Manchester United are one of the most popular football teams, not only in England, but across the world. The Red Devils are one of the most successful teams in English football and have won the Premier League title a record 20 times, with their most recent title success coming in the 2012/13 season. Manchester United have also tasted success in Europe and have won the Champions League three times, Europa League once, and the Cup Winners’ Cup once. However, it has been some time since Manchester United won the Premier League. Does that mean they have lost the title of biggest sports brand in the UK?
Manchester United Falling
According to a brand value report in 2022, Manchester United are the fifth biggest sports brand in the world. Real Madrid are the team who top the report but with Manchester United coming in at fifth place, you would be forgiven for thinking that means they are the biggest sports brand in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately for Manchester United fans, there is some bad news and the brand value report has Liverpool above Manchester United. In fact, both Manchester City and Liverpool finished above Manchester United in the report. However, the report showed Manchester United continued to grow and their brand value was up 11% to just under €1.3 billion.
Sponsorship Deals
Another method of determining the biggest sports brand in the UK is sponsorship deals. The amount of money a company is willing to pay a sports club to appear as a sponsor shows how popular they believe the club to be and Manchester United have enjoyed some of the biggest sponsorship deals of any team over the past 20 years. The current Manchester United football shirt is made by Adidas and that deal is worth £75 million per year to the football club. TeamViewer are the main sponsor of the Manchester United shirt and that deal is worth £47.5 million per year. There are many other deals in place with sponsors who include Tezos, Apollo Tyres, Cadbury, DHL, Kohler, Konami, Marriott Hotels, Remington, and Visit Malta. BetFred is the betting partner of Manchester United and they offer sports betting in addition to a live casino UK.
Social Media
Social media has become a huge element of the top sports teams profiles and Manchester United are no exception. If we look at the number of social media followers Manchester United enjoy it currently stands at over 172 million. If we compare that to Manchester City, who have been the most successful team in recent Premier League history, their social media following stands at approximately 91 million. Liverpool have a social media following of 108 million, with Chelsea coming the closest to Manchester United at 110 million. Arsenal, who are having a tremendous 2022/23 Premier League campaign have 82.5 million, which is less than 50% the total followers of Manchester United.
It is fair to say, Manchester United have not been at their best on the pitch in recent years but judging by their sponsorship deals and social media following, they are still the biggest sports brand in the UK.
