The Glazers: The reason behind their recent interest in Indian cricket

Manchester United’s majority owners, the Glazer family, have never been far from controversy, yet their appetite for high-return sports assets remains undimmed. Despite two decades of supporter unrest at Old Trafford and fresh protests against both the Glazers and minority partners Ineos at the start of this month, the Americans have extracted an estimated £1.4 billion from the club through dividends, management fees and partial stake sales, according to The Athletic.

That financial windfall appears to be fuelling a new frontier: Indian cricket. After narrowly missing out on an Indian Premier League franchise in 2021, the family pivoted to acquire the Desert Vipers in the UAE-based ILT20. Now Avram Glazer is back at the IPL table, simultaneously bidding for Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, two of the league’s most marketable sides. Industry insiders value the Royals at upwards of $1.2 billion and the Bengaluru outfit at around $1.8 billion.

For an American dynasty rooted in the NFL—owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since 1995—cricket may seem an unlikely play. Yet the numbers are persuasive. Gareth Balch, chief executive of global sports-marketing firm Two Circles, notes that cricket has been the fastest-growing sport among the world’s top 20 properties this century, powered almost entirely by the 20-over format. “The IPL is the biggest shooting star in global sport right now,” Balch says. “Franchise valuations have multiplied by 10 since 2008, underpinned by India’s demographics.”

Those demographics are impossible to ignore. India’s 1.4 billion citizens, a surging economy and an insatiable appetite for televised cricket translate into guaranteed revenue streams. Mike Fordham, the former ECB executive who helped launch The Hundred, points to the IPL’s $1.2 billion annual media-rights deal, split equally among franchises, as a near-bond-like security for owners. “Because it’s the biggest entertainment property in India, that figure is likely to rise when the contract comes up for renewal in about a year,” Fordham adds. “It’s must-have TV content.”

The Glazers are also betting on cricket’s latent potential in the United States, where a burgeoning South Asian diaspora could accelerate the sport’s traction and, by extension, the value of IPL brands they hope to control.

Whether supporters in Manchester or Tampa like it, the family’s formula is consistent: identify leagues with explosive commercial upside, secure a seat at the table early, and allow escalating broadcast deals to do the heavy lifting. India, with its unrivalled combination of population, passion and profitability, is simply the next logical destination for an ownership group that has always followed the money.