Leeds’ problem, along with that of many other clubs with an illustrious history and successful history, is that their heyday pre-dated the inception satellite television and the marketing behemoth that is the Premiership. If you haven’t been a fixture in the Premiership all this time then you might as well not exist. Look at two-time European Champions Nottingham Forest.
Historically, Leeds were a club people loved to hate – “winning ugly” was their stock-in-trade. I doubt there are many football fans who fondly regard Leeds as their second team. There is a kind of romance to Liverpool, the city, the Beatles, Hillsborough, You’ll Never Walk Alone, pass and move, etc, that would appeal to your average floating voter-type international soccer fan looking for a “storied franchise” 😡 to latch on to.
Where would Leeds’ “international appeal” come from? A few hundred Irish people with family in Leeds? Some Dutch or Belgian people of a certain age on the fringes of UK TV signal reception who remember them on Match of the Day, back in the day? Can’t imagine there are legions of Malaysian Leeds fans dying for them to come and play pre-season friendlies in Kuala Lumpur.