City become the most watched PL team in the US

I`m City vs Real Madrid last year break some viewing figures record in the US last year.
 
As a Yank who felt quite lonely supporting City for much of the last two-plus decades, my observation is the divide between old and young here is stark.

Listening to SiriusFC on the radio, the gobshit(e)s like Tom Rennie, Eric Wynalda, et al still routinely lambast City in favo(u)r of Utd and (especially) Liverpool. I go to a bar last year for City v Arsenal and City fans are outnumbered 15 to 1. I still get questions from know-nothing parents at my kid's high school ("Now . . . you support Manchester United, right?").

But . . . ask my teenagers about THEIR friends . . . and ALL of them, whether they follow the sport closely or not, LOVE Erling Haaland. And many know Kevin DeBruyne too. My daughter says City shirts outnumber any other team displayed at her school save maybe Barcelona (and that was, of course, due to Messi).

So while winning and lots of exposure on the big stages has helped, don't underestimate the drawing power of our Nordic meat shield and our beloved ginger too. They are phenomenons. Americans love personalities as much as teams, especially younger ones.

That said . . . for lunch time my time matches when I can go to my "local" (which is a 15-minute drive from my house -- that's a "local" in California), a little group is starting to build of regulars who are there for City. So the spark has begun to spread a bit.
 
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FogBlueInSanFran said:
As a Yank who felt quite lonely supporting City for much of the last two-plus decades, my observation is the divide between old and young here is stark.

Listening to SiriusFC on the radio, the gobshit(e)s like Tom Rennie, Eric Wynalda, et al still routinely lambast City in favo(u)r of Utd and (especially) Liverpool. I go to a bar last year for City v Arsenal and City fans are outnumbered 15 to 1. I still get questions from know-nothing parents at my kid's high school ("Now . . . you support Manchester United, right?").

But . . . ask my teenagers about THEIR friends . . . and ALL of them, whether they follow the sport closely or not, LOVE Erling Haaland. And many know Kevin DeBruyne too. My daughter says City shirts outnumber any other team displayed at her school save maybe Barcelona (and that was, of course, due to Messi).

So while winning and lots of exposure on the big stages has helped, don't underestimate the drawing power of our Nordic meat shield and our beloved ginger too. They are phenomenons. Americans love personalities as much as teams, especially younger ones.

That said . . . for lunch time my time matches when I can go to my "local" (which is a 15-minute drive from my house -- that's a "local" in California), a little group is starting to build of regulars who are there for City. So the spark has begun to spread a bit.
Click to expand...
I think 2012 was when every Premier League game starting being televised on US television.

The club timed its ascension brilliantly. The team improved at an ideal time to capture market share.

A lot of United's glory years weren't really televised in the United States. The beauty for us is we don't have to put up with the red shirt dynamic domestic UK fans have to deal with. NBC doesn't play the game of making negative commentary about City to capture red shirt audiences.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
As a Yank who felt quite lonely supporting City for much of the last two-plus decades, my observation is the divide between old and young here is stark.

Listening to SiriusFC on the radio, the gobshit(e)s like Tom Rennie, Eric Wynalda, et al still routinely lambast City in favo(u)r of Utd and (especially) Liverpool. I go to a bar last year for City v Arsenal and City fans are outnumbered 15 to 1. I still get questions from know-nothing parents at my kid's high school ("Now . . . you support Manchester United, right?").

But . . . ask my teenagers about THEIR friends . . . and ALL of them, whether they follow the sport closely or not, LOVE Erling Haaland. And many know Kevin DeBruyne too. My daughter says City shirts outnumber any other team displayed at her school save maybe Barcelona.

So while winning and lots of exposure on the big stages has helped, don't underestimate the drawing power of our Nordic meat shield and our beloved ginger too. They are phenomenons.
Click to expand...
It's generational. The fans of the legacy clubs will age & pass on, to be replaced by a young, Internet & social media savvy set of TV presenters, pundits & football fans. They won't give a shit what ManUre or the Dippers did when the world was viewed through Black & white tellys.

The shift towards fans supporting who's dominating global football now, is EXACTLY what the Red Top Mafia are trying to halt, which leaves Sky caught between supporting their original Premier League partners, or giving the new generation of fans what they want.

Try telling a young kid (who'll soon become an adult with his/her own disposable income) to ignore the Viking Meat Shield, our Ginger Prince, or the Stockport Iniesta in favour of idolising Maguire, McTominey, TAA or VVD because of the success their clubs had in the 70s, 80s, 90s & early 2000s. The kids'll politely tell you to do one.

You can see the effect it's already having on Sky who've announced 1100 job losses, as they battle to retain/attract the new generation of young adults with disposable income, who're now watching more independent content on the Internet & social media than on mainstream subscription TV.

TV viewing figures continue to plummet, as younger watchers are opting for creating their own TV schedules by watching free online content where, when & how they want. The power Sky & the old Sky Four used to weild over football is rapidly diminishing by the season.

The kids of today will become the match attending, game watching, merchandising buying adults of tomorrow, who'll then go on to influence the choices their children will make.

Once this happens (our continued success willing), we'll finally begin to see public opinion shifting in our favour, whereby the whining Cartel Clubs & Spuds will look & sound like the bitter, twisted losers they are. Fuck the lot of em!
 
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