Manchester United, Beware the "Curse of Saatchi"

(MoneyWatch)  Saatchi & Saatchi vice chairman Richard Hytner is part of a consortium planning a ?£1 billion takeover of Manchester United, the biggest sporting brand in the world. If history is a guide, however, United fans may hope the bid fails -- clubs are often cursed by having a senior Saatchi executive among their management.

The potential takeover has come because the current owner, Malcolm Glazer, who also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has laden the club with so much debt its future rests on a knife edge.

Whether United will do any better under Hytner and his "Red Knights" is doubtful -- last season, under Glazer, United won the English Premier League and the League Cup. The year before they won the European Champions League. They're already at the top.

The track record of Saatchi execs in sporting management suggests a downward course if Hytner gets his way. Consider:

• When former Saatchi CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus arrived as owner at Olympique de Marseille in 1993, the club was an eight-time winner of France's Ligue 1. It hasn't won a trophy since.
• Current Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts was a board member of New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team between 1997 and 2000. The team last won a rugby World Cup in 1987,* despite being perennial favorites.

It may not be Saatchi's fault. There's evidence that it's admen in general. Daniel Snyder, owner of Arnell Worldwide and Snyder Communications (since sold to Havas in 2000) bought the Washington Redskins in 1999 -- and they have sucked ever since.

*See comments for a correction. Related:

• Deloitte's Soccer Cash Analysis Shows Arsenal, Chelsea Failing to Exploit Their Sponsors
• Manchester United's Aon Deal Not Big Enough to Appease Bond Investors
• Will Death of Ex-Saatchi CEO Dreyfus Lift Curse of Marseille?