LIsten up.

Owning a sports team has never, ever been entirely about profit. Economists will tell you that there are two things involved with a purchase--economic benefit ($) and psychic benefit. When you buy an expensive painting, you are not doing so necessarily because of the economic benefit; you are doing so for the psychic benefit. It's what collectors do. Owning a sports team is not all that different from collecting great works of art--sometimes you say damn the expense, I want a trophy. It's why perfectly good businessmen will make horrific decisions in sport; they want a toy, they can buy the toy and the toy (*ahem* Adebayor *ahem*) turns out to be not so great. (h/t for all of this to Malcolm Gladwell's ESPN column). 

The owners of Man City are essentially saying, "damn the profits, let's win." As a fan, I'm fine with that. Other fans are screaming that we're cheating somehow, that if we win it won't be as "pure" as other teams who have won in the past. To that I say, Man City is doing to the Premier League what the big 4 have been doing for years now. For a long time, people have wondered what would happen if Man U was challenged by another team that could match the red menace's resources. We're about to find out. That our resources are coming from sheikh's who love a good toy over profit, who want the psychic benefit over the economic benefit, is not something to be criticized. The same fans who criticize City for spending oodles of money on players are spending oodles of money on red jerseys, tickets, concessions, etc. and I'm not sure these fans are getting an economic benefit for their actions. Well, of course they aren't. They are getting a psychic benefit. 

In short, that any fan can look at City and say, "Not fair! You spending too much!" is just the height of hypocrisy and ignorance. This is the Premiership. Spending money has always made the difference and always will. And if our spending for a psychic benefit is a source of your current psychic pain, all the better. 

Sincerely,

Man City Fans (EPL Champions, 2012)