What has happened today?
Manchester City has acquired Melbourne Heart FC in partnership with the owners of Melbourne Storm.
Does Storm own Heart?
The private consortium is led by Manchester City and includes Melbourne Storm owners as a minority shareholder with an 20 per cent stake.
When does the acquisition of the Heart take place?
The acquisition is effective immediately.
What does this mean for Storm?
• Positions the Storm as a leader in sport in Australia
• Provides links for the Storm on and off the field with some of the biggest global sports organisations
• Provides access to some of the world’s best youth academies and development programs
• Allows Melbourne to be showcased around the world by Manchester City FC
• Strengthens the Storm profile and Melbourne’s as the sporting capital of Australia
• The relationship works as the teams largely operate at different times of the year
What effect does this have on Storm’s football team (any crossover?)
No negative impact, the clubs operate separately and individually. However, Storm will have access to global sports organisations and contacts of Manchester City, New York Yankees and New York City FC.
How does this effect day to day running and operations of Melbourne Storm?
It has no effect on the daily operations of Melbourne Storm. Storm will have access to global sports organisations and key personnel at Manchester City and New York City.
What effect does this have on Storm's identity?
There will be no effect to the Storm identity including name, colours, jersey or brand.
Will it affect my membership? Will I have a membership to Heart now?
Storm members won’t be affected in any way. You would need to purchase a Heart membership to be a member of the Heart and vice-versa.
