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Malcolm Glazer

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Malcolm Glazer
Born (1928-05-25) May 25, 1928 (age 96)
Template:City-state
Occupation(s)Businessman
Owner of:
 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
 Manchester United F.C.
SpouseLinda Glazer
ChildrenAvram, Kevin, Bryan, Joel, Darcie and Edward

Malcolm Irving Glazer (born May 25, 1928) is an American businessman and sports-team owner. He is the president and chief executive officer of First Allied Corporation, a holding company for his varied business interests, most notably in the food processing industry. He holds controlling stakes in Manchester United Football Club, and owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a National Football League team in Template:City-state, United States.

Biography

Glazer was the fifth of seven children in a Jewish household. He inherited his father's wholesale jewelry business.[2] At that time, he had just $300 to his name. Within five years, he started investing in other businesses.

The business first expanded into property, buying several mobile home (or "trailer") parks in the 1970s, mainly in the Florida area. He went on to become president and chief executive officer of First Allied Corporation,[3] a U.S. holding company for his various business interests, such as food processing, marine supplies, health care, real estate, energy exploration, and broadcasting.

Malcolm Glazer now lives in Template:City-state. He is married to Linda and has five sons and one daughter: Avram, Kevin, Bryan, Joel, Darcie and Edward.[4] Three of them (Joel, Bryan and Edward), are vice-presidents in First Allied. He runs a wide-ranging business empire that includes shopping centers and nursing homes.

On April 16, 2006, Glazer suffered a stroke causing impaired speech and loss of mobility in his right arm and leg.[5] At the time, his son Joel said "My father's spirits are high and doctors expect his condition to improve with rehabilitation," but after spending much of the intervening period in the hospital, Glazer suffered a second stroke in May 2006.[6]

Business history

Glazer’s first attempt at a corporate takeover was in 1984, when he launched an unsuccessful $7.6 billion bid to buy the bankrupt freight rail company, Conrail. He also failed in an attempted takeover of kitchen designer Formica in 1988 and, later, with motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson.

One of the companies that Glazer did purchase successfully was the nearly bankrupt Zapata Offshore, a remnant of Zapata, an oil and gas company founded by George H. W. Bush, which was left over after the latter's takeover by South Penn Oil to create Pennzoil. Glazer successfully diversified it into fish protein and Caribbean supermarkets.

Glazer has owned a diverse portfolio of nationwide investments which include food service equipment, food packaging and food supplies, marine protein, broadcasting, health care, property, banking, natural gas and oil, the Internet, stocks and bonds.

Sports ownership

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In 1995 Malcolm Glazer purchased the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a National Football League franchise, for a then-record $192 million following the death of former owner Hugh Culverhouse. The front office staff of the team includes sons Bryan Glazer, Edward Glazer and Joel Glazer.

Immediately upon purchasing the Bucs in 1995, Glazer declared the team's home field, Tampa Stadium, inadequate and began lobbying local government for a replacement.[7] Glazer entertained relocation offers from other cities, but kept the Bucs in place after the local government agreed to build the franchise the $200 million state-of-the-art Raymond James Stadium, construction of which was funded by a local sales tax increase. Due in large measure to a very favorable lease agreement in which the team collects most of the revenue from the stadium while the local government must pay almost all of the expenses, the franchise was valued at $963 million by Forbes magazine in 2007.[8]

For the first several years, the Buccaneers experienced improved success on the field during Glazer's ownership. After suffering through over a decade of consecutive losing seasons, the Bucs made the playoffs in 1997 and the NFC championship game in 1999 under coach Tony Dungy, and won their first Super Bowl in 2002 under coach Jon Gruden.

After Glazer began to take control of Manchester United in 2003 (see below), the Bucs' fortunes faded, as they spent far less on player salaries than allowed under the NFL's salary cap. Media observers and local fans have expressed their suspicion that Glazer has diverted funds from the Bucs to reduce the debt accumulated in the Man United purchase at the expense of the Bucs' continued success [9][10].

As the economy in the Tampa Bay area began to go down, the possibility of TV blackouts began to surface. The first blackout scare occurred before the Bucs hosted a Wild Card game against the New York Giants during the 2007 season. The team had originally banned non-Florida residents from ordering tickets through Ticketmaster. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo stepped in telling the Associated Press "There are constitutional prohibitions against states discriminating against other states' residents or impeding businesses by other states. There are possible discrimination issues." The Bucs would eventually drop the non-Florida residents ban and the game had the blackout lifted. [11] The following offseason, the Glazers had announced that ticket sales would increase by an average of $15 per ticket although fans who had expiring PSLs did not have to pay another deposit to keep their seats at Raymond James Stadium and had the option to renew by signing a three-year agreement for which those who do will continue to receive an annual rebate of 5% on their original deposit fee. [12] The price increase in tickets marked the sixth consecutive year the Glazers have raised prices causing their once-lengthy waiting list for season tickets to disappear [13]. Regardless, all Buccaneers home games - preseason and regular season - had the blackout lifted in 2008 and in 2009.

Before the 2010 NFL season began, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had sold out every preseason, regular season and postseason game at Raymond James Stadium. It was revealed recently that the Glazers have bought up unsold tickets in recent years in an effort to have the blackout lifted. [14] But blackouts were eventually becoming a reality when Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer warned of the possibility that Buccaneer home games could get blacked out [15]. The blackouts officially became reality first when the Bucs confirmed well before the 72-hour blackout deadline that the team's preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs would be blacked out marking the first ever blackout at Raymond James Stadium [16] and the first blackout of any kind overall since an October 26, 1997 game against the Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Stadium failed to sell out before the deadline. The Bucs later had their first regular season game blacked out when the home opener against the Cleveland Browns failed to sell out in time to allow for local television. There were hopes that home games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the reigning Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints games might sell out in time to have the blackout lifted [17] but those hopes would soon be dashed when the Steelers game was blacked out [18] and the Bucs announced well in advance through an e-mail to the Tampa Tribune by Chip Carter, sports director at FOX affiliate WTVT which would have aired the home game against the Saints, that the Saints game would be blacked out as well. It is now possible that the Bucs could have an entire home schedule blacked out for the first time since the 1996 season. [19]

Manchester United

Main article: Glazer ownership of Manchester United

Between 2003 and 2005, Glazer gradually bought out the shareholders in English Premier League football team Manchester United in a deal that valued the club at around $1.47 billion. The takeover was fiercely opposed by many fans of Manchester United,[20] who organised themselves in the form of the independent Manchester United Supporters' Trust (formerly Shareholders United), partly because the Glazer takeover saddled the club with a large debt (over $850m YES!) and interest that comes with it (approx £60 million a year) he angered the fans with a quote 'I'm going to ruin you like Graeme Souness ruined Liverpool'. The mainly match-going fans object to the escalating ticket prices at a time when the club receives more money than ever from TV and sponsorship deals. In anger at the takeover, thousands of fans failed to renew their season tickets. Many of these got together to set up a new club called F.C. United of Manchester. The new protest club has had great success which includes three successive promotions in three years while attracting gates of well over 2000 fans each week, with a record attendance of 6023.[21] Anti-Glazer songs and chants are still regularly heard at away games across the country.[citation needed] Since 2005 the ticket prices at Old Trafford have been increased by over 42% (12.3% then 14% then 11%).

The protests were evident on March 10th 2010 with the Champions League match, and with the football business successfully concluded, United's supporters conducted a protest against the Glazer family, with huge banners unfurled around Old Trafford and thousands of green and gold scarves, the symbol of their discontent, on display. Joel and Avi Glazer were in attendance at Old Trafford, and they were left in no doubt about the strength of feeling against their regime as the protests swept around the ground. Fletcher's goal interrupted the well-orchestrated demonstration, but as a show of strength it was as impressive as some of United's play as they beat Milan. [22]

In March 2010, a group, which became known as the Red Knights and led by Goldman Sachs' chief economist Jim O'Neill, announced it was preparing a bid to buy the club from the Glazer family. However, a spokesperson for the club said that the Glazers were not interested in selling. [23]

More support for the protest movement seemed to come from Manchester United fan and former England captain and United player David Beckham when he put on a green and gold scarf which had been lying on the pitch. This came after Manchester United beat Beckham's current club AC Milan 4-0, in the Champions League 2010. Although Beckham subsequently denied that his action had any significance, it was taken by many to indicate that he was in support of the anti-Glazer protest and was described as "an iconic moment" by the Manchester United Supporters Trust. [24]

References

  1. ^ "#305 Malcolm Glazer & family". Forbes. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  2. ^ Trickett, Alex (2004-10-19). "Glazer takes shine to Man Utd". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  3. ^ "Malcolm Glazer, Owner/President". Glazer Family Foundation. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  4. ^ "Manchester United's new owner". CBC. 2005-06-22. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  5. ^ "Glazer recuperating after stroke". BBC News. 2006-04-26. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  6. ^ "Glazer suffers a second stroke". RTÉ Sport. 2006-05-20. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  7. ^ "Bucs stay in Tampa with a big price tag". The Milwaukee Journal. BNET. 1995-01-17. Retrieved 2008-12-07. [dead link‍]
  8. ^ "In Pictures: The Most Valuable NFL Teams". Forbes. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  9. ^ http://www.tampabay.com/sports/football/bucs/huge-space-under-salary-cap-could-have-made-tampa-bay-bucs-a-much-better/1038121
  10. ^ Jackson, Jamie (2009-10-24). "Glazers on a loser at Tampa Bay Buccaneers". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  11. ^ Katherine Smith. "Sellout? Not Quite, But Pretty Close". Tampa Tribune. January 4, 2008
  12. ^ Roy Cummings. "Bucs Raise Ticket Prices Again". Tampa Tribune. February 9, 2008
  13. ^ "Our Opinion: Fans Refuse To Be Sacked By Raising Ticket Prices". Tampa Tribune. September 8, 2008
  14. ^ Rick Stroud. "A First For Bucs: A Blackout at RJS". St. Petersburg Times. August 18, 2010
  15. ^ Rick Stroud. "Get Set For TV Without Bucs". St. Petersburg Times. March 25, 2010
  16. ^ Ray Reyes. "Bucs game will be blacked out". Tampa Tribune. August 18, 2010
  17. ^ Rick Stroud. "TV Blackout Still Looming For Opener". St. Petersburg Times. September 7, 2010
  18. ^ Roy Cummings. "Sales Flurry Doesn't Stop Blackout". Tampa Tribune. September 24, 2010
  19. ^ Ray Reyes. "Bucs: All Home Games Expected To Be Blacked Out". Tampa Tribune. October 13, 2010
  20. ^ "Glazer statement infuriates fans". BBC Sport. 2005-05-13. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  21. ^ "FC United Stats". FC United of Manchester. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  22. ^ "Man Utd 4-0 AC Milan (agg 7-2)". BBC News. 2010-03-10. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  23. ^ CNN http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/03/03/united-bid.ap/index.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) [dead link‍]
  24. ^ Taylor, Daniel (2010-03-11). "David Beckham shows true colours at Manchester United". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-05-12.

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