Sitting in the departure lounge of Columbus Airport at the end of Manchester City's summer tour, two young boys were calling their mum, having gone with their dad to watch the Blues beat Chelsea from across the USA.
Over 225,000 fans watched City over their four games and three open training sessions, with tickets ranging from $25 for training sessions at their lowest price, to hundreds for the best seats at the games. A nosebleed seat at the Yankee Stadium or Ohio Stadium would set you back $100 minimum. Last year, for example, they made £20m from touring Japan and South Korea. This year, they did everything they could to maximise the US, having last been here in 2022 and knowing they will return next year for the Club World Cup.
Fans queued overnight to meet Ederson and Josko Gvardiol during the tour at the store, and they queued round the block to get in. City shut down a downtown block off Fifth Avenue, and brought Central Park to a standstill with an impromptu training session. But City outnumbered Barcelona in Orlando, and outnumbered Milan fans in New York, with it's massive Italian population. A conservative estimate of sky blue shirts compared to navy blue ones Ohio vs Chelsea would be 70:30. Celtic fans treated Chapel Hill like an away game there were so few of them. City are the star attraction these days.