Money without trophies: Defining success in football. Manchester United’s post-2013 experience on the football pitch cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called a success. The departure of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson created a void at the club, one that none of his successors has been able to fill. For the most successful team in Premier League history, the trophies dried up, title hopes faded, and laughter replaced envy among rival fans. And yet, Manchester United can still mount a strong case for being one of the top three biggest clubs in the world alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona. In 2018 they comfortably had the third-largest online fanbase and during the 2017/18 season they were the highest earning club in the world, according to Deloitte’s Football Money League. And with a stock market cap of around USD 4.12 bn, they are the second most valuable sports team in the world behind only the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. If the club’s poor performances become further entrenched though, continued financial success may not be sustainable, the FT writes.

Record revenues: Despite the hardships faced by the club on the pitch, United’s earnings have continued to break club records with each passing season with TV rights and sponsorship agreements. It seems that in the 21st century, football teams may not require sporting success to become successful financially. Taking it straight from the horse’s mouth: “Playing performance doesn’t really have a meaningful impact on what we can do on the commercial side of the business,” the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward told analysts last year.

Is money really enough? The club may be in for a wake-up call if on-pitch results do not begin to improve. Failing to reach the Champions League for two successive seasons would activate a clause in the club’s 10-year, GBP 750 mn Adidas contract that would see club will miss out on GBP 21 mn for each year it is outside the competition. And although the United brand is well established, Deutsche Bank analysts say that it could take damage if the team is not regularly featured in the top competitions. Besides, even if financial success is truly detached from on-field performance, for football fans should beg the question: Is money really enough? “We need to win,” United CFO Cliff Baty told the FT. “And we won’t need to win just to be successful [commercially], we just need to win because ultimately that’s our raison d’être.”