Mum Glazer only making matters worse

WASHINGTON – Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer made a bold move acquiring the world's richest soccer club, Manchester United. But he spent the last two days here at the spring NFL owners meeting recoiling at any mention of it.

You have to wonder if one of the NFL's biggest success stories has set the stage for his own downfall. You could ask him about it, but Glazer's not talking.

And in England, that's a huge part of the problem.

Wednesday was a great day for Glazer, who learned Tampa Bay surprisingly had edged Atlanta to host the 2009 Super Bowl. But it didn't take long for his other, controversial business interest to inject itself into the joy – thanks to a group of British reporters seeking comment on Glazer's $1.47 billion takeover of Manchester United during Wednesday's Super Bowl press conference.

During a question-and-answer period with the Glazers – Malcolm's sons Bryan, Joel and Ed operate the Buccaneers for their father – it took only a matter of moments before a British reporter asked about the Manchester team, a topic the family had refused to speak about here all week.

A reporter asked, "Would you care to give a message to the Manchester United fans who, I think it's fair to say, are desperate to hear from you? [They are] desperately interested in your plans for one of the great clubs in the world."

To which Bryan Glazer shot back, "We're here today to celebrate the Super Bowl in Tampa in 2009. It's a very important day, and I would hope that you will respect that."

The handful of foreign press in attendance tried again, but Malcolm stood by, smiled and said nothing. The moment was construed as an act of arrogance. Imagine if a British soccer owner purchased the New York Yankees, then refused to speak to the New York press, or utter even a single word to Yankees fans? Glazer essentially committed the same sin on Wednesday.

"If he'd only said something like, 'We're proud to be associated with Manchester United and we look forward to developing the club and being respectful of its traditions,'" said Ian Glover-James, a senior foreign editor of the British news network ITN. "Something like that would have done a huge amount of good.

"His silence just confirms the worst prejudices and the worst publicity that has gone out already."

Surely it was a miscalculation on the Glazers' part. And it begs the question of whether the family truly understands what it is getting into.

Malcolm Glazer easily could be setting himself up for an astronomical failure – both in reputation and economics – particularly if there is an expectation that NFL business ideologies will fly in European soccer. In many respects, the two bodies couldn't be more different. Glazer is buying into a sport with no salary cap, no draft and a bidding system for stars that makes major league baseball's runaway salaries look like minimum wage.

The European soccer fan base hardly compares with the NFL's. The crowds are larger. The fans are more violent. And while NFL teams enjoy devoted followings in their respective markets, the cult-like atmosphere surrounding Manchester United is at another level altogether.

The cultural divide explains why Glazer's takeover has been so avidly opposed in England. Not only is he an American, but European soccer fans are aghast over business tactics Glazer has used in the NFL, like leveraging a possible relocation of the Buccaneers to get a new stadium built several years ago. Others are furious Glazer borrowed nearly $500 million in order to complete his takeover of Man U.

In fairness, some observers are taking a wait-and-see approach. But others have blasted the Glazers in a manner rarely experienced in the United States. Monday's edition of The Guardian set the bar at a new low. "None of this is to suggest everyone should judge Malcolm solely by his cover," writer Martina Hyde quipped. "No one could surely be that vile."

For Glazer's peers in the NFL, seeing one of their own framed in such unflattering terms isn't pleasant.

"To me, it's unfair," NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue says. "I can understand the passion and the feeling that [the soccer club] should be a community institution and that maybe an American family owning it is a little bit wrenching. But I think the Glazers have proven with their track record that they are great sports people. Joel and Bryan, along with Malcolm, really understand what sports is all about."

Whether that track record translates to soccer remains to be seen. In the meantime, Manchester fans would settle for just a word or two.

Other news to emerge from Wednesday's meetings:

• As expected, the $600 million sale of the Minnesota Vikings was approved. Transfer of the franchise from Red McCombs to a group headed by New Jersey businessman Zygmunt Wilf will take place in June, and Wilf wasted no time squashing the franchise's stadium and relocation concerns.

"We will be in the Minneapolis area forever," Wilf said. "I'm not changing that at all. We will do our best to make sure that we get the best venue and right location."

• There was incremental progress made this week on the subject of revenue sharing, over which large- and small-market owners are divided. There apparently remains a great deal of work to do, however. Commissioner Tagliabue said the league will hold at least one meeting each month through October in an effort to resolve the disagreements – and that talks with the NFL Players Association remain at a "dead end" while the issues are continuing to be smoothed out.

• Neither commissioner Tagliabue nor Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga had a lot to say about the possible return of running back Ricky Williams. Huizenga, who was highly critical of Williams after he abandoned the team last offseason, said he was leaving the situation up to his new coach.

"I don't know what's going to happen," Huizenga said, brushing off questions. "[Nick] Saban is handling that. Whatever he does is good with me. I don't know where it's going to go."

• NFL spokesman Joe Browne said the league would have preferred to have some time to comment on the steroid testing legislation that has been pushed along by Rep. Tom Davis and Sen. John McCain. The Clean Sports Act was introduced Tuesday and will be advanced Thursday to a House Committee, leaving the NFL no time to react.

"We're concerned we did not have an opportunity to comment on the legislation before [Thursday's] committee vote," Browne said. "We think there are aspects of this bill that will diminish our program, and other aspects of the bill, including the two-year suspension for the first offense, that are not applicable to our sport. Unlike the Olympics, we play every year, not every four years."

• The stalled stadium renovations and lease problems in New Orleans are going to get special attention from Tagliabue, who said he planned to personally call Saints owner Tom Benson and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.