Elon Musk, the world’s richest man is buying Manchester United: Public Relations coup or disaster?
Elon Musk has sent shockwaves through social media to soccer and Manchester United fans around the world after tweeting that he’s buying the Red Devils.
The world’s richest man was urged to buy the Premier League club by desperate fans earlier this year.
Musk, 51, is the owner of Tesla and Space X and has a net worth of around $265billion.
He had earlier planned to buy Twitter for $41billion but Man U fans wanted him to splash his cash on their faltering club instead.
Is Elon Musk serious about owning Manchester United?
Whether Musk is serious about his pledge to buy Manchester United is currently unclear.
No further comment on the claim has been made by the Tesla boss, the Glazer family or Manchester United.
United is one of the world’s best-known and best-supported soccer clubs. They’ve been crowned champions of England a record 20 times and have won three European Cups.
Man U also has millions of fans in Africa and several notable Governors, businessmen and politicians love the club.
Musk has a history of making irreverent tweets and his comment appears to be tongue-in-cheek with the declaration of intent regarding the ownership of United coming out of the blue today. It is not known if he does intend to pursue a deal.
Elon Musk and the PR scorecard for Manchester United
What does Elon Musk’s pronouncement and possible ownership mean for Manchester United’s public relations and its soccer? Here are the PR scores:
Increased brand recognition
This will raise brand awareness and ultimately brand value for Man U.
At the time of writing Musk’s tweet had already been retweeted almost 30,000 times, quote was tweeted 18,500 times and was liked more than 150,000 times.
This is a taste of things to come.
PR messaging challenge
With Elon Musk on the scene, Man U might be generating more media coverage from Elon Musk’s stunts than from their soccer 0 performance. This may pose a messaging challenge.
Credibility issues
Will Elon Musk’s utterance and policy somersaults also have a negative effect on Man U and dampen players’ and fans’ morale? There’s a possibility.
Manchester United fans in Nigeria and around the world should brace up for some great drama ahead, both on the soccer field and outside.
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