Owning Manchester United would represent a useful sponsorship opportunity for Elon Musk
(Picture: ES Composite)A long-standing joke has become a possible reality. Elon Musk is reportedly considering putting in a bid for Manchester United, after the Glazer family put the club up for sale in November 2022.
The soft deadline of February 17 for initial offers is fast approaching. Musk had better pop on his prototype Neuralink and get thinking about this one.
The more serious bidders for the club are expected to be Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe and a group of Qatari investors. But would it be such a bad idea for Elon Musk to dive in? Let’s investigate some reasons.
Why would Elon Musk buy Manchester United?
The first comes down to cold, hard cash. Current Manchester United owners the Glazer family are reportedly looking for at least £5 billion for the club, but a September 2022 Forbes valuation put the club’s worth at $4.6 billion (£3.7 billion).
According to recent reports, Musk is considering putting in a bid of £4.5 billion. And he is one of the few conspicuously public figures who could lay down that sort of money.
He paid $44 billion for Twitter in October 2022 with the help of some investor friends including Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Waleed bin Talal, who was in line to buy the club in 1999.
Although £4.5 billion doesn’t sound all that much when you consider Elon Musk’s personal fortune has dropped by an estimated £152 billion since November 2021. The drop made Musk a Guinness World Record holder as the man to experience the largest fall in personal fortune in history.
Sport as a reputation builder
He may as well make these big moves while he still can. But perhaps Manchester United and football club ownership could turn things around for Musk, and alter his public image for the better.
Watching little acts of foolishness and stupidity on his part has been a unique experience. For example, after smoking weed on the Joe Rogan Experience video podcast in 2018, Tesla stocks dropped 6%. There were calls for him to resign as CEO, that his personal instability was an unsuitable pairing for the car-maker.
That hasn’t really changed, has it? However, club ownership has done nothing but improve the public profile of Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who acquired Wrexham AFC in 2021 for £2m.
Can’t you picture Elon Musk in the sidelines, cheering on his team with the passion that drips from actors Reynolds and McElhenney? OK, us neither, but there’s another angle.
The power of sponsorship
Musk owns brands that are perfect for a spot on a Manchester United shirt. Twitter and Tesla are two of the most recognised brands in the world.
In 2012 Manchester United signed a $599 million seven-year deal with Chevrolet that got the company’s logo on players’ shirts. The company withdrew from Europe entirely a year later. At least you can actually buy a Tesla in the UK – it’s a perfect fit.
These brands could do with a cycle of good old Qatar-grade sports washing too. A monsoon of negative Twitter headlines has turned off advertisers in droves, reducing the platform’s revenue by 40% – and don’t forget Musk only took over Twitter in late October.
Tesla stocks today are just 60% of what they were in September 2022, in part thanks to reputational damage caused by Musk, and their bounce back could do with a shot in the arm.
What could do just that? Famous footballers driving Teslas. This is also one of the few ways a Musk takeover of Manchester United could actually have a positive impact on society.
If a few of the footballers who usually swan around in giant Range Rovers or luxury Mercedes Benz saloons – if not something more exotic – would switch to electric, perhaps Tesla could further speed up the public’s falling out with the internal combustion engine. Although £4.5 billion is a lot to spend on a Tesla ad campaign, it might not be the strangest move Musk has made in the last 12 months.
