The Premier League Share of Search Table
The popularity of the English Premier League compared to other leagues around the world continues to strengthen, with the combined revenue for all 20 English Premier League Clubs projected to be around €6.1 billion for the 2021/22 season.
That’s nearly €3 billion more than the next highest league in Spain*. With the start of the new English Premier League football season commencing on Friday 5th August, the 20 English Premier League clubs who will be contesting the 2022/23 season are busy preparing for the season ahead. Anticipation of kick-off is building this year with the 2022 World Cup also beginning in November.
For the fans and media who follow the Premier League, predictions for the 2022/23 season are already underway. Will Manchester City win the title for the fifth time in six seasons? Can Manchester United win trophies under new manager Erik ten Hag? And will Nottingham Forest avoid relegation in their first English Premier League season since 1998/99?
Here at SearchShare, we wondered the same thing, so we decided to use Google search data from the UK over the last 12 months to help us predict the 2022/23 English Premier League Share of Search table. Here’s what we found…
Liverpool top the premier league
We predict Liverpool to win the 2022/23 English Premier League Share of Search title, closely followed by Manchester United.
Liverpool had the highest Share of Search score over the last 12 months, with 16.27%. Only 0.01% further back in second is Manchester United with 16.26%. The top 4 is completed with Arsenal (9.6%) in third and Chelsea in fourth (8.1%) respectively.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was Manchester City, who over the last 12 months had the fifth highest Share of Search score (7.1%) despite winning the English Premier League title in the 2021/22 season with a dramatic final day win over Aston Villa.
Using SearchShare for the predicted top 10 English Premier League clubs, we can see the Share of Search score trends from August 2019 onwards, as well as the average monthly search volumes for each respective club.
From this, we can see that Liverpool’s average monthly search volume between March and May 2022 continues to increase month-on-month before peaking in May 2022.
Using the Google News feature of SearchShare, we can see what is driving this increase in monthly search volume for Liverpool during these months. In April 2022, for example, we saw Liverpool play key fixtures against both Manchester clubs with the season reaching the latter stages.
In May 2022, we saw the unfortunate situation unfold surrounding the UEFA Champions League 2022 final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Who’s the boss?
Another question ahead of the new football season surrounds the managers and head coaches of the respective English Premier League football clubs under the constant pressure of fans and the media alike.
Using SearchShare we can determine which manager has the highest Share of Search score over the last 12 months, with surprising results.
Steven Gerrard has the highest managerial English Premier League Share of Search score over the last 12 months in the UK, with Erik ten Hag seeing a significant increase in Share of Search from February 2022 onwards.
Whilst Liverpool had the highest English Premier League club Share of Search score over the last 12 months, former Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, now Aston Villa manager, had the highest managerial Share of Search score with **13.6%. **
This was partly due to Steven Gerrard’s managerial move in November 2021 from Glasgow Rangers Football Club to Aston Villa Football Club, which generated the highest peak in average monthly searches since August 2019.
Equally surprising is the new Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, with the second highest Share of Search score of 11.2%, despite his appointment to Manchester United manager in only April 2022. In particular, since February 2022, Erik ten Hag has seen an increase in Share of Search of 8.2%. This is by far the biggest change we see in Share of Search for the English Premier League managers.
Key takeaways
Using SearchShare for the top 10 English Premier League managers we can see how Share of Search fluctuates far more compared to the English Premier League clubs’ Share of Search.
While England’s top clubs prepare for the new season, the results demonstrate the fluctuations in Share of Search for both clubs and managers during a season in the UK. SearchShare is able to keep track of these fluctuations, whilst also seeing the drivers behind the changes in Share of Search from news articles relating to these topics.
By understanding Share of Search, you can unlock the potential to track both brands and individuals to ensure you stay ahead of the curve when it comes to insights on particular industries.
If you are looking to track your brand or a client’s Share of Search to understand market share and gain a competitive advantage, then please get in touch.
*Source: Deloitte - Annual Review of Football Finance 2021