article: The vast majority of the club's reputed 659 million supporters will never step inside the famed Old Trafford stadium. That's because most of them (85%) live in developing economies around the world, with more than half in Asia, the club says. So how do you make sure these potentially lucrative supporters stay loyal and have a rewarding and engaging fan experience? That's the question the club hopes to answer through its recently-announced tie-up with Indian "digital transformation partner", HCL Technologies. "What our fans have been interested in hasn't changed significantly over 100 years," says Man Utd's group managing director, Richard Arnold. "It's about quality of execution - the right content to the right fans at the right time, in the right language, in the right technology format, through the right medium." What that means in practice, however, is a little vague at this stage. Man Utd already "engages digitally" with 100 million fans, Mr Arnold says. 659m global fanbase 100m fans interacting digitally 66m Facebook likes 6m Twitter followers Â£2bn club value It has nearly six million Twitter followers and more than 66 million "likes" on its Facebook page, plus more than 100,000 users of its app, not to mention an undisclosed number of viewers of its digital cable channel, MUTV. So how do you extend that engagement to the rest of the fanbase? Krishnan Chatterjee, head of marketing at HCL's digital business division, says that what you don't do is try to build a one-size-fits-all app for such a diverse audience. "How many apps could we build? It could be as low as four or five, or as many as 100 - it's hard to say," he tells the BBC. And social media content has to be tailored to suit the cultural differences - not to mention the available internet speeds - of fans in different countries, he adds. The key, says Mr Chatterjee, is keeping fans engaged between matches, given that 95% of them will never enter the stadium. This could mean enabling team sponsors to run competitions and offer prizes, as well as offering the usual game and player stats, and "build your own team" functionality. In another example, he says all the data being collected from the players - their fitness levels and running speed - could be incorporated into apps for wearable devices, allowing fans to test their own fitness against that of their favourite players. "But if I could imagine how a fan will be interacting with the club in five years time then I've already failed," Mr Chatterjee concludes. "We're on an exciting journey, so let's get a lot of ideas on the table and do things no other club has ever done." The interaction doesn't always have to be very hi-tech, however. Mr Arnold says that simply giving fans the ability to wish players happy birthday on social media "turned out to be one of the most engaging pieces of content you can do". HCL will be setting up a "United Xperience Lab" at the Man Utd's Old Trafford stadium, where it will "explore
summary: Football, for most Manchester United fans, is a virtual experience.