Moaning about United not winning affecting the PL brand. What makes it bad is who is saying it especially when the obvious answer to protecting the brand is attempting to ensure United win, by Scudamore's logic. Fellaini's escape v City starts to take on a new dimension, lets see how the rest of the season goes with "decisions" can't wait to see the fixture list next season
Scudamore should resign for coming out with such idiotic nonsense. Uniteds fall from their perch adds competition to the league and makes it a better contest and as its CEO that's exactly the point he should be making, not decrying his own product by saying in essence that the competition is made less attractive to the overseas market by Uniteds demise. It's Ratner'esque.
If success doesnt = Glory hunting fanbase, and in the 80's everyone supported United because it is the most noble club in England, the bastion of awesomeness then how do you currently explain Chelsea having the second largest global fanbase of all PL clubs?! Easy, because in the last 10 years, it has been the 2nd most successful club in the PL..... View attachment 30423
United have been englands most popular club for over half a century. Home and abroad;. At home the proof is there, highest attendances every year regardless of division. Abroad is a little harder to confirm but considering Liverpool were miles behind United on day one of the PL starting its probably fair to assume they didnt have a clue what the were doing for many years before that in terms of building and selling their brand globally. United were light years ahead. that suggests we already had a market and thus a good foreign supporter base.
We arent talking about at home. Most of PL clubs fan income comes from abroad. Of course United have had the largest average attendances....their stadium is by far the largest Look at the current figures, do you think 20 years ago Chelsea would have been anywhere near the top 3 clubs in the PL in terms of global fanbase? Of course not. Global fanbases back in the 80's, there is no way we could find out that information, so erroneous claims of United having the largest Global fanbase even in the 80's is just that.....erroneous.
I think its a fair point to make and one you simply cannot disprove while theres enough evidence to suggest United fans are correct. United immediate explotation of the global market does suggest we already had a market out there and this gave us an advantage. United are the club in english football to break the trend and do things differently. In the 50's the FA and most clubs scoffed at the idea of playing our game in europe. United changed it and fought to play in europe ( yes you can thank us ). In the 80's United realised our brand was worth something and that football was about more than just what happens on the pitch. fans wanted an experience, a connection. Not just match going fans but those further afield. So while neither myself or you can prove it either way, its hardly the wildest claim ever. The suggestion that people follow the most successful club is nonsense. Barcelona have always challenged Madrid for support whilst having a number of poor spells in their history. Dortmund have the best attendances in europe but are nowhere near Bayern in terms of global support despite the bigger stadium.
Domestically yes, but globally? Not at all. You think some kid in Africa or Malaysia bases which PL club he wishes to support on anything other than which team wins most trophies? And global fanbase is where the money is, truth is, there are more glory hunters than any other type of fan. Man United came to prominence at just the right time, when football was getting increased TV coverage with the new TV deals the PL had agreed. Do I think Liverpools global fanbase in the 80's was anywhere near Man Utds is now? No, probably a fraction. But I would bet money that more glory hunters jumped on the Pool bandwagon in the 80's than any other club. The fact that Chelsea has the second largest global fanbase is irrefutable evidence of this culture, because although I love my club, 20 years ago, few people outside of England knew who the **** we were! The fact that we are now 2nd is outrageous......good for my club, but still outrageous and that cannot be explained any other way other than the fact that we have won nearly as many trophies as United in the last 10 years.
Im not convinced you are second to us based on just one source. I fully expect you to be top 3/4 but fans dont change as easily as some suggest. Liverpool may have been successful n the 80's but thats about the only thing they had going for them. The world of football started to change back then and some were left behind. Global fan bases for english football probably didnt top 10million for all. United already had global fame due to being the first english EC winners and for Munich. At a time when English fans were not despised unlike the 80's where hooligans ruled the terraces. If any of us had the time the information would be relatively easy to find anyway. Just have to find out when supporters groups cropped up around the world.
This site also has us as 2nd most popular PL club: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...english-premier-league-teams-fan-base/page/21 And this one: http://hamrofootball.com/2013/04/27/top-10-most-popular-football-clubs-in-world-football/
I would have Liverpool and Arsenal ahead of you personally but either way, all combined are less than United. Anyway back on topic, Scud is right. United are the PL's biggest asset and obviously us being ****e is going to have an impact. Over time if we continued to be ****e the impac would decrease but right now, its probably a concern.
Liverpool have never been as big as UTD, even when Liverpool were the best team in England, UTD still had a much bigger fanbase.
even in their heyday (previous century and many decades ago ) the miserable scousers didn't have more global supporters than United. Manchester United (just manchester outside the UK) was recognised as a global brand well before the premiership. Something to do with the Busby babes, Best charlton and law and their winning the European Cup against the odds. The scousers will have a whiff of the title this season but thats it. It will all have proved an illusion...
Bet you wish your season was an illusion eh I'm delighted we don't have the gloryhunters that United and Chelsea have btw....even better that you lot are arguing like girlys over who has the most Love the fact that you're ignoring what was actually said and who said it....just confirms what the rest of us knew for the last twenty years....Fergies reffing friends were working under PL orders to "prop up the brand"
