Top Of The Feud Chain

Through global expansion, changing faces and incoming wealth, Liverpool and Manchester United continue their storied rivalry.

- Rob Hughes

Last time Liverpool played Manchester United, it was claimed that 600 to 700 million watched on television around the world. The next time they meet, on October 17, live television will favour the west. Kick off at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium is 8pm British Summer Time, which is between mid-day and mid-afternoon across the US, but after midnight India Standard Time. Further east, and even deeper into the night, there will be insomniacs willing to stay up and pay up in hotspots like Singapore.

Liverpool FC and Manchester United are both nowadays owned by Americans. And there, the giant television corporation NBC has committed $1 billion to grow its English soccer subscriber base over six years.

This is all part of the globalisation of football.

Manchester City FC’s English ground is now known as the Etihad Stadium, but the club owns or holds significant holdings in Melbourne City FC (Australia), Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan) and New York City FC. It has financial deals with Japan’s Nissan motor company and the New York Yankees baseball franchise, and incoming investment of $400 million from China Media Capital.

A single club, mushrooming into a world entity, creates multinational promotion for Abu Dhabi, which has poured in unprecedented amounts of petrodollars from its ruling royal family.