Man City embarrassed after influencer appeal to help sell Champions League tickets

Manchester City have been left embarrassed after a peculiar advert for fans appeared to backfire.

The Premier League champions were drawn in Group C of the Champions League, Europe’s elite competition, and were matched up against Atalanta, Shakhtar Donetsk and Dinamo Zagreb.

After seemingly struggle to sell tickets for those matches at the Etihad Stadium, City seemed to turn towards Tribe - an influencer marketing platform - to help them.

READ MORE: Raheem Sterling scores hat-trick as Manchester City hammer Atalanta

READ MORE: Guardiola: There's nobody who trusts Foden more than me

An advert posted on behalf of the club asked influencers with at least 5,000 followers to post ‘an authentic and genuine story’ of the game day experience, as well as an ‘element of FOMO’.

It continues that they are aiming to promote ‘the electrifying atmosphere’ unique to Champions League football to a target audience of men between 18-55 and those new to Manchester.

But the Cityzens were said to be left in the dark by the post - with the Manchester Evening News reporting it was an external agency which posted the ad. The outlet added City bosses will now be reviewing their relationship with the agency.

The full ad read: “The Champions League draw this year has given us 3 relatively unknown teams meaning our core fans are less likely to attend.

“We identified students, young professionals and those new to Manchester who are our ideal audiences, however we can't ignore core fans either as they still account for the most ticket sales.

“We want to get across the great atmosphere of the Etihad through the use of influencers who can tell an authentic and genuine story of what it's like to be at a game.

“Mancunians and/or Man City fans desirable: Submit a mock shot similar to that you'd create. We want content that showcases the electrifying atmosphere that only Champions League live football matches can deliver.

“The content should be fan-centric which has an element of FOMO at its core. Content needs to be high energy and compelling with attendance to the live event an essential focus. Content does not have be in-stadium however, think group of mates singing and walking to the stadium together.”

Featured from our writers

• David Beckham's Inter Miami to spend almost $1bn on new Florida stadium with rooftop bar

• Harry Kane praises 'ruthless' Tottenham as Spurs hit Belgrade for five

• Tottenham blast past Red Star Belgrade to help improve mood in north London

Yahoo Sport UK presents: Tailgate