Manchester United is planning to launch its television channel in the UAE before the end of this year as it looks to increase its fan base in the Middle East.
The Premiership football club announced the launch of Manchester United Television in Saudi Arabia at Gitex with partner Saudi Telecoms Company (STC), with the rights set to be extended to Bahrain and Kuwait.
“The UAE is not part of STC territory so we are exploring opportunities to find additional distribution in the UAE,” said David Sternberg, the head of media at Manchester United. “We are talking to potential distributors that can help complement the distribution with STC.”
FC Barcelona also launched a new mobile application today at Gitex with Cairo-based Tawasol to engage fans in the region.
“We are delighted to be one of the selected companies to partner with FC Barcelona and be able to support the club as it reaches out to fans across the world. Football is a game that stirs passions and gets hearts racing worldwide. With the FCB Studio app, supporters all over the world will live the Barça experience every day,” said Osama Moustafa, the chief executive of Tawasol.
While Manchester United struggled somewhat in the Premier League last season after the departure of long-standing manager Sir Alex Ferguson, things are looking up on the digital media side, according to Mr Sternberg.
“In terms of club media, we’ve continued to grow all our platforms in the last 18 months irrespective of the results on the field. Regardless of whether you are winning or losing, fans always have an opinion and want to interact with the club and learn what’s going on and engage with us.”
There are about 4 million Manchester United fans across the region. The club has 60 million followers on Facebook, of which 3.4 million are from Saudi Arabia.
“It is much more of a two-way discussion now,” said Mr Sternberg “Fans have a hunger for proximity to the club and it is important for the validation and reach of the club. It shows our sponsors and business sponsors with Manchester United that they are getting not just wider overall reach, but also the highest levels of engagement.”
Manchester United has websites in six languages including Arabic, the region is a significant one for the club and it was STC that produced the first mobile app for the team supplying fans with video, text alerts, images and audio feeds.
“Football is the No 1 sport in the region without a close second,” said Paul Venn, a partner at Race ME. “Brands want to be associated with that sport because it speaks directly with the Arab youth.”
The Middle East is a big growth market for football clubs alongside the Far East and the US. Europe is a domestically driven market and so opportunities are fewer for clubs that want to expand their reach. In the case of Manchester United, launching a television channel in the region is a way to globalise the brand and present itself as a global club that plays in England rather than be identified as an English football club only.
“Ultimately it is about commercialisation,” said Mr Venn. “They want to commercialise the brand name. It is so much more than just a sport, it is a bigger business. The international football clubs like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United dominate live TV coverage, they have a massive following and these clubs want to build a brand on a global team.”
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Company profile
Date started: Founded in May 2017 and operational since April 2018
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Scorecard:
England 458 & 119/1 (51.0 ov)
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company profile
Name: One Good Thing
Founders: Bridgett Lau and Micheal Cooke
Based in: Dubai
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 5 employees
Stage: Looking for seed funding
Investors: Self-funded and seeking external investors
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
