The Manchester United sale saga will last at least a bit longer — and may have a new protagonist.

The Raine Group, the New York-based investment bank handling the sale of the legendary club, had set a deadline of 9 p.m. Manchester local time on Wednesday for any interested parties to submit bids — only to extend the deadline to an unspecified time in the closing hours, per multiple reports.

It’s reportedly unclear which of the two central finalists — Qatar’s Sheikh ­Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe — asked for the extension first. Flexibility talks appear to have taken place at least 24 hours before the initial deadline.

Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe were reportedly set to submit bids in excess of $6.2 billion — a world-record sale price for a sports team. There were projected to be up to eight offers for the club, though not all were for outright ownership.

The deadline extension has also opened the door for a new bidder to enter the fray: On Thursday, Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus announced his bid for Man United.

In a phone interview with Bloomberg, Zilliacus would not disclose the value of his offer, but said he had the means to finance “whatever the number is that we agree to.” He also expressed a desire to meet the Glazer family closer to their initial asking price for the club.

“I am not surprised if they say they won’t sell for less than £6 billion ($7.4 billion),” said Zilliacus.

Baseball’s media ecosystem is undergoing huge changes, but that hasn’t stopped team values from soaring.

The New York Yankees’ lofty perch became even loftier as the team’s valuation rocketed 18% from last year to $7.1 billion, per Forbes’ latest tally.

Using 2022’s NFL team valuations, that would make the Yankees the second-most valuable sports team in the world after the $8 billion Dallas Cowboys.

After the Yankees, there’s a steep dropoff to the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers ($4.8 billion), followed by other major-market teams like the Boston Red Sox ($4.5 billion), Chicago Cubs ($4.1 billion), and San Francisco Giants ($3.7 billion).

The bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, which broadcasts 14 MLB teams, presents challenges for many teams outside the biggest media markets. The top teams are generally insulated from that issue — many have standalone sports networks, such as the Yankees’ YES Network.

The average team value grew 12%, despite 10 teams registering an operating loss — led by the free-spending New York Mets (sixth at $2.9 billion), who took a $138.5 million hit.

Success on the field was rewarded as well: The Seattle Mariners, who made the playoffs last year for the first time since 2001, saw their valuation leap 29% to $2.2 billion.

Michael Jordan’s management company didn’t add much clarity to last week’s report that the NBA legend wants to offload his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets. 

ESPN reported that Jordan was in serious talks to sell his controlling interest in the franchise he acquired for $275 million in 2010 to a group led by Hornets minority owner Gabe Plotkin.

The Hornets haven’t made a public statement since the story was published last Thursday. 

But on Wednesday, Jump Management issued a statement about the discussions. 

“Four years ago, Michael Jordan sold a stake in the Charlotte Hornets to a Gabe Plotkin-led group,” the statement noted. “As a natural step in a process due to that transaction, Michael and Gabe are in discussions about his group potentially buying an additional stake. At this time, it is unclear whether an additional sale will take place.”

Plotkin, founder of Melvin Capital, and D1 Capital founder Daniel Sundheim in 2019 bought the minority stake from Jordan in 2019. 

ESPN reported the deal was imminent and that Jordan was expected to keep a minimum stake.

The Hornets are valued at $1.7 billion — the 27th-most-valuable of 30 NBA teams, according to Forbes.