Manchester United have agreed a partnership with Chinese internet giants Alibaba - which industry insiders are hailing as a ‘coup’.
The Premier League club signed a deal with the huge Alibaba Group - who some regard as China’s Amazon and YouTube - rolled into one.
United will provide ‘in-depth content’ to what they say is 700m consumers across Alibaba’s platforms.
There will also be a dedicated United channel on Alibaba’s video-streaming platform Youko which will show men’s, women’s and academy matches. They will also seek to establish a United store on Alibaba’s online market place it what may prove to be an incredibly lucrative link-up.
Industry sources see the deal as ‘a considerable coup’. ‘This is huge,’ added one. ‘Alibaba are a big deal and their reach will give United’s brand massive reach in China.’
Hailing the deal, announced at 11am today, United managing director Richard Arnold said: ‘We are proud of our passionate and loyal following around the world and our Chinese fans are a huge part of that.
'We are always looking for new ways to engage with fans there and this partnership with Alibaba enables them to connect with the club directly through one of China’s most popular video streaming platforms.
'We look forward to working with Alibaba to further grow our fan base in China and building on other areas of the partnership in the near future.’
Michael Evans, president of the Alibaba Group added: ‘We share the same goal, which is to provide fans with one-of-a-kind online content consumption and shopping that leverages the latest technology.
'With this cooperation we are leveraging Alibaba’s ecosystem to bring a unique Manchester United experience closer to fans and consumers in China. I look forward to developing other areas of strategic business cooperation in the future.’