Affiliated clubs and their fees

My board just came back to me with four possible affiliated club choices, 3 of the four will cost alot of money per year over 2 and 3 million one team just under one million but i can't see a difference in them they are 4 american teams with no real difference also i checked their youth facilities and youth recruitment and they are all adequate so i doubt i will get any good players from any of them, now keep in mind this is a affiliated merchandising club. which one to choose? are they all the same? will i get the same amount of merchandise sales from the club wanting just under a million also i already have an American affiliated merchandising club will that also effect any decision?

anyone able to help?

any ideas how well they done in their league?

I looked at this a while ago (FM09) and found that there was very little, or no difference in choosing an American affiliate for £700k a year or one for £2m a year.

The increases in Merchandise sales were neglible and for some clubs, the costs of paying the affiliate fees outweighed any benefits.

However, i have noticed changes in my Basel game for FM12.

I took an American affiliate club, Chicago Fire, at £2.49m per year in June 2016, and my Merchandise income has gone from £5.2m in 2016 to £10m in 2017 (projected). This also coincided with winning the Champions League and gaining a 'Continental' reputation so i'm unsure which is the reason for the increase; the rep or the affiliate club. I suspect it's the reputation increase though.

I also have a Chinese affiliate, Shandong, gained in December 2012 and the Merchandise income hadn't increased radically in the previous 4 seasons, despite paying them £700k a year.