"We have two executives travelling round Japan and China at the moment building relationships with organisations and clubs, and we know our supporters clubs are growing there too, as they are around the world. Why are they ignoring the US market? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4054903.stm
I wouldn't want them to completely ignore the U.S. market but I can hardly blame them for focusing their energies in Asia. Look at all the football mad supporters already there. They just need to be converted Arsenal as opposed to Madrid or United. In the U.S., the fan base is much smaller for the sport in general so not only do you have to sell them Arsenal.....you have to sell the people soccer/football over their Washington Redskins or their Boston Celtics, etc., etc.
However, US residents generally have more money to spend, and are far more likely to buy official stuff rather than knock-offs. Perhaps I'll sneak a peek at ManUtd's financials to see how they break this all down. (How nice of them to be a PLC. )
True....but although....I have no stats to back it up, I wouldn't be surprised if the sheer numbers of Asian fans that DO have the disposable income necessary to buy kits outweighed the the number of Americans willing to make such a purchase. After all, you're talking more than one country versus one country of fickle football fans at best.