LONDON: Analysis released this week has revealed that Liverpool are the most popular UEFA Champions League team in the world when it comes to Google searches for club merchandise.
Research, conducted by football ticket marketplace FootballTicketpad.com, analyzed global search data to compare merchandise searches for each club that has qualified for the 2022/23 Champions League.
The data showed that Liverpool dominated all other Champions League clubs with a monthly average of 169,600 searches worldwide.
Having reached the Champions League final for the third time in five years this past season, their recent success on the football field is reflected in their popularity. The Reds top the lists for words “merchandise,” “kit,” “jersey,” and “tracksuit,” with 5,700, 38,000, 47,000, and 6,900 respectively.
In second place was Italian powerhouse, Juventus. Known affectionately as ‘The Old Lady’, they have a total global search volume of 120,600. Since undergoing a complete rebrand in 2017, the club have marketed themselves as more of a lifestyle brand which is shown in the number of searches for ‘Juventus store’, which contributes to over half of their total search volume with 61,000.
Coming in at third is another English club, Chelsea. Despite recent sanctions on the sale of club merchandise — which have now been lifted due to the sale of the club to an American consortium — the Blues remain one of the most popular clubs in the world with 115,100 searches worldwide for their products, with “kit” and “jersey,” making up 70,000 of total searches.
Rounding out the top five are Spanish supergiants Real Madrid and Barcelona. With 87,300 and 85,400 global searches respectively, Los Blancos edge out the Blaugrana in El Clasico of club merchandise. The word “jersey” made up the majority of their search volumes with 43,000 for Real Madrid and 34,000 for Barcelona.
At number eight is Manchester City with only 46,200 total searches worldwide. Although the club has achieved domestic success since their 2008 takeover by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, City are yet to capture the Champions League trophy which could be affecting their global appeal.
A spokesperson for FootballTicketpad.com commented on the findings: “Liverpool have had great success over the last few years, which has no doubt helped propel them to the top of the merchandise table.
They continue: “It’s impressive that they’ve beaten out both Real Madrid and Barcelona, while it’s fascinating to see that despite their domestic dominance, Manchester City don’t make the top five.
“Both Ajax and Inter Milan are ahead in merchandise popularity. The club will be looking to change that with the recent addition of Erling Haaland, whose name is likely to feature on plenty of City fans’ kits over the coming season.”
The analysis was conducted by FootballTicketpad.com, a ticket marketplace where fans can buy and sell tickets for football matches worldwide.