Manchester City has become the “most watched team” in the United States – the club accounts for six of the ten most watched matches

Premier League champions Manchester City have now emerged as the ‘most watched team’ in the United States, according to new figures.

The latest details will only come as a further boost to Etihad Stadium officials in light of their strategic decision to take Pep Guardiola and his squad across the Atlantic Ocean this summer for their 2024 pre-season tour.

Manchester City will embark on a quartet of games in the United States this summer ahead of the 2024/25 season, which could prove to be the last campaign under Pep Guardiola’s management.

Supporters in the United States will have the opportunity to see the four back-to-back Premier League champions take on Celtic, Barcelona, ​​AC Milan and Chelsea in the space of two weeks as they face off against the latest signings of club in their range of fresh equipment. .

However, while the Manchester City players’ experience will undoubtedly be beneficial in terms of performance and fitness, the opportunity to showcase their profiles in the US has huge commercial benefits, with data to back them up .

It has been revealed that new US TV figures have shown a four per cent rise in Premier League audiences, with the average Premier League audience now around 546,000.

When it comes to Manchester City in particular, Pep Guardiola’s side account for six of the 10 most-watched matches, with a new US record of 2.6 million hosting Manchester City at Arsenal last season.

Manchester City themselves are said to believe that their regular pre-season tours in the US have attracted a “sizable market share” of supporters aged between 11 and 26 and from Hispanic communities.

Ahead of the most recent campaign, Manchester City took the opportunity to capitalize on their increasingly popular profile in the Far East, with the club taking on Yokohama F. Marinos, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid in Japan and South Korea.

Some have criticized top-level professional soccer teams traveling to all corners of the globe for pre-season training, insisting that opportunities should be taken to benefit teams from their home regions in non-competitive matches.

However, the commercial benefits of overseas pre-season tournaments are becoming increasingly important as the game and certain leagues continue to thrive in popularity further afield.