United targeting lucrative US market for new revenue

Manchester United have targeted the lucrative US market as their next area of expansion.

With a new Premier League deal just under way, United expect to generate annual revenue in excess of £420million by this time next year.

Estimates are the new TV contract will represent an increase of ‘between 35 and 38 per cent on the previous three-year deal’ according to Red Devils executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

But evidently, commercial income is the main force behind a 13.4 per cent rise in overall revenue to £363.2million. 

And the United States is where the Old Trafford outfit are looking to expand their horizons now.

‘The US market is under penetrated,’ Woodward said. ‘It is a very big media market, the most developed sports market in the world.

‘But we don’t want to deals that are quick and wrong, that tie us up and we regret afterwards.

‘We believe there has been an inflection point from 2010-11 when interest levels in football have increased.

‘In the last three years the number of people watching Manchester United has gone up by between 30 and 35 per cent each year. NBC reported peak viewership for our game against Chelsea last month was the biggest weekday afternoon audience since the Olympics.

‘It is moving away from being a niche sport and into the territory of competing with some of the top sports in the country.’

Read more: Daily Mail 

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