The humiliating display that Liverpool is much bigger than Manchester United

Liverpool and Manchester United are 130 and 144 years old respectively, have millions of fans, mythical stadiums, many trophies, play in red and are only 50 kilometres apart, but now they could change owners. Because, coincidence or not, the owners of the two most iconic teams in the Premier League, both of American origin, have decided to put them up for sale at the same time.

A good time for many of their fans across the globe to ask themselves the same question: who is worth more? And while it is true that Liverpool have more European honours (especially their 6 Champions League titles to United's 3) and the Red Devils have more league titles (20 to Liverpool's 19), their value does not depend solely on sporting success.

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And no, neither is it based solely on their annual income, where the two clubs were placed on a par with their latest official accounts, which correspond to the 2020-21 campaign, and in which United generated £494.1 million, to the £487.4 million that the Reds earned, with a slight difference of 1.4% in favour of the Mancunian team. So why do some pundits fearlessly claim that United are at least 50 per cent more valuable than Liverpool?

According to some financial veterans consulted by The Athletic, such as Laurie Pinto, a senior partner at Pinto Capital, which advises club chairmen and directors, "it's all about fans, fans, fans". Hence, if Liverpool and United had the same starting price, it would be nonsense. "United is a bigger club, with a bigger stadium, with a bigger fan base. It would be closer if Liverpool were much better on the pitch, but they're not," the pundit argues.

The value of the fans

On the importance of the fanbase, as it is popularly known in the English-speaking world, Sam Mabon, head of corporate at Brabners, also believes United are an "outlier". "With over 1.1 billion fans and 50% more followers than Liverpool on social media, the ability to leverage this base is where the real value lies," Mabon says.