Man United to sell naming rights to Old Trafford stadium to ease financial burden

Manchester United are considering plans to significantly increase ticket prices and renovate or rebuild Old Trafford, according to The Athletic. This is believed to be a move towards selling stadium naming rights to generate more revenue for future projects.

The club has also held talks with major financial institutions, notably Bank of America, to explore funding options to raise capital for a potential multi-billion pound project.

Currently, the "Red Devils" are refusing to make any comments on this rumor. Bank of America also made a similar move. However, according to British media, no decision has been made after negotiations with major financial institutions.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is looking to make some major, transformative changes at Manchester United. Photo: AFP

According to the financial results report published in the second quarter of 2024, Man United still has a debt of up to 653.3 million pounds (excluding the amount owed for transfer fees). Most of this debt was incurred when MU was owned by the Glazer family, before they sold their shares to Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

In addition, the financial results report also revealed that about £120 million of the £238 million invested by the British billionaire in the team was used to pay for Man Utd's revolving credit facility. Notably, this amount was initially committed to the purpose of upgrading the team's infrastructure. The reason given was that reducing high-interest credit debt would allow the team to borrow money through another mechanism with a lower interest rate. From there, Man United could use that money to invest in infrastructure.

In fact, plans for Old Trafford have been given special attention by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team, after the story of the leaky roof became the focus of the media. The British billionaire described Old Trafford as a “waterfall”, making the issue of facilities a major concern, second only to the team’s poor performance last season.

A leaking roof caused torrential rain to pour down on Old Trafford. Image cut from video

According to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, in the context of increasingly strict Financial Fair Play regulations, club losses are also being monitored more closely. Therefore, optimizing stadium revenue is necessary. It is expected that the renovation of Old Trafford with a capacity of 80,000 - 90,000 seats could cost around £1 billion. Meanwhile, if the stadium is rebuilt, it will cost more than £2 billion. The Athletic revealed that Ratcliffe wants to turn Old Trafford into "'Wembley of the North of England".

In the case of upgrading the infrastructure, Man United can choose to keep the Old Trafford stadium name and look for affiliated partners. A typical example is Wembley stadium, connected by EE - a famous British mobile network operator. This network operator has to pay 10 million pounds/year to have its name associated with the stadium. Similarly, Barcelona also reached an agreement to sell the stadium name to Spotify Camp Nou, along with printing the partner logo on the jersey for 3 years, with a contract worth 280 million Euros.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has plans to build a completely new stadium instead of making temporary repairs. Photo: AFP

If they decide to build a new stadium, Man Utd are expected to sell all the naming rights in the hope of earning tens of millions of pounds. This is similar to the case of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, or Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, when these clubs signed stadium naming contracts with airlines.

In addition, Man United is expected to increase season ticket prices for the 2024-2025 season by 5%. This is the second price increase for season tickets, after MU also announced a 5% increase for season tickets for the 2022-2023 season. Previously, season tickets at Old Trafford have been kept at the same price after 11 consecutive seasons. This is considered a move to help solve the project costs and generate revenue if the team decides to upgrade the stadium.

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