NEW YORK -- The worlds most popular sports team is getting ready to list its stock on the worlds largest exchange. British soccer club Manchester United is expected to set a price for its initial public offering Thursday night and start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday as it tries to pay off more of the heavy debt piled on the club in its 2005 takeover. The 134-year-old club, with a record 19 English championships, is one of the most well-known teams on the planet, so the IPO is highly anticipated. But some analysts say the debt-ridden team is overvalued and the offering is dependent on investors wearing their fan colours rather than their financial thinking caps. "Its really trading on the level of fan interest as opposed to any sort of financial interest," said Sam Hamadeh, CEO of PrivCo LLC, which researches privately held companies. "A winning team does not make a winning investment." Half the 16.7 million shares are being sold by the team, and half by the teams owner, a company controlled by the Glazer family. The team expects to get $141 million out of the deal, which it will use to pay down debt. About 10 per cent of the teams shares are being sold. The familys 2005 leveraged takeover was valued at $1.47 billion, much of it borrowed. United carried 416.7 million pounds ($666.2 million) in debt as of March 31. It had no debt when it was bought by the Glazer family in 2005. The Glazers are a U.S. family who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers American football team. Malcolm Glazer is CEO of First Allied Corp., a holding company with many business interests. His two sons Avram and Joel are co-chairmen of Manchester United. After the stock offering, the Glazers will keep control of the team through Class B shares with 10 times the voting power of the stock that would be sold to the public. The team is one of the most celebrated in the world. It claims 659 million followers and 26.9 million Facebook fans. It is especially popular in Asia, where its games are televised and its replica shirts and other products are huge sellers. But analysts are more skeptical when it comes to how viable as a financial commodity the team known as The Red Devils will be, because it is not a high-growth company like a tech startup and is heavily in debt. Manchester United is hoping to expand its lucrative sponsorships and licensing deals. The team sold 2 million jerseys alone last year, and in total 5 million branded licensed products. And earlier this month it announced a $559 million, seven-year shirt sponsorship agreement with Chevrolet. Commercial revenue rose 34 per cent in 2011 to total 103.4 million pounds ($159.8 million). But deals such as these are only one-third of the business, said Renaissance Capital analyst Nick Einhorn. The other two-thirds comes from less-glamorous broadcast and ticket sales. Those arent as high-growth areas as commercial revenue because prices increase more gradually over time. And ticket and broadcast revenue depends on how far the team goes in English and European cup competitions. Manchester Uniteds broadcasting revenue rose 14 per cent to 117.2 million pounds ($181.1 million) in 2011. Matchday, or ticket revenue, rose 5 per cent to 110.8 million pounds ($171.2 million). "I think the club has to convince investors that the growth theyre getting from the commercial segment outweighs the less exciting broadcasting and matchday pieces," Einhorn said. Pouring a lot of money into the stock doesnt make sense, said PrivCos Hamadeh. The top end of the IPO price range would value the club at about $3.2 billion. That would make it the most valuable sports team on the planet, Hamadeh said. It would dwarf the record $2 billion paid for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. And slashing the debt the Glazers loaded on the club has been a constant challenge, with the commercial operation ramped up and a London suite of offices employing dozens of people to squeeze every pound out of the brand. The team expects to report a loss for the year ended June 30, excluding a tax credit, with revenue down 3 per cent to 5 per cent. "Youre really buying a team that is way overpriced, with no financial justification for the value," Hamadeh said. Analysts arent the only skeptics. Protests have raged against the Glazers since they bought the club and delisted it from the London market in 2005. Fans have sent more than 1 million messages against the IPO to the club sponsors and banks, rallying against the IPO and the Glazers ownership of the team. But others are more positive. "Its fairly rare for a team to be in a position to go public, but obviously Manchester United has exposure to domestic and international deals where theres a lot of growth," said Philip Hall, a partner at New York-based investment bank Inner Circle Sports, who advised on the 2010 takeover of Liverpool by Boston Red Sox owner John Henry. Manchester United will trade under the "MANU" ticker. cheap jerseys from china . Del Potro showed an impressive all-around game to help avenge a heartbreaking loss to Federer in the Olympics Games semifinals in August. "It was an unbelievable final," said Del Potro, who never dropped serve and raised his level in the decisive tiebreaker. cheap jerseys . Swiss Olympic team chief Gian Gilli says Morganella is being stripped of his Olympic accreditation ahead of Switzerlands final group match against Mexico on Wednesday. http://www.cheapjerseysfreeship... . Inning-by-inning 1st: Barry Zito opened the game by getting leadoff hitter Austin Jackson to fly out before Omar Infante singled up the middle. [url=http://www.cheapjerseysfreeshippingnfl.com/]cheap nfl jerseys . The order by Magistrate Daniel Knowles on Tuesday came in response to suspended linebacker Jonathan Vilmas efforts to initiate the discovery process in his defamation case against the commissioner. wholesale jerseys .Y. - Marcus Foligno considers himself among the fortunate with the NHL lockout preparing to enter its second month.GLENDALE, Ariz. - Quarterback Brock Osweiler was supposed to be the rookie from Arizona State to watch for Denver on Thursday. Instead, his former college teammate Omar Bolden made the nights biggest play. The fourth-round draft pick returned a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown to ignite a second-half comeback that lifted the Broncos to a 16-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in the teams preseason finale. "It definitely felt great for me to return it back here in Arizona," Bolden said. "I miss playing here, I love the fans here in the state; it was great just to make a play." Peyton Manning and the rest of the Denver starters took the night off in a game won by Matt Praters 44-yard field goal as time expired. "We had 25 guys that did not play," Broncos coach John Fox said. "We wanted to look at the bottom part of the roster. I thought some guys helped themselves. I thought we made some improvement." In contrast to the Broncos, Arizona used 10 starters on offence and 10 on defence in the games first few series. The Cardinals two candidates for starting quarterback, John Skelton and Kevin Kolb, did not play. Cardinals first-round draft pick Michael Floyd made a spectacular 22-yard touchdown catch. Manning lounged on the Denver bench as backup Caleb Hanie played the first half. Under duress much of the time, Hanie completed 7 of 13 for 75 yards, but was sacked five times. Knowshon Moreno rushed seven times for 48 yards in the first half for Denver (2-2). Ryan Lindley, a sixth-round draft pick from San Diego State, started for Arizona (1-4) and completed 14 of 26 for 176 yards with one touchdown and one interception. "I think Ryan did a pretty nice job," Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "The one interception was a miscommunication between the receiver. He got the wrong check. He was supposed to be running the route on it. But overall, I was pleased with his performance." Lindley was 9 of 13 for 101 yards and a touchdown in the first half with no interceptions, and that was supposed to be it for him. But he was forced back into the game late in the third quarter when Rich Bartel left with a right shoulder injury. "Im going to take it as a good test," Lindley said of having to come in the game on short notice after he thought he was through for the night. "Its something that could happen in the future. Hopefully it doesnt, but its good practice for something like that." Whisenhunt made it clear this week that Lindley was not a candidate for the starting job. The coach might name a starter at his regular day-after availability. Lindley was picked off by SydQuan Thompson with just over six minutes to go to set up Matt Praters 43-yard field goal that put Denver ahead 13-10 with 4:25 to play.dddddddddddd But Lindley found Isaiah Williams behind the secondary for a 56-yard pass that set up Jay Feelys tying 35-yard field goal with 52 seconds to go. Then fourth-string quarterback Adam Weber threw 50 yards to Greg Orton to set up the winning kick. Arizonas Beanie Wells, in his second game since coming off post-season knee surgery, carried seven times for 35 yards. Osweiler played most of the second half for Denver, completing 3 of 7 passes for 36 yards. Penalties negated a pair of big plays by the Broncos in the first half. Drayton Florences interception of Lindleys greatly underthrown deep pass was nullified by a roughing-the-passer penalty against Robert Ayers. Arizona went on to complete a 10-play, 76-yard touchdown drive. Lindley, on the run, heaved into double coverage in the end zone and Floyd, the 13th player chosen in the draft, bobbled the ball but held on as he fell to the turf for a touchdown on the second play of the second quarter. "I kept concentration on the ball the whole time," Floyd said. "Luckily the guy hit me in the back to go toward the ball, so it landed in my hands." Lindley was surrounded by Arizona starters early in the game, while safety Adrian Wilson was the only Cardinals regular on defence who didnt play at least a little bit. Lindley led the Cardinals downfield on their first possession, but Jay Feelys 40-yard field goal try careened off the left upright. The Cardinals gave Denver a late scoring opportunity with the only turnover of the first half. Lindley passed to former San Diego State teammate DeMarco Sampson, who was hit by Steven Johnson. The ball popped free and Denvers Nate Irving recovered at the Arizona 21. But Hanie was sacked twice as the first half came to an end with Arizona up 7-0. After Crezdon Butler intercepted Osweiler, Bartels 52-yard pass to Williams set up Feelys 41-yard field goal that made it 10-0 in the third quarter. Bolden gathered in the subsequent kickoff and made his way down the right sideline, tiptoeing just inside the line along the way to the end zone. NOTES: Arizona running back Javarris James left the game with an ACL injury. ... Whisenhunt says he doesnt know the severity of Bartels shoulder injury. ... Denver rookie shafety Duke Ihenacho left the game with a mild concussion. ... Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald praised Lindleys poise on the field and in the huddle. ... The Broncos and Cardinals have played in the final preseason game eight of the last nine seasons. ___ Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '