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Amit Vyas
August 05, 2015
Despite 2 years of relative failure, Manchester United FC remain top of the UAE supporters league
As the new English Premier League Season once again hits our calendars, we thought it would be interesting to see how popular each of the teams are in terms of local support from those living in the UAE. While the results aren't entirely surprising, it's still interesting to see that Manchester United, after two trophy-less seasons, still comfortably top the supporters premier league with over 30% of the overall support being fans of the Red Devils.
| Supporters League Position | Team | Percentage of Support | Final Position in Previous Season |
| 1 | Manchester United | 30.55% | 4 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 19.92% | 1 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 10.09% | 6 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 9.96% | 3 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 8.90% | 2 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 8.77% | 5 |
| 7 | Everton | 2.66% | 11 |
| 8 | West Ham Utd | 1.73% | 12 |
| 9 | Southampton | 1.59% | 7 |
| 10 | Swansea City | 1.59% | 8 |
| 11 | West Bromwich Albion | 0.89% | 13 |
| 12 | Aston Villa | 0.76% | 17 |
| 13 | Newcastle United | 0.60% | 15 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 0.50% | 10 |
| 15 | Stoke City | 0.33% | 9 |
| 16 | Sunderland | 0.33% | 16 |
| 17 | Norwich City | 0.25% | n/a |
| 18 | Leicester City | 0.23% | 14 |
| 19 | Watford | 0.21% | n/a |
| 20 | Bournemouth | 0.13% | n/a |
Source: Facebook Ad Platform. All supporter numbers are from people located in the UAE. Data count: 752,860
The 80/20 Rule Applies...Almost
Most people in business understand the 80/20 rule (the Pareto Principle), where in a given scenario or event, 80% of effects will come from just 20% of its causes. What's interesting to see here is that 80% of the total support comes from just 5 clubs, which equates to 25% of the total number. Aside from Liverpool, the 5 best supported teams are those who have consistently won trophies or titles over the past 5 years. In 3rd place of the Supporters League, Liverpool is also the only team who failed to finish within the top 5 positions of last year's English Premier League, testing the patience and loyalty of its local fanbase.
The Best Supported Teams Do Well
It's clear to see the relationship between how the best supported teams perform during the course of the season. This is represented by the top 6 teams from last year's English Premier League also being the top 6 most supported teams in the UAE. The bottom line here is that if a team does well, they will pick up more supporters along the way.
If we follow this methodology, teams such as Everton (7th best supported team) and West Ham United (8th best supported team) will be under increasing pressure having under performed last season. These 2 teams finished 11th and 12th respectively, in the English Premier League during 2014/2015.
The Emirates and Etihad Effect
From a local perspective, the ownership of Manchester City by Abu Dhabi's ruling family and Emirates' sponsorship of Arsenal may also have an impact on the local support of both teams and is worth keeping an eye on over time.
Today's Targeting Capabilities:
As digital marketers we very rarely get a chance to use the powerful tools available to us for anything other than client work, so when the opportunity to have some fun and produce reports such as the one above comes along, we're happy to grasp it! The above is a simple example of the targeting capabilities available to businesses in the UAE looking to target highly specific segments of the market. For more information on how we can help your business target new customers, please complete the contact form on this page.
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