After a wretched season and a host of financial struggles, Manchester United won’t take the payday being offered to them by Amazon.
According to a report by David Ornstein and Adam Crafton in The Athletic, Man U has declined participation in Amazon Prime Video’s All or Nothing series. The show follows one club throughout an entire season, having previously featured Arsenal, Manchester City, and Tottenham.
More importantly, however, Amazon had offered “significantly more” than £10 million ($13.64 million) for United’s participation. Despite the club facing great financial hardship, with debt exceeding £700 million per the report, Manchester United declined the offer at the behest of manager Ruben Amorim.
Per The Athletic, Amorim “made clear he was not comfortable with the potential intrusion on the first team — while aspects of the commercial agreement and the time pressure of the upcoming season were factors, too.” This decision was made in spite of the fact that United’s chief executive, Omar Berrada, was supportive of participating in the series.
The move is seen as a vote of confidence in Amorim. The Portuguese manager took the reins at United in November and finished just three spots ahead of the relegation zone, but the decision not to partake in the Amazon show suggests that the club is allowing him to build the team in his vision.
It’s unclear just how significant All or Nothing would have been for Man U from a financial perspective. “Significantly more” than £10 million isn’t necessarily enough to buy world class talent these days. Nevertheless, for a club in the financial position of Manchester United, anything would’ve helped.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.