07/08/2012
Message to Sponsors: Do You Really Want to Be Associated with the Glazers?
On the back of our campaign targeting the IPO banks (you sent over HALF A MILLION messages!) we're moving on to the sponsors. Sponsorship is a tricky subject, so let's be clear: MUST are not against commercial tie-ups. They provide a source of income for the club. The problem is that the majority of these funds are not being reinvested in the club. Instead they are wasted in interest on the self-inflicted debt or, worse, they go straight into the Glazers' pockets.
Our goal with this campaign is to explain to potential sponsors that their association with the Glazers puts them on the wrong side of the equation.
If you’d like to participate in the campaign, go to http://action.joinmust.org/clubmoney
Please help us by alerting your friends and contacts via Twitter, Facebook and whatever other means you have.
A copy of the email the sponsors will be receiving is below. Let us know what you think in the comments.
I am one of the millions of Manchester United fans you’ve been told about. Manchester United has told you I’m devoted to the club and, by association, I will therefore be devoted to you.
They’ve got half of that right.
I do care passionately about my club.
What they aren’t telling you is that I am angered by the on-going actions of the Glazers, the team’s owners. By association, I’m not going to be so fond of you.
The Glazers are using the money you’ve paid them to line their own pockets. Very little of your sponsorship money will benefit the team, the club or the fans.
You are effectively helping the Glazers in their quest to bleed our club dry.
For this reason I will never, ever, be loyal to your brand. In fact, as long as the Glazers remain in control and you do business with them, I’ll see you as part of the problem and will be avoiding your brand.
What can you do?
Talk to the Glazers.
Explain to them how to treat their customers and shareholders.
You know how important it is for a modern business to have a constant dialogue with its customers.
Ask them why they haven’t met or spoken with us about our legitimate concerns despite promises to do so in the seven years since they took over.
You know how important it is to offer value to shareholders.
Ask them then why they are about to launch an IPO where over half the proceeds will go into their own pockets, where ordinary shareholders are treated with disrespect and offered neither dividends nor real voting rights.
You know that good business strategy requires attending to the health of the business.
Ask them why, then, your sponsorship fees are being used to prop up their failing business empire and make them personally wealthy.
The Glazers are right about one thing. We are fiercely loyal to the club. We will never cast this loyalty aside when it comes to supporting and defending United. We will therefore do what we can to defend the club from the Glazers and their partners.
You should understand that by working with them the value of your sponsorship and expected ROI is limited.
But you have the power to change that.
Thank you.