Manchester United at front of queue to unlock £860m US opportunity

This summer, like many major European clubs, Manchester United will be heading across the Atlantic for a pre-season tour of North America.

The club’s preparations for the 2024/25 season will see them play three games in three locations; Columbia, South Carolina; Inglewood, California; and San Diego, California, with games against Arsenal, Liverpool and Real Betis lined up.

Touring the US and trying to win a piece of the market share isn’t a new phenomenon for football clubs, and this summer will see United joined by Chelsea and Manchester City as well as Arsenal and Liverpool in trying to sell their wares to the sports-loving American public.

But having been such a tough sell for so long given the competition from such major sporting leagues on US soil as the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS, ‘soccer’ is finally starting to cut through to the mainstream in the US, with the Premier League in the box seat when it comes to winning that battle. The Premier League’s current broadcasting deal with NBC in America is worth £2bn, 20% of the Premier League’s entire broadcast revenue, and that is something that is expected to rise for the next cycle at a time when, in real terms, broadcast values on home soil have stagnated.

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With the World Cup heading stateside in 2026, and with more fans than ever engaged with what the Premier League has to offer, tapping into such a potential revenue resource comes at a time when England’s biggest clubs are tasked with fighting increasing wages and transfer fees while having to cope with greater financial regulation in an industry where profitability on a year to year basis is rare, with the value existing in the accretive value of the club itself annually. United are currently valued at north of £5bn, the highest of any football club in the world.

But how valuable is the potential opportunity for clubs like Manchester United, and how can they best tap into the undecided US fans who could be swayed on where their allegiance lies for the years to come?

Direct-to-consumer fan data firm CLV Group works with sports teams to identify and unlock revenue opportunities from potential new fan bases, with a report from the company claiming as much as $1.1bn (£860m) is up for grabs for European clubs in the US market moving forward.

According to the report, there are between two-and-a-half million to nine million US fans of European clubs— each—that are still unknown to them. That, according to CLV data insights, doesn’t include the 44% of US ‘soccer’ fans (36.5 million), who despite being passionate about the sport, are still undecided on which team to support.

The CLV Group report claims that the potential exists for clubs to multiply current US fandom by three to five times over the next 12 months.

“European football clubs have historically lacked the necessity, data and technology to drive such transformative growth,” said CLV Group co-founder and CEO, Neil Joyce.

“However, coupled with the rising popularity of football (soccer) in the U.S., the pure scale of soccer fans, 88m across participants, followers and viewers, plus those with an affinity for the sport, now is the time to capitalise.

“Think LeBron James’ recent partnership with Liverpool FC - or how Taylor Swift’s appearance at the Super Bowl provided a massive financial boost to the NFL, not to mention the impact at Anfield over the weekend. Or even Juventus’ recent ‘Team Jay’ series to engage their younger fanbase through anime. These are the areas our clubs must now embrace.

CLV’s data revealed Manchester United as the Premier League team who stand to gain the most from the US market - with a potential $40.7m opportunity. Manchester City were second with $34.3m, Chelsea third with $27.3m, and Arsenal fourth at $22.3m. The Premier League quartet are eclipsed by European giants Real Madrid, who stand to gain $61m from the US opportunity, according to the data, which was compiled from a number of multiple data signals such as CLV’s proprietary data, MasterCard, Affinity Data Solutions, Starcount Group, and X Corp.

CLV’s report - Connecting and Winning U.S. Fandoms: A Guidebook for European Football Clubs - also highlighted that while the average UK Premier League fan is around 42 years old, 50% of US football fans are under the age of 45.

“With Profit and Sustainability Rules in place and talk of even more robust new financial rules in the pipeline, it’s absolutely key to unlock new revenues now,” added Joyce.

“We know clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal already go on regular summer tours to the U.S., but our unique data shows that there’s so much more opportunity there for them now.

“The U.S. market is ready for Premier League clubs to win the hearts, minds, and wallets of undecided, unknown fans – whether it’s through selling merchandise directly to fans, or pursuing partnerships across other sports, collaborations with video gaming, music, and content creators. The opportunity is huge. We’re talking about a potential fan base of 36m undecided U.S. soccer fans (not to mention those fans who know the clubs, but the clubs do not know themselves) who can be connected to and engaged with, thus bringing huge sources of growth across the board to the clubs.

“If they don’t, then there’s no doubt that the tide of organic growth of Major League Soccer, not to mention other European heavyweights like Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Bayern Munich, will be there to seize the opportunities.”

Of the potential ways for Manchester United to raise revenues in the future in the US market, aligning themselves with star power is key, with pop icon Harry Styles, a United fan who drew much attention when he attended the club’s clash at Luton Town last season, offering a way in to such things as merchandise collaborations to reach new demographics that may not have previously been into ‘soccer’ but who were willing consumers of merchandise linked to their favourite music stars.

The report noted: “A limited edition Manchester United x Harry Styles collection would leverage the singer's fashion influence and attract a younger, style-conscious audience.

“This collection could feature co-branded apparel and accessories that would be sold online and at club stores with special releases during key matches or tours to expand the club’s market reach and enhance its image.”

Knowing just who a club's fans are, and what they are interested in, is core to CLV’s data approach, with United data pointing to a heavy interest in fashion as well as such relatively untapped revenue as anime (United had a lucrative 2014 activation with Noodle firm Nissin which turned player images into Japanese-style anime characters), and existing synergies with other brands associated with ownership, something heightened by the arrival of INEOS as minority owners, with INEOS the principal partner of Formula One team Mercedes, as well as owning sporting assets including OGC Nice, and being involved in high-end car manufacturing with the INEOS Grenadier.