10 Reasons Why Manchester United Are the New York Yankees of World Football

In 2001, the board of Manchester United struck a multi-billion dollar deal with the New York Yankees to establish a "superclub" joint marketing agreement, where the clubs would be able to sell each other's merchandise, as well as access to match broadcasts in the same packaged. 

More than a decade later, both teams have additional national titles, continue to expand their brands worldwide and attract megastars, and although the Yankees aren't the powerhouse this season they are usually are and United is looking like the much better side by comparison—a pretty tenuous comparison as the sports are totally different—the Manchester United equal the Yankees comparison remains.

And in honor of the start of the World Series, we salute the many links between England's all-star side and their American baseball counterparts.

Here are 10 reasons why United remains the New York Yankees of world football, and as always, if you've got more reasons to share, tell us in the comments. 

International Recognition and Fan Base

A sports team or figure is often the cultural signifier for a city or country when travelers from said location go abroad. Chicagoans were identified by Michael Jordan throughout the 1990s and even still today; Argentine travelers are often met with cries of "Maradona!" 

So it goes with the Yankees and with Man United.

Both teams have massive and highly diverse international fan bases, with both clubs' PR and merchandising machines working to continue to expand those presences abroad. United has partnered with brands all over the world to expand their presence and have courted fans with tours of Asia and North America. The Yankees too, have become a commanding presence abroad, most notably in Asia, thanks to the recruitment of players like Hideki Matsui, who has brought the club a massive following in Japan. 

On a Related Note, "None of Your Fans Actually Live Here" Accusations

Manchester United and the Yankees have a shared trait in that both teams have a crosstown rival often viewed as the scrappier, more civically tied and more "authentic" team of that city, in Manchester City and the Mets, respectively.

"Real" Mancunians are City supporters just as "real" New Yorkers are Mets fans, according to the wisdom of some rival fans. Most of the support is commonly perceived as coming from outside the city. With the Yankees, it's more of a regional matter—the Yankees have the Bronx and Hudson Valley, while Brooklyn and Queens align with the Mets. This one's still up for debate. 

According to one (dubious) chart culling data from Facebook—because Facebook is totally representative of how things are in the real world—Manchester United supporters who actually live in Manchester make up only 1.7% of the side's actual fan base. A Premiership survey released in 2007 tells a similar story, where the Manchester United fans surveyed live farther away from their ground—77 miles on average—than any other team, compared with 44 miles for City. 

Mega-Brand Status

In the most recent Forbes magazine ranking of the most valuable sports teams, Manchester United topped the list, valued at $1.86 billion. The Yankees finished third, with a comparable $1.7 billion (the Dallas Cowboys took second).

Couple that with the massive international followings, megastar signings (see the next slide), celebrity endorsements—Jay-Z struck a deal last year to sell co-branded merchandise with the Yankees—and glut of cable packages and ridiculous merchandise items available for both teams—Manchester United Mr. Potato Head, anyone?—and you've got the makings of two behemoth mega-brands. 

Megastar Players

Jeter. A-Rod. Jason Giambi. Jose Canseco. Eric Cantona. Roy Keane. David Beckham. Rooney.

Both teams have had rosters chock full of marquee, major money signings for decades, in the case of the Yankees, so much so that the team and its practices have been a cornerstone of the argument in favor of salary caps or the "luxury tax" in Major League Baseball.

The Teams Fans Love to Hate

Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko said it best: "Hating the Yankees is as American as pizza pie, unwed mothers and cheating on your income tax."

It's true. Plenty of t-shirts exist with similar slogans to the one pictured, and regardless of one's personal allegiances and rivalries, chances are, if you follow Major League Baseball and are not yourself a Yankees fan, you probably hate the Yankees. You may not even be sure why you hate the Yankees. You just do. To given an example, this writer once saw Elton John in concert, and upon stopping the show to reveal the score of a playoffs match in which the Yankees were losing, he added, "I hate the [bleep]ing Yankees." 

Manchester United is easy—and enjoyable—to hate on for a lot of the same reasons the Yankees are. They're a successful, big-budget team full of glammy megastars who dominate their league most of the time and there's something—to those on the outside—intangibly insufferable about their fans. 

Further making the point is ESPN writer Bill Simmons, who when famously choosing his English Premier League loyalty back in 2006, received an influx of emails from fans urging him, more than any other side, not to pick Manchester United. Simmons himself refers to United as the Yankees of the Premiership for many of the reasons we describe here and perhaps sums them up best:

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"Anyway, can you imagine knowing a foreigner in their mid-30s who was looking for a baseball team and announced, 'I'm going with the Yankees!' Wouldn't you hate that person? I don't want to be that guy."

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As the kids say, "Haters gonna hate."

The Hallowed Grounds

This one may be less true now as Old Trafford and Yankee Stadium have been redeveloped and relocated, respectively, but there is still something special, something sacred, about travelling to these holy temples of sport. The electricity of the Stretford End at Old Trafford, the ring of the Seventh-Inning Stretch at Yankee Stadium—you're there, and you know you're a part of something greater than the average day at the ballpark or the pitch. 

The Legends of the Game

Both the Yankees and Manchester United can lay claim to some of their respective country's greatest sporting heroes, the kinds of players who changed the game for good, whose faces are on postage stamps.

One look at the Yankees' Hall of Fame entries is a primer into the history of baseball. Babe Ruth. Mickey Mantle. Lou "Pride of the Yankees" Gehrig. Yogi Berra. Yogi's witticisms ("When you come to a fork in the road, take it"). The Babe's "Called Shot." The Yankees' luminaries have produced countless moments which have become the cornerstone of not just baseball mythology, but American mythology itself. 

In the case of Manchester United, there was England hero Sir Bobby Charlton, who helped rebuild and restore glory to the Red Devils in the wake of the Munich Air Disaster, which claimed the lives of seven star players. The enigmatic entertainer, Eric Cantona, who rocked the team throughout the '90s. And of course, the legendary—Maradona good, Pelé better—George Best. 

Significance Within Popular Culture

Both Man United and the Yankees can share a common thread in the great impact both sides have had on popular culture in their respective countries and beyond. 

The Yankees' place in American and even global pop culture is unmistakable. There's Damn Yankees. Pride of the Yankees. The Babe Ruth ball in The Sandlot. Seinfeld and the many jokes about Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Yankees stars have even hosted Saturday Night Live. 

When it comes to English football, Arsenal and Liverpool are certainly in league with Man United in terms of recognition in film, television and other cultural forms, but the Red Devils have been immortalized in quite a few works. References to United can be found in literature—Manchester United Ruined My Life—film—his classic scene from EuroTrip, among others, evidence that United has crossed the border into American pop culture as well—and its great players, most notably George Best, have been paid tribute in song by musical giants like Van Morrison, the Kinks and Oasis—appearing on the cover of Definitely Maybe. 

They're Still the Clubs Where Players Want to Be

As former pitching legend Dizzy Dean once said, "All ballplayers want to wind up their careers with the Cubs, Giants, or Yankees. They just can't help it." 

There's a reason the Yankees have been able to court megastars from all over the MLB all these years. There is a certain appeal and pride to joining the big guys of the Bronx, to being a part of that history and prestige. If you're starting for the Yankees, conventional baseball wisdom would say, you've made it. 

Manchester United, too, has asserted itself as one of the top destinations for some of the game's hottest prospects, especially recently. Sir Alex Ferguson has a knack for finding and courting young players, and perhaps there is no better classic example of the United appeal than Wayne Rooney. A young upstart who was a hometown hero at his breakthrough club, Everton, it came as a bit heartbreaking, but unsurprising, that Rooney would leave Goodison Park for Old Trafford when he was 18 and has been a fixture at the club ever since. 

Winning

Yankees: 27 World Series titles, 32 American League pennants, 17 East Division titles and 34 hall-of-famers. 

Manchester United: 19 domestic league titles, 12 Premier League championships, 11 FA Cups, three European Cups, 19 FA Shields, two European Doubles and a treble. 

There's a reason it's fun to be a fan.