Abu Dhabi’s Man City Teams up with the New York Yankees to Buy into US Soccer

By: Hyacinth Mascarenhas

English soccer club Manchester City will pair up with US baseball team New York Yankees to establish a new US Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise for a whopping $100 million in a deal analysts say has “phenomenal” brand potential.

The new franchise, New York City FC will be the league’s 20^th franchise and is expected to begin playing in 2015.

Owned by Abu Dhabi United Group which is led by Abu Dhabi royal family member Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Manchester City will own the majority of NYC FC. The English team worth US $689 million is the world’s ninth-richest football club.

“New York is a legendary sports town, as well as a thriving global city with a rapidly expanding soccer fan-base,” said Man City CEO Ferran Soriano in a Times article.

Man city’s plans to become a global brand and bridge the gap between US and English soccer leagues by starting in New York.

“The potential of the US and North America market is huge,” said Kamal Dimachkie, the executive regional managing director at Leo Burnett UAE, Kuwait and Lower Gulf, in a National article. “Football is growing as a sport and in popularity. It has huge potential for consumer growth, it could be phenomenal assuming that the brand knows how to connect with the populous there.”

National soccer teams regularly schedule friendly matches during the off season with big European teams including Manchester United, Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid as well