Friday 20 May 2016 13:13, UK
Despite failing to qualify for the Champions League, Manchester United have the highest brand index value in the Premier League, according to brand analytics group Brandtix.
Louis van Gaal's side may have been knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage before finishing fifth in the Premier League, but their index score of 706 still ranks them above the likes of Chelsea (686) and Arsenal (669).
The Brandtix index takes into account Opta-powered on-pitch statistics, social media reach through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and social sentiment, including positive interaction and quality and quantity of discussion.
Manchester United's total social following of 87.6million fans still represents a massive 28 per cent of the entire league's support.
In fact, if you take Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea out of the equation, United's support on social media eclipses the combined backing of the other sixteen Premier League clubs.
Crucially, the club's highly-engaged fan base is also maintaining its support despite missing out on next season's Champions League, with positive sentiment staying at an impressive 65 per cent.
Unfortunately for Van Gaal, however, that backing doesn't necessarily extend to the manager, with "LVGOUT" a resonant call across fan chatter.
When taking all European teams into account, United sit third behind Real Madrid (754 index score) and Barcelona (706), whose combined support constitutes 39 per cent of the entire following of the continent's top twenty clubs.
Brandtix's index is in line with Deloitte's football rich list for 2014/15 revenue, published in January, which has Real Madrid top (£439m revenue), Barcelona second (£427m) and Manchester United third (£395.2m).
Premier League clubs Chelsea and Arsenal sit fourth and fifth respectively in Brandtix's index, ahead of Bayern Munich (668), Paris Saint-Germain (632) and Liverpool (631). In total, 11 Premier League teams make up the top 20 in Europe.
Leicester City's memorable Premier League title win has won them 4.2million fans on social media in the past three months, and they sit seventh in the Premier League index and 15th in Europe.
That represents an increase in support of 65 per cent, and over the entire 2015/16 season, only Barcelona and Real Madrid attracted a greater number of new fans.
Notably, the club are also expanding their supporter base geographically, with new fans emerging from the USA, India, Brazil and Spain.
Brandtix reviews the performances of professional athletes and teams both on and off the pitch in order to discover their true brand values.
As well as official player and team accounts, the Brandtix platform also monitors relevant fan channels, the official pages of associated brands and any interaction between players/teams and their fans.
