Many great US television shows began as British TV fare. While everyone knows some of the comedies (The Office, Three's Company, All in the Family…), 60 Minutes can trace its lineage through Canada's This Hour Has Seven Days back to the BBC's Panorama. First aired in 1953, Panorama has gone inside Scientology and the IRA, secretly interviewed Princess Diana, exposed sex-abuse cover-ups at the highest levels of the Vatican, and brought to light the sleazy side of soccer's transfer market. Now, days before the World Cup, Panorama claims that the Glazer family, who own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United, are drowning in debt.

Among Panorama's allegations (all figures converted to USD at 1 GBP = 1.45 USD):

• The Glazers are $1.6 billion underwater.
  
• The Glazers have borrowed $100 million against the Buccaneers.
  
• The Glazers' holding company, First Allied, has borrowed $562 million against its 64 shopping malls, more than the malls are worth. 63 of 64 malls are under mortgage; four have gone bust; half either cannot make their interest payments now or will not be able to make interest payments in the near future.
  
• Manchester United is $1.01 billion in debt.
  
• The Bucs and MU are the Glazers' only substantial sources of income.

The Red Knights, a group of wealthy fans who wanted to buy MU, publicly admitted last week that the Glazers would not negotiate. The Red Knights have, at least in the open, given up trying to buy the club.

If Panorama's allegations are accurate, the Glazers are clearly trying to hang on until the economy recovers so that they may earn their way out of trouble. Let's see how they go. I can't see Manchester United buying many players in the near term, and I wonder if the name "Los Angeles Buccaneers" has a marketable ring to it.