Top European Football Clubs Have Global Fan Base
Manchester United the World's Most Popular Football Club Online
By PR Newswire
LONDON, May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today released worldwide traffic figures for the top European football clubs' Web sites. With both the FA Cup and European Champions League finals just days away, the study reveals that the FA Cup Final teams (Manchester United and Chelsea) together attract a far larger global online site audience than the two teams in the final of the Champions League (Liverpool and A.C. Milan).
Manchester United attracted 2.2 million unique visitors to its Web site during March 2007, making it the world's most popular football club online. The study also shows that roughly 60 percent, or 1.3 million, of Manchester United's 2.2 million monthly visitors do not reside in the U.K. -- quantifying the global reach and appeal of the Manchester United brand franchise. Rounding out the top 7 most popular football teams online are Liverpool (1.5 million global unique visitors), Arsenal (1.4 million), Real Madrid (1.1 million), Barcelona (1.05 million), Chelsea (1.0 million) and A.C. Milan (0.8 million).
"Football is the most popular sport in the world, so it should not be surprising that the top teams have fans across the globe," said Bob Ivins, managing director of comScore Europe. "Smart marketers realize that the true value of an endorsement relationship with a football club requires taking into consideration the size of the global fan base that the club attracts. In turn, that points to the value of comScore data in providing a global perspective."
Worldwide Traffic to Football Sites by Unique Visitors (000)* March 2007 Source: comScore World Metrix Unique Visitors Percentage of Visitation (000) from Team's Home Country Non-Home Site Club Worldwide Home Country Country Manutd.com Manchester United 2,218 43 % 57 % Liverpoolfc.tv Liverpool 1,497 53 % 47 % Arsenal.com Arsenal 1,435 47 % 53 % RealMadrid.com Real Madrid 1,137 33 % 67 % FCBarcelona.com Barcelona 1,053 26 % 74 % ChelseaFC.com Chelsea 1,000 38 % 62 % ACMilan.com AC Milan 825 34 % 66 % Inter.it Inter Milan 824 49 % 51 % Juventus.com Juventus 619 31 % 69 % Om.net Marseille 531 82 % 18 % PSG.fr Paris St Germain 413 77 % 23 % Olweb.fr Lyon 319 78 % 22 %
* Unique visitors worldwide aged 15+, excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes, or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
About comScore
comScore, Inc. is a global leader in measuring the digital world. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behaviour, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behaviour and attitudes. comScore analysts apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. comScore services are used by more than 700 clients, including global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestl??, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit
http://www.comscore.com.
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United, Chelsea in grudge final
London - A crowd of 90 000 will watch Manchester United take on Chelsea in the biggest grudge match of the season on Saturday, when England's new champions face the deposed rulers in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
Spurred on by the attacking flair of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, United have already put an end to two consecutive years of Chelsea domination of the Premiership.
Now they want to rub salt in the wounds by completing the 'double' at the expense of the free-spending London club, watched by a full house in the first big game at the new Wembley.
The stage, finally ready at a cost of more than 750 million pounds, could not have been better set by the Football Association had they tried.
United and Chelsea's rivalry has dominated the domestic season and for it to come to a head in the FA Cup is a dream final for the ruling body and a global television audience.
The stakes could hardly be higher, with the trophy being only the larger part of the prize for the winners.
For United, it is a chance to bring the once mighty Chelsea fully to their knees, to assert themselves once again as the power in the land and to put a big marker down for next season.
They clearly have the firepower to achieve that, even without injury-prone French striker Louis Saha.
Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, who played when United completed a 1994 'double' by thrashing Chelsea 4-0 in the final, and Paul Scholes were all spared until the last half-hour of Sunday's 1-0 defeat by West Ham United, ensuring they will be fresh on Saturday.
The only regret will be from captain Gary Neville, who is sidelined with an ankle problem and misses the club's chance to add to a record 11 FA Cups.
Chelsea, who have more serious fitness worries, also have several points to prove - and none bigger than their belief that injuries were to blame for the loss of their title.
The fractured skull suffered by goalkeeper Petr Cech in October and the back surgery undergone by captain John Terry in December cost them dear in dropped points in the title race.
Those absences, along with Joe Cole's long-term injuries, left Chelsea exposed at the back and wholly reliant up front on Ivorian striker Didier Drogba, who responded magnificently with 32 goals in all competitions.
It was still not enough, even with midfielder Frank Lampard chipping in with 21 goals for the season.
Victory on Saturday would at least make it a cup double for the Blues, who beat a young Arsenal side in February's League Cup final, and would ruin United's end-of-term party.
However, they will have to do so with another makeshift side as Germany midfielder Michael Ballack, Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko and Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho are all out.
Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel is a major doubt, while Dutch winger Arjen Robben may just be fit enough for the bench after knee surgery.
"The reality is I don't think we will have 16 players for the final," coach Jose Mourinho lamented after Sunday's 1-1 draw with Everton.
The contrast could not be more marked with a bullish Ferguson, who told his club's website: "We're going there with good confidence, we've won the league and touch wood I'll get the players I need for next Saturday."
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Manchester United Supporters Association, The Pride of all Europe
