The "Fergie factor" gave the city of Manchester's economy a boost worth more than £1B ($1.5B) during his 26 years at the club, according to Adam Jupp of the MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS. Experts have calculated the extent to which the success outgoing Manager Alex Ferguson brought to the club "delivered more riches to Manchester" than the U.K.'s other footballing cities. Figures show that at the end of the '92-93 season, "as the Premier League was just getting going," ManU had revenues of just £25.2M. That rose to the "eye-watering" £335M it stood at in '11-12. Between '00 and last year, ManU earned £4.2B, compared to the £2.7B of Liverpool. And researchers at ManU think tank New Economy have converted that into Gross Value Added -- "the boost a business delivers to an area's economy." In United's case, it stands at £1.3B for that period, compared to £800M for Liverpool. With that growth "directly linked to success on the pitch," that places the value of the Fergie factor for '00-'12 at around £500M. It is estimated "the worldwide exposure United's success has given to Manchester since the Premier League started" is worth the equivalent of £1B in advertising spend (MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS, 5/16).
