Saturday 27 July 2013

Australia gold rush as Manchester United and Liverpool unlock door to untold ... - Telegraph.co.uk

But the success of United and Liverpool's trip to the country suggests that their domestic rivals will already be investigating the prospect of cashing in by embarking on Australian tours next summer.

Ian Ayre, the Liverpool managing director, was asked about the benefits of touring the country when the club arrived in Melbourne on Monday.

Bearing in mind that the majority of sponsorship money at Anfield comes from the United States and the Far East - the same applies to United - it was a fair question to ask and one which prompted the 'tell them what they want to hear' response.

Australia, according to Ayre, was in the top five of every one of Liverpool's commercial, marketing and supporter surveys.

The country may not generate the megabucks deals that Liverpool have earned with Standard Chartered and Warrior, or United with Aon, Chevrolet and Nike, but Ayre was not simply sweetening up his audience.

Four days after United played in front of over 83,000 fans at Sydney's ANZ Stadium, Liverpool turned the iconic MCG into a bowl of red with over 95,000 turning out to watch Brendan Rodgers' team.

On Saturday, over 4,000 Australia-based United supporters claimed ownership of the steps of Sydney Opera House, while Melbourne's Flinders Street Station could have been Liverpool Lime Street at 2pm before a league game at Anfield, such were the numbers of Liverpool shirts streaming onto the streets.

Mark Bosnich, the former Manchester United and Aston Villa goalkeeper now working as a television pundit for the Fox network, insisted that United and Liverpool were merely scratching the surface of support in Australia during their brief visits.

Bosnich's dream, to see the Community Shield transplanted to Sydney or Melbourne, might seem fanciful, but there would certainly be a market.

According to local reports, United received AUS$5m for playing in Sydney, which is roughly £3.5m. Liverpool are rumoured to have earned a similar fee for travelling to Melbourne.

With so many supporters Down Under, both United and Liverpool know of the financial windfall they could earn through subscription to club websites or television channels, not to mention the sales of merchandise.

As Bosnich also noted, Australians only want to see the best, playing at the top of their game, so the appetite for other clubs to visit the country will be strong.

And with the country's cricket team currently going through a deep trough, just weeks after the Wallabies suffered a series defeat against the British Lions, Australia might just want a bit more of the distraction that soccer has brought over the past 10 days.

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