United still have a huge following of armchair supporters throughout South East Asia in particular, mainly simply due to the fact that they play in red... and red is considered a lucky colour throughout much of that part of the world hence the people want to associate themselves with it and united are the highest profile team in the world who happen to play in red.There’s another club that is attracting the glory hunters nowadays, so the rags aren’t as vital to the League’s global attractiveness that they were, IMHO.
If they played in any other colour their Asian following would be a fraction of what it is and they wouldn't be the global cash cow that they currently still are for the broadcasters and the Premier League, hence why everything will still be done to give them a hand and keep them relevant.