Manchester United finished their season and got straight on a flight to Asia to play two games which would earn them several millions – but their popularity is not what it was
Manchester United have flown all the way to Asia to play two exhibition matches, but their latest visit has served to underline that their stock is not what it was as one fan asked – “Why choose to support a team that loses a lot?”
The Red Devils are digesting a Premier League year which saw them finish 15th. Europa League final defeat also means they have no European football next season. That has all impacted on the balance sheet, which was perhaps a motive for Sir Jim Ratcliffe as he hauled his squad thousands of miles to play two games.
Those two contests stand to earn the club £8million in revenue, but their trip hasn’t resulted in the same excitement levels as before. Once upon a time the Manchester outfit could lay claim to being the biggest in the world and they enjoyed mega popularity in Asia.
The last time the club won the Premier League trophy was in 2013. A year before that the club ran a report which claimed they had 659m followers worldwide – and half of those were from the Asia-Pacific region.
United will make use of 84,000 capacity Bukit Jalil Stadium, which is one of Asia’s biggest, and whilst more than 40,000 tickets were snapped up within hours of going on sale – a number of seats are still available in most price categories. Those with local knowledge admitted the interest levels have declined.
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Haresh Deol, founder of Malaysian news organisation TwentyTwo13, told the BBC: “There is chatter among fans [about the game], some form of excitement, but it isn’t as intense as the club’s prior visits to the region, when it was performing well in the Premier League.”
There are also reports in China that Friday’s game in the 40,000-seat Hong Kong Stadium against a Hong Kong XI may not sell out. Again, it shows how the United popularity has fallen give that on their last visit in 2009 games were absolute sellouts with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen in action.
Arch rivals Liverpool have always enjoyed support in the traditional South-East Asian nations like Malaysia and Singapore, but their recent success has seen them excel in markets such as India, China and Japan. Their interest and viewership of the Premier League is more recent and United cannot rely on their historic success.
Mumbai-based United fan Rahul Singh said: “Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool were not just successful again but seemed more cool with the way they played, their stars as well as Anfield. City have just been so successful with Pep and Erling Haaland is very famous. United are not only not winning trophies but they are not exciting to watch.”
Fans in Malaysia have grown tired with watching United lose, which they did more often than not this season. Deol admitted that “the younger generation want to associate themselves with teams that are actually consistently at the top.”
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