Manchester United have dismissed reports of a massive drop in merchandise sales around the world.
United claim statements regarding a 10 per cent drop in sales come from figures only relating to United's massive Megastore within their stadium complex, and from a season when they only played 29 home games compared to 32 in the previous campaign.
"The results of our merchandising business have continued to set records within the club, despite the figures for 2009 including 10 per cent more games at Old Trafford, and the impact of winning the Premier League and appearing in two Champions League finals," commercial director Richard Arnold said.
"The business has continued to grow in 2010. To achieve that result using figures based only around stadium sales is remarkable.
"When sales from the rest of Manchester, the UK and Europe are added to those figures, it is a clear demonstration of the unique strength the club has.
"In addition, the report represents an area of the world which contains only one in 14 of our 333 million global fans.
"The remaining 93 per cent, because they are largely based in an area of rapid commercial growth such as China, the USA, India and Indonesia, have meant that 2010 was a record year for our partnership with Nike.
"This season, following the launch of the new Nike/Aon branded shirt, has seen sales far in excess of previous years, resulting in sell-outs in many shops around the world.
"Merchandising is just one part of our very successful commercial strategy, which has seen those revenues increase from £42.5million in 2005 to £81.4million in 2010."
