that gets your adrenaline pumping? Without intense competition and a fast pace, for new fans, football is just two teams passing the ball around in front of each other's goal in a boring way."

"Serie A emphasizes defense. It lacks the passionate clashes of the Premier League and the dazzling techniques of La Liga. The moment of scoring is wonderful, but you can't expect every game to be a high-stakes battle, can you?"

"If you were a new fan and knew nothing about tactics and strategy, which type of game would you choose to watch?"

Ernst's analysis made Ralph think deeply. As a seasoned investor who had been involved in private equity for many years, he knew all too well the importance of the user base, and fans were the core value support of sports assets.

Regardless of a team's current competitive strength, as long as it can continuously attract new fans, its future commercial value has unlimited potential. This theory also applies to the league.

Leaving aside the pursuit of tactical sophistication by industry insiders and seasoned fans, and focusing solely on the viewing needs of ordinary fans, the Premier League's style of play is clearly more appealing.

"So, your suggestion is to adjust the investment strategy and choose a Premier League team as an acquisition target?"

Although Ernst is not a professional, he is a successful person, and successful people have their own unique perspectives on things. Ralph is willing to take his advice into consideration.

Seeing that Ralf's attitude was softening, Ernst immediately stated clearly, "I think Manchester United is an ideal choice."

Seeing that Ralph was deep in thought again, Ernst decided to let him go back and think about it slowly, and turned his attention to the investment analysis report on the sporting goods industry.

He also listed many brands, among which Amer Sports and FILA were the two he was most familiar with.

More precisely, he is more familiar with Salomon and Arc'teryx, the two sub-brands that Amer Sports will acquire in the future.

I remember when Arc'teryx was all the rage, he spent almost a month's salary to buy one, but he regretted it as soon as he bought it.

Less than six months after I bought it, this bird became so ubiquitous on the street that even if you were wearing a pair of these expensive bird clothes, to outsiders it would just look like a cheap knock-off worth two hundred yuan.

The key issue isn't the bird, but that you don't have a car worth hundreds of thousands and a watch worth tens of thousands as matching equipment.

The authenticity of a bird isn't determined by its price, but by its expensive accessories.

Ernst didn't care about the sporting goods market. This field wasn't about the quality of the clothes or the brand's history; it was purely about the effectiveness of the marketing.

With a good marketing strategy, even a newly established brand can achieve explosive growth in a short period of time and become an industry giant with a market value of tens of billions of dollars.

Even with a long brand history and high-quality products, how many companies have been eliminated by the market if their marketing is poor?

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