Manchester City will match up against Manchester United on Saturday, and according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, it will become the most expensive sporting event in history.
This meeting will break said record because of the two club's recent lavish spending sprees, racking up $850 million in players' salaries and transfer fees, just about as much as NASA spent on the Hubble telescope, Wall Street Journal reports.
Man City's money is tied up in talent such as Carlos Tevez, James Milner, Yaya Toure and recent hire Edin Dzeko, who combined represent roughly $200 million. Manchester United's top salaried players are Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick, who carry about the same financial burden as their Man City counterparts.
This game represents a culmination of overspending that every top-shelf club has taken part in, as after this season, the "Financial Fair Play" regulations kick in, which allow clubs to only spend as much money as they bring in, in an attempt to even the pitch for all teams.
The report also draws parallels to American sports, noting the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins meetings, which amounted to about $350 million.
The clashes between the Red Sox and Yankees produces roughly $380 million total salaries, an interesting number when thinking about how outlandish the Red Sox and Yankees spending has become over the past decade.
