American reality TV personality Kim Kardashian's decision to wear a retro Roma shirt has seen searches for the club explode, according to new research.
Kardashian was spotted wearing the club's shirt from the 1997/1998 season while walking around Los Angeles last week. Thanks to the 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' TV show she starred in, the 42-year-old has a massive social media following.
That following has led to a huge surge in interest in Roma, who currently sit in sixth place in the Serie A table. Also worn by the likes of Francesco Totti, Cafu and Abel Balbo, Kardashian's fashion choice has sparked renewed interest in the Italian giants.
According to analysis from CasinoBonusCA.com, Google searches for the term 'AS Roma' increased by an astonishing 2,894 per cent above the average volume in the last seven days alone.
In terms of individual searches, it is an increase of 2.3million searches over just two days. Roma's official social media accounts also shared the image of Kardashian wearing their retro shirt with the caption "Mamma mia, Kim!".
Kim Kardashian weighs in on sister feud after Kourtney's sad 'outsider' claimsThere was no name on the back of Kardashian's shirt, though it is a year remembered for being Totti's international breakthrough. In addressing the findings from their research CasinoBonusCA.com highlighted the power Kardashian carries.
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“This demonstrates the power of the Kardashian clan to cause a surge in searches for two very well-known clubs in football," a spokesperson said.
“With Kim’s power as an influencer and close association with the fashion world, we could see vintage sports kits creeping into mainstream trends and the prices of such going sky-high. Collectors and resellers of such kits would do well to monitor the demand. The prices for these kits are hundreds of dollars and could rise if demand increases due to the exposure.”
Kardashian wearing their shirt has not brought Roma much luck though as they were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Cremonese on Wednesday. The result left boss Jose Mourinho furious, with Cremonese having not won a Serie A game all season.
“Congratulations to Cremonese. This is a strange competition, which stacks the odds against teams that were not in Serie A last season, like Cremonese, or who finished in the lower part of the table," he said.
"That makes what they've done even more impressive - they deserve credit and are deservedly in the semi-final, congratulations. We paid the price for a terrible first half, a very poor performance. Then, in the second, we made an individual mistake.
"The mistake in the first half fit into the context of the game considering we were playing so poorly. We could have easily scored much earlier than we did. Over the years I have learned not to cry after a defeat and to instead look forward to the next game."