WHAT A SWEET DEAL Manchester United to receive $559M from GM-SOROS BUYS SHARES IN FOOTBALL CLUB TO THE TUNE OF 3.1 M DOLLARS.

The Obama Administration bailed out GM with taxpayer dollars screwed the GM stockholders enriching the Unions to keep GM from going bankrupt. Now GM sends 559 million US Tax dollars to an overseas team for shirt sponsorship. If the government is going to spend our tax dollars bailing out companies who have inept management, the least they could do is not screw the stock holders and insert a codicil that the monies have to be spent within the USA. be ###

NEW YORK (AP) -- Manchester United will receive $559 million under its seven-year shirt sponsorship agreement with General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet division.

Chevrolet takes over from the insurer Aon starting with the 2014-15 season. Manchester United said it will receive $70 million during the first season of the new deal.

The agreement was signed July 26 and announced Monday. The financial details were disclosed by the soccer team Friday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as part of Manchester United's planned initial public offering of stock.

United said the payment will increase 2.1 percent annually during the deal, which runs through the 2020-21 season. In addition, the Red Devils said the agreement calls for them to receive about $18.6 million in fees in each of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

General Motors announced the resignation of its chief marketing officer, Joel Ewanick, on Sunday night. Ewanick had been involved in negotiating the deal.

"Mr. Ewanick failed to meet the expectations the company set for its employees," spokesman Greg Martin said Friday, declining additional comment. READ MORE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Manchester United: George Soros invests in football club

The billionaire investor George Soros has bought a stake in Manchester United football club, a US regulatory filing showed.

Mr Soros' investment fund bought a 7.85% stake in Class A shares - about 3.1 million - in the club, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Class A shares carry less voting power than Class B shares.

His shares equate to a 1.9% stake in the entire club, worth about $40.7m (£25.8m) at Monday's closing price.

Manchester United floated on the US stock market earlier this month, at $14 a share, valuing the club at more than $2.3bn (£1.46bn), making it one of the biggest sports clubs in the world.

But since its 10 August listing, its share price has fallen 6.7%. Its share price was up 1.6% to $13.26 in London afternoon trading, a day after hitting a fresh low of $12.91.

Manchester United has been controlled since 2005 by the Glazer family, the billionaire US sports investors who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers American football franchise.

About half of the $233m that the club raised from its flotation will go to paying off the club's debts - of about some £417m - with the rest going to the Glazers.

The Glazers have voting control over the club through their ownership of Class B shares that enjoy 10 times the voting rights of Class A stock that are sold to the public, of which Mr Soros' investment fund took out the 7.85% stake.

That means Mr Soros and his fund do not have voting power nor can benefit from payouts, as Manchester United does not issue dividends.Mr Soros was unavailable for comment.Football investment The 82-year-old investor, who oversees $25bn in assets through his Soros Fund Management LLC, has in the past eyed other football clubs as lucrative investments.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote