HITWISE UK SPORTS UPDATE

Liverpool most supported Premier League club on the Internet

London 8^th August 2007 - Hitwise, the leading online competitive intelligence service, today reveals that Liverpool Football Club is the most popular Premier League football club on the Internet ahead of this weekend’s start to the season. Among the top 20 Premier League clubs official websites, Liverpool (www.liverpoolfc.tv) received 17% of all UK Internet visits for the week ending 4^th August 2007.

Manchester United’s website was the second most popular with 15% of visits, while Arsenal’s was third with 11%. However, Chelsea’s official website received just 4% of visits, making it only the 11^th most popular Premier League club online, behind smaller clubs including Everton, Sunderland, and Aston Villa. Liverpool has held its position as the most popular Premier League club on the Internet for two years. During this time it has only once slipped behind Manchester United – for a week in April this year as the current Premiership champions closed in on their first title since 2003. 

73% of Manchester United Fans are based outside of the North West

The two most popular clubs on the Internet in the UK both receive the majority of their support from outside of their home towns, with 73% of Manchester United fans and 72% of Liverpool fans based outside of the North West. Manchester City fans are twice as likely to live in the North West as Manchester United fans. However, due to the size of its overall fan base, there are still 33% more Manchester United fans in the North West than Manchester City Fans. There are also 82% more Liverpool fans than Everton fans in the North West.

Football fans in the North East are the most loyal to their local clubs, with Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Newcastle ranking first, second and fourth in terms of localised support. Of the Premiership clubs based in the Midlands, Aston Villa is the most popular overall, but Derby County has the most localised support. Of the London clubs, Fulham has the highest proportion of fans living in London, while West Ham has the least.

Clubs in London and the South East have the wealthiest fans

Football fans in the South East are the wealthiest, with Reading, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal having the largest proportion of fans from the most affluent A/B groups. However, despite having the richest owner and being based in the most exclusive postcode of any Premier League club, Chelsea fans are only the seventh wealthiest, behind neighbouring Fulham, but also behind Birmingham City, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough.

Top  Official Premier League websites by Market Share of UK Internet visits,

Week ending 4^th August 2007