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I’m a Manchester United supporter. The coffee cups, t-shirts, videos, bed sheets, wall clocks, constant streams of DVDs, the picture frames – I’ve had my fair share of branded merchandise over the years and, as I’ve aged, they were put down as a necessary element of modern football. A revenue stream that could be exploited to the max and was.

Of course, in recent years we’ve started regular tours of America and Asia during the summer months. Any attention placed on actually preparing the players for a gruelling season appears to play second fiddle to cramming in a host of matches in various regions. In July this year, Manchester United played five games in 17 days across America. By the time a game had finished, Michael Owen was updating fans on Twitter that everyone was packed up and ready to board another flight across the country.

New England Revolution, Seattle Sounders, Chicago Fire, the MLS All-Stars and Barcelona were all made time for in a hectic schedule that just didn’t scream “footballing reasons” at any point – it was all about commercial gains.

There was a point in the summer when every single Premier League club had left the United Kingdom. Most had travelled to the lucrative North American and Asian markets; but all of them were heading abroad to help fill their pockets.

And then, last week, came the news that the managing director of Liverpool wants the chance to sell their foreign television rights themselves. Ian Ayre made a remark that has probably been talked about in private on a number of occasions at the biggest clubs in England. He suggested that Liverpool deserve a bigger share of the huge foreign money pie; and Liverpool should be allowed to negotiate those amounts for their own games.

Immediately Ayre was belittled and mocked for his suggestion. Fingers were pointed at the state of the football in Spain and Italy as to what can happen with an imbalance in television money. Barcelona or Real Madrid will win La Liga this season. One of their rivals may challenge their dominance briefly but their financial clout doesn’t come anywhere close to the big two and they will eventually fall by the wayside.

Levante, currently threatening to upset the apple cart aren’t being given a chance by anyone, not even their own players, staff or most optimistic fans.

In short, Ayre’s idea could end up killing any last shreds of competition in the top flight of English football and quite a few were quick to point it out. Only a small number of Premier League clubs would benefit from separate television deals and, without parity, they’d streak clear of the chasing group. Indeed, a move towards individual television deals may not just see a group of clubs move out of sight, but could even lead to a single club existing on their own level: my beloved Manchester United.

In August, the Old Trafford club announced a sponsorship deal with logistics firm DHL worth £40 million over four years. There is nothing strange about a global firm like DHL investing in a club as well-known as the Premier League champions, until you realise the deal is to sponsor their training kits and can only be worn before Premier League games. Yes, pictures of Manchester United players warming up before their 38 league games in a season are worth £10 million in sponsorship.

Ten million pounds to sponsor tracksuits. Tracksuits!

If there were money in a stone, Manchester United would find a way of drawing three times more from it than anyone else.

Now think about how much of the £1.4 billion, currently divided equally, United might be able to command if they sorted out their own television deals. It probably won’t just end the Premier League as a competitive league, it could see Manchester United ending competitive club football as we know it in England.

I love seeing Manchester United play and I love seeing them win even more; especially when I know it isn’t a foregone conclusion. United and the Premier League need competition. The international television rights for Serie A and La Liga are nowhere close to the lucrative levels for the English top flight right now, but could eventually go that way.

United don’t need to be given the chance to do our own TV rights, and if they were then the Premier League wouldn’t be fun anymore. I never thought that I’d come to a point in my life where I felt physically sick by the ideas put forward by the Premier League, but this? Nobody needs this.

Tags: Ian Ayre, Manchester United, Premier League, Television Coverage