Does Manchester United have the best fans in the world?
To date, Manchester United has provided us with 60-plus years of riveting football entertainment, established as one of the most successful and popular teams in the world. These Red Devils are known for annually strutting their stuff during the most viewed sporting event in the world- The English Premier League. There is of course good reason behind their popularity and some argue that Red Devil’s supporters are one of the best fan bases on the planet. Let’s navigate our way through each supporting factor below.
Proof in numbers
- Manchester United started gaining favour after the tragic Munich air crash. The disaster caused international mourning, but for the loss of one of the most talented generations to ever wear the red shirts, this resulted in the Reds being many fans favourite club.
- According to a worldwide survey by market research company, Kantar, Manchester United has a global following of approximately 659 million adult Red Devils fans from at least 39 countries around the word (that’s one in every 10 people alive today). Kantar’s report also revealed 90 million of these fans are in Europe (the region is dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona fans) and 71 million in the Americas, but at least half (325 million) of the 659 million figure are located in the Asia-Pacific region, 173 million being from the Middle East and Africa.
The Home Crowd
Built to hold 80,000 jubilant fans, Old Trafford is always full to 99.5 % capacity or more (highest attendance was 76,962). According to reports, Red devils supporters attended the most home games as the highest average for the first few matches of the 2011/12 season with 75,479 supporters. Compared to the closest rival, Arsenal comes in at second with 59,968 attendees.
Massive Online Support
Not only does Manchester United have the most attended home games, they also have the largest online following, almost as many as Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City put together. Reports from March 2011 stated that Red Devils fans were the most actively engaged and responsive online, with over 19,720,287 fans (in 2011). These stats have since grown in numbers.
Wearing their hearts on their sleeves
Football fans are not shy when it comes to showing off their support for their favourite team by sporting the jerseys or other official branded merchandise. Manchester United Fans are no different. These fans literally wear their hearts on their sleeves in support of their favourite football club.
T-Shirt Sales Soar in Just Three Weeks
In 2016, 23-year-old French midfielder and one of Adidas’ main sponsored athletes, Paul Pogba, cost Manchester United a small fortune in transfer fees. T-shirt sales with the print ‘Pogba 6’ accounted for $190 million with sales in just three weeks. Adidas were blown away by the way fans generated close to £200 million in sales last August 2016. Many of these Red Devil supporters, along with millions of fellow fans may stumble upon the May 2017 upcoming Man United fixtures at latest betting sites to keep track of what’s happening next in the world of football.
