Man United ‘ready to launch new team’ in a completely different sport

The club have 'said yes' to the proposal

With more than 20 league titles, three European cups, and a community of global fans that number in the millions, Man United are undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in world football.

As a result, it's no surprise that the Red Devils are ready to conquer other sporting fields.

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While football is still secure in its position as the biggest sport on earth, with an estimated 3.5 billion supporters, there are plenty of others that are hot on its heels.

One such example is the sport of basketball which has an estimated 800 million global fans.

According to Forbes, teams in basketball's biggest market (the US-based NBA) raked in more than £9.5 billion last season.

Now, as revealed by the head of the Italian basketball federation, Man United are keen to get in on the action.

The NBA is said to be branching out to create an NBA Europe league which would see between 10 and 12 major European cities host permanent founding franchises, and it seems that the Red Devils want to make sure their home city of Manchester is one of the first names on the list.

In an interview with renowned Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport, Italy's basketball chief Gianni Petrucci said: "In a $50bn market, European basketball has a commercial value of just $200million.

“An NBA league is precisely the opportunity to increase competitiveness and expand the pool.

“If Manchester United, the most popular football team in the world, has already said yes, there must be a reason.”

It isn't uncommon for elite European football sides to have partner basketball teams.

Both of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona already have teams of their own.

Man United themselves also had a previous basketball franchise of their own, back in the 1980s.

The team, who played at Stretford Sports Centre, were ultimately controlled by the Red Devils for less than a decade.

The team was bought out by a group of local businessmen in 1988.

If Man United do push ahead with their basketball plans, they will hope it picks up enough momentum to last where its team of the past did not.