OzzieMandias

no, I don't think that is the case at all. Like Mark Jensen, people from the press ring him because they know he's a fan of the club, they have his details and they know he makes himself available for this sort of comment. A bit like when a couple of people associated with this site were involved in discussions with Mort - but thats different I suppose ? If you look at his comment, he is saying that he thinks and he's entitled to his opinion, which I agree with as it happens. Typical of a clown like you to be speaking up for someone who regularly dishes the dirt on the club to the cockney-based media. haha, only a clown confuses Keith Gillespie with Rob Lee, Ozzie - not even mentioning this Stephen Spence character. Gan to bed. So tell us how we join this great supporters club that is representing our interests. I'd like to vote for a less moronic dirt-disher than this sad "Frank Gilmore" character. Ozzie lad, I really can't be arsed with you. Frank Gilmour, like me and most other people, would never dish the dirt on the club like you did. Thats my last word on this matter, and also to you. Night night. I've been here for years now and I've hardly ever seen you actually debate in a mature fashion with Ozzie. All you do is bring up past events that have absolutely nothing to do with the topic to divert attention from his questions and comments. Sad if you ask me. I'm not bothered what you think. He's always struck me as a WUM, I thought initially he was a mackem. And when he emailed that london journalist .............. But I'm off now anyway, I've said my piece. I see, so when I try to arrange for the Hitzfeld Campaign a right of reply to some typically dumb comment by Shepherd that has caused genuine concern on this board, that is "dishing the dirt"? But when this Frank Gilmour, speaking with the bogus authority of an evidently non-existant supporters' organisation, is happy to slag off the club to any hack who slips him a tenner, that's just great? And you quibble when people call you a clown?

He keeps his contact details secret from everyone except the cockney-based media.

no, I don't think that is the case at all. Like Mark Jensen, people from the press ring him because they know he's a fan of the club, they have his details and they know he makes himself available for this sort of comment. A bit like when a couple of people associated with this site were involved in discussions with Mort - but thats different I suppose ? If you look at his comment, he is saying that he thinks and he's entitled to his opinion, which I agree with as it happens. Typical of a clown like you to be speaking up for someone who regularly dishes the dirt on the club to the cockney-based media. haha, only a clown confuses Keith Gillespie with Rob Lee, Ozzie - not even mentioning this Stephen Spence character. Gan to bed. So tell us how we join this great supporters club that is representing our interests. I'd like to vote for a less moronic dirt-disher than this sad "Frank Gilmore" character.

How do I join the Newcastle United Independent Supporters’ Association?

no, I don't think that is the case at all. Like Mark Jensen, people from the press ring him because they know he's a fan of the club, they have his details and they know he makes himself available for this sort of comment. A bit like when a couple of people associated with this site were involved in discussions with Mort - but thats different I suppose ? If you look at his comment, he is saying that he thinks and he's entitled to his opinion, which I agree with as it happens. Typical of a clown like you to be speaking up for someone who regularly dishes the dirt on the club to the cockney-based media.

The biggest mystery is why did they sponsor him in the first place, who would buy a pair a boots because he wears them. Maybe some Merseyside aggro crew. Maybe but as he as he hated by both Everton & Liverpool fans I doubt it. Aye but there's that burgeoning Tranmere Rovers market.

The biggest mystery is why did they sponsor him in the first place, who would buy a pair a boots because he wears them. Maybe some Merseyside aggro crew.

If there's no such thing as bad press, I wonder why Nike cancelled their sponsorship of Joey Barton?

The thing about Emirates or for instance DIC, is that with the funds at their disposal, buying a club is really no great shakes. For thm at this point to have 'The Emirates Stadium' for 200m odd or close to that iirc, is how this kind of brand wants to develop, they would buy the club however if they could, but have been shut out. I have clients who I work with, with regard to developing their footprint and in all the scenarios you can look at just 'buying space' is the biggest hit and miss (shotgun approach out there). When you want to tell 'a story' however then you have to engage and ideally in stream compatible ventures (Ashley SD and us being an example). Taking something 'highly visible' like a football club is one of the cheapest ways there is (bang for bucks)...to tell the story of your ideas and philosophy. People engage with football, they don't with advertising. I'm just mulling here as to the motives and of course, none of us really know. But you can be rest assured the world-wide viewing fig regarding the PL is gargantuan. If you wat to tell a story and develop a footprint with reg to how the world sees you, football is now one of the most cost effective ways on the planet. Gazprom own Zenit iirc. Whilst I agree with you for the most of that, it seems a bit of a "text book" type of appraisal of the ways to do things. I don't mean that as a criticism of what you've said though. Whilst it might be a way of attracting attention (for want of a better word), its still not exactly common place as a method. The other thing to consider of course is, is what you've said not exactly the reason Ashley has invested in us, ie being a means to growing & developing his brand? That was my point, really. Yes but I'm 5 years ahead of you two. So, then, back to my original question: In what ways can ownership be used to give you more than mere sponsorship. I'm looking for practical possibilities here, not smoke and mirrors about "telling a story".

You can imagine the Premiership, or the Champions League, becoming nothing but a great big board game for the plutocrats of the 21st century. It's not far off that already, but needs a few more Abramovichs to start really throwing around the Monopoly money.

The thing about Emirates or for instance DIC, is that with the funds at their disposal, buying a club is really no great shakes. For thm at this point to have 'The Emirates Stadium' for 200m odd or close to that iirc, is how this kind of brand wants to develop, they would buy the club however if they could, but have been shut out. I have clients who I work with, with regard to developing their footprint and in all the scenarios you can look at just 'buying space' is the biggest hit and miss (shotgun approach out there). When you want to tell 'a story' however then you have to engage and ideally in stream compatible ventures (Ashley SD and us being an example). Taking something 'highly visible' like a football club is one of the cheapest ways there is (bang for bucks)...to tell the story of your ideas and philosophy. People engage with football, they don't with advertising. I'm just mulling here as to the motives and of course, none of us really know. But you can be rest assured the world-wide viewing fig regarding the PL is gargantuan. If you wat to tell a story and develop a footprint with reg to how the world sees you, football is now one of the most cost effective ways on the planet. Gazprom own Zenit iirc. Whilst I agree with you for the most of that, it seems a bit of a "text book" type of appraisal of the ways to do things. I don't mean that as a criticism of what you've said though. Whilst it might be a way of attracting attention (for want of a better word), its still not exactly common place as a method. The other thing to consider of course is, is what you've said not exactly the reason Ashley has invested in us, ie being a means to growing & developing his brand? That was my point, really.

Well, my question was about how owning a club gave you more than sponsorship does, and you quoted an example of sponsorship not ownership -- as well as PSV. What's their situation? Another works team of old? I don't know. Berlusconi is probably a better example. Having read a few articles about this Ambani this morning. I'd see branding for Reliance Communications as an unlikely motive. It's currently involved in some super-complex global merger where it's essentially being taken over by someone else while Ambani becomes chairman and largest shareholder of the merged entity. It won't simply be "his" brand anymore. On edit: Looks like that deal's off, actually. Maybe he wants a football team because his brothe's got an IPL franchise. Maybe his brother will then buy the mackems.

What people? The only person who seems to assume it must be true is NE5, that great champion of the "cockney-based media".

He's not in it for football fun Leading the team to number one He'll grab all the ticket money and run Tomorrow's headline in The Sun

He's looking to take the season ticket money and run, tomorrows headlines by the Sun. That's almost poetry.

Profile of this Anil Ambani guy from the FT: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bbd194cc-2e6d-11dd-ab55-000077b07658.html

For a telecom company like Reliance that wants to be a global brand with high visibilty football is a very strong option. It's either that or the Olympics these days. Football is a very interesting vehicle as it gets the most airtime of anything on the planet, especially in Europe. The Indian bloke would look at it in that way to energise Reliance and give it high visibility especiall if he was looking to move into the Euro/Global telecom market. The cost of the club is peanuts for an operation like this. What can he do with owning a club that he can't do with, say, shirt sponsorship and lots of advertising? People emotionally engage with a football club, it also becomes a symbol (if run correctly) that projects the core values of the owner ie Reliance. You don't get this from adv which is has a very short term influence if any. 90% of adv doesn't work (don't tell them). Still doesn't answer my question, really. There aren't actually that many clubs which are owned for reasons of PR, however big the apparent reach. OK, there's Man City, owned by a dodgy politician for reasons of enhancing his popularity. But I can't think of any that are owned for branding purposes, except for the likes of Total Network Solutions. I suppose you could count Bayer Leverkusen, though that has its origins in a works team. Arsenal (the Emirates brand), PSV (Phillips)...off the top of my head. But you're igonoring that this is an Indian company with 0 visibilty in Europe, imo that has to be part of the paradigm when looking at developing a brand...A brand that speaks. Owning a club is much more and says a lot more than 'buying space'. Arsenal isn't owned by the Emirates brand.

For a telecom company like Reliance that wants to be a global brand with high visibilty football is a very strong option. It's either that or the Olympics these days. Football is a very interesting vehicle as it gets the most airtime of anything on the planet, especially in Europe. The Indian bloke would look at it in that way to energise Reliance and give it high visibility especiall if he was looking to move into the Euro/Global telecom market. The cost of the club is peanuts for an operation like this. What can he do with owning a club that he can't do with, say, shirt sponsorship and lots of advertising? People emotionally engage with a football club, it also becomes a symbol (if run correctly) that projects the core values of the owner ie Reliance. You don't get this from adv which is has a very short term influence if any. 90% of adv doesn't work (don't tell them). Still doesn't answer my question, really. There aren't actually that many clubs which are owned for reasons of PR, however big the apparent reach. OK, there's Man City, owned by a dodgy politician for reasons of enhancing his popularity. But I can't think of any that are owned for branding purposes, except for the likes of Total Network Solutions. I suppose you could count Bayer Leverkusen, though that has its origins in a works team.

For a telecom company like Reliance that wants to be a global brand with high visibilty football is a very strong option. It's either that or the Olympics these days. Football is a very interesting vehicle as it gets the most airtime of anything on the planet, especially in Europe. The Indian bloke would look at it in that way to energise Reliance and give it high visibility especiall if he was looking to move into the Euro/Global telecom market. The cost of the club is peanuts for an operation like this. What can he do with owning a club that he can't do with, say, shirt sponsorship and lots of advertising? (You could ask the same question about Ashley, too, come to think of it.)

Reliance Com. Would see us as a very interesting vehicle to develop thier global telcom brand. That's all I'm saying, wouldn't dismiss this out of hand. Not dismissing anything out of hand, mate. Nor am I joining the ranks of other posters who are firmly in the "in denial" camp. This is the reality of where we are now. We are nothing more than a cash cow for rich industrialists and wheeler-dealer barrow-boys on the make...the club is nothing more than a whore pimped out for commercial gain by fat cat greedy wankers so they can get even richer at our expense. This is the realpolitik of top flight football these days. So what's new, really?

I've no idea what the reality is with this story, robster. It's just someone suggested he knows more about football than Ashley, and I can't find any mention of him being interested in football at all.

I've seen no evidence anywhere that this Anil Ambani guy has any interest in football, by the way.

It's funny but it makes us look like a bunch of mongs.

Nor would I, but them multi-billionaires are a different matter seriously though, I don't consider myself ready to become a supporter of money laundering schemes and people who probably have never seen a football game live.. fuck the money man, I'd rather face years of mediocrity under Ashley or even Shepherd Money-laundering? This isn't some gangster. Nor even a dodgy politician like the tosser at Citeh. The guy is the boss of one of India's leading companies – leading in everything from textiles and petrochemicals to retail and telecoms. In a country of one billion people. The amounts he could move through Newcastle are tiny compared to his overall wealth. We're not even big enough to launder his fucking socks.