Cost of a Loss

Both Manchester United and Manchester City failed to reach the group stage of the Champions League.  Stefan Szymanski estimates the hit to the Man U revenue at more than $50 million, while AndersRed comes in at about half that amount (presumably Man City's loss is in the neighborhood as well).  Either way it is a chunk of change. 

Szymanski has a solution:

But maybe there are more creative ways around this. How about “the Manchester Masters”- a series of seven games played to determine bragging rights in Greater Manchester? That would fill in all those empty midweek slots in 2012.