This week, the A-Level and IB Business students visited Manchester United Football Club’s famous Old Trafford ground – not to see a football match but to attend a business marketing presentation by MUFC’s own Education Department. The first stop of the day was at the Man United history museum, where the students saw the highlights of its history and how the organisation has developed over the years. The hall dedicated to the Munich disaster of 1958 was very impressive and sorrowful. After a short break, the students went straight into the Marketing talk.
During the presentation, they were told that when a player is bought, they take into consideration not only how it affects the team on the pitch, but also how it affects the business in terms of marketing. As an example, they explained about how Paul Pogba signed a contract with Manchester United which was worth ₤89.3 Million, in contrast to the acquisition of Zlatan Ibrahimovich who joined the club on a free transfer, yet both players generated massive income through their merchandising. The acquisition of Zlatan resulted in earnings of ₤100 Million with shirt sales alone.
Manchester United offers its own TV channel, which is available to at least 200,000 people in the UK every day. It was explained that Amazon has offered to buy MUTV for ₤3.8 Billion. The reason for this is because Amazon knows that MUTV is a great source of marketing and income for the company, which is good as it can expand its market if they gain access to the MUFC brand. Watch this space!
After the talk, the students went on a stadium tour and were excited to feel the atmosphere of the stadium, even when it is empty. Afterwards, they visited the footballers’ dressing room and imagined what it was like being a superstar of the Manchester United team.
Overall, the Manchester United Old Trafford trip was a great opportunity to get new knowledge about how the football business turned out to be so successful and how the MUFC brand has such a truly global reach.
By Year 12 students, Sina Sitt (Rose), Sidney Hankinson (Dolphin) and Ekaterina Kuzina (Dolphin)
