It’s no secret that the dreadful past decade from AC Milan has hurt the team’s brand in terms of recognition, popularity and sales. Their rise back to prominence, however, has also been no secret. Football fans around the globe know what Milan stands for – a club of several former legends playing in the iconic San Siro. With a strong background to their name, Milan are finally regaining global recognition with their latest performances. According to Calcio e Finanza, an Italian outlet covering finance, government, sport and law, the Rossoneri are rising through the ranks of Serie A popularity.
How AC Milan Are Regaining Global Recognition
Italy
For the metric used to determine recognition and popularity, a variety of aspects were looked at. This includes the impression of players and coaches, the management, culture, tradition, and success.
In Italy, Milan ranked second in popularity. Juventus were first, which is no surprise.
Juventus are in the midst of dominating Serie A for the past decade, having won every Scudetto since 2012. Conveniently, the last team to win the Scudetto before Juventus was Milan. Of course, Milan’s talisman that year was Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Swede’s return has definitely increased the Rossoneri‘s popularity. He’s one of the most well-known players in the entire globe, but he also brings results. Milan returning to winning ways pushed them above Inter Milan.
The United States
The United States is still a hotbed for football popularity. The sport is quickly rising there, meaning there’s plenty of untapped fandom to get into. Of course, the United States has its own league in the MLS, but many will seek a European team to root for as well.
Milan are currently the most popular Italian team in the United States. Perhaps much of this is due to Ibrahimovic leaving the MLS and LA Galaxy for Milan. It also has to do with Paul Singer’s, an American investor, hedge fund being the de-facto owner of the club.
Although Milan rank as the most popular Italian team, they’re the eighth most popular team in total. They sit behind (in order from top to bottom) Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
AC Milan in China
This may come off as a shock at first glance, but Milan are the third most popular football club in China.
Much of this, however, is attributed to Milan’s former Chinese ownership.
Chinese businessman Li Yonghong finalised the purchase of the club in April 2017. He brought in plenty of money and transfers, but the project ultimately failed. Plenty of controversy, questions and disappointment arrived. The project lasted just over a year until Singer’s hedge fund took over.
Although it will always be deemed a failure, Yonghong’s brief takeover of Milan allowed the club to shoot up in popularity in the most populated country in the world.
Milan only sits behind Real Madrid and Barcelona in the rankings.
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