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Manchester United: The business of soccer

May 8, 2013: 12:10 PM ET

Alex Ferguson's decision to retire after 26 years as manager of Manchester United (MANU) throws England's most successful soccer club into a rare period of uncertainty.

Winning the richest national soccer league for 13 of the last 21 years has guaranteed a big slice of broadcast revenue, and allowed the club to amass a global following of over 650 million – a loyal and lucrative market for merchandising partners and sponsors such as Nike (NKE), General Motors (GM) and many others.

By Mark Thompson, CNNMoney International Editor

Few fans show up for Manchester United's IPO

Manchester United didn't have many fans cheering for the 134-year-old British soccer team when it made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYX) Friday.

Shares of Manchester United (MANU) barely budged above their $14 initial public offering price. The stock opened at $14.05 and stuck mostly around that level for most of the day. The stock closed its first day of trading precisely at its $14 IPO price.

Manchester United MORE
Maureen Farrell - Aug 10, 2012 2:43 PM ET
Posted in: football, initial public offering, IPO, Manchester United, New York Stock Exchange, NYSE, soccer
Bookies give Greece long odds

Greece is an underdog, in many ways. But it faces particularly long odds in Friday's game against Germany in the Euro 2012 quarterfinals.

This is football we're talking about. Soccer for you Yanks.

The match, in official parlance, is fraught with political overtones.

(Insert witty sports metaphor here).

For Greece, it presents an opportunity to score a symbolic victory over the nation's "paymaster," as the Germans have become known.

Related: Fight for pride moves from MORE
Ben Rooney - Jun 22, 2012 10:20 AM ET
Posted in: betting, Euro 2012, eurozone, football, germany, greece, soccer