Earlier this week, financial blogger The Swiss Ramble posted his annual review of Manchester United’s accounts. While it is clear that United continues to generate eye-watering amounts of revenue, the report makes for grim viewing. This passage in particular was a stunning reminder of just how expensive the Glazers’ ownership has been:

“In fact, over the last seven years they have made total operating profits of £457 million (including £148 million from player sales), which have been totally wiped out by net financing costs of £460 million.”

That is astonishing. But it gets worse. Due to United’s most recent refinancing of loans, the current debt “was increased from $585 million to $650 million.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, the club also announced that the six Glazers who share majority ownership would now receive an annual dividend of £15 million. This payout was approved by the board of directors, on which all six of the Glazers naturally sit.

Manchester United — probably the most popular sporting institution on the planet — has spent the better part of a billion (with a B!) dollars just for the privilege of having the Glazer family as owners. No matter how much revenue has increased under their ownership — and the increase has been massive, to be fair — that is still an extraordinary cost.

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Why are more people not angry about this? This was an enormous club that was already extremely successful, and (importantly) debt-free. While the success has continued under the Glazers, it could have been so much more if not for the hamstringing effect of their ownership. Of the four clubs that sit atop the Deloitte Football Money League, it is United that stands out for being a level below the other three on the field. For fans who want to see their club reach its full potential, the disastrous Glazer regime represents a grossly expensive missed opportunity.

The apathy shown by a large section of United fans is baffling. Even worse are those fans who, actively being screwed by the cost of the Glazers’ ownership, still complain about players wanting more money in wages, or about transfer fees being higher than ever.

Perhaps part of the reason that there has been a relative lack of dissent among the United faithful is that fans have been distracted by the club’s success on the pitch and recent largesse with transfer fees. During the latter period of the Sir Alex Ferguson years, there were certainly grumbles from supporters about the failure of the club to compete at the very top end of the transfer market. But Ferguson was a wizard, and he managed to deliver trophy after trophy even as the squad was criminally underinvested. The record-setting Cristiano Ronaldo money may have disappeared into thin air, but there’s nothing like a couple of shiny Premier League trophies to make everything okay.

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Post-Fergie, as the trophies have dried up, there should be renewed scrutiny on just how costly the Glazer era has been. Conveniently for the Glazers, United has finally started splashing the cash. The debt is debilitating, and the squad was a shambles because of years of relative austerity, but here: have a fancy new winger or an overpriced teenager and hush up.

Even the distraction of big spending will likely be temporary, as vice-chairman Ed Woodward has admitted that “maybe we will go back to more normalized numbers.” Ah, yes. “Normalized” in this sense meaning “just enough to keep the club competitive in England and Europe, but not at all in line with its obscene revenue, which will continue to be primarily used to fund the Glazer ownership.”

At the heart of any kind of fandom, but particularly in sports, is pride: pride in what your club represents; what it achieves; or, if you’re lucky, both. Manchester United, by any measure, has achieved a hell of a lot. What is represents, on the other hand, is harder to pin down these days, mostly because the club has chosen to whore itself out to every tire manufacturer and potato chip maker with enough money to pay for the privilege. Savvy commercial activity is obviously part of the reason that United is as big as it is, and sponsorship deals are a fact of life at every club, but there is a point at which this necessary evil becomes almost unbearably cringeworthy. At the risk of sounding very #againstmodernfootball, there is something embarrassing and undignified about seeing your beloved club announcing a “Global Noodle Partner” and an “Official Nigerian Soft Drinks Partner.”

The Glazers have robbed United supporters of more than those fans may realize. They have robbed them of the pride they should be able to take in their club. They have robbed them of the security of knowing that their club is in good financial health. They have robbed them of the opportunity to see United achieve the dominance in the game for which the club’s wealth and reach should have allowed. That so many have stood by in silence while the Glazers have leeched off of Manchester United for a decade is shameful.