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 new projects.
The club 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 comment on this rumor. Bank of America has also made a similar move. However, according to British media, no decision has been made after negotiations with major financial institutions.
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 during the time 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 pounds of the 238 million pounds that the British billionaire invested 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 help the team borrow money through another mechanism with lower interest rates. 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 matter of particular importance, second only to the team’s poor performance last season.
According to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, in the context of increasingly strict Financial Fair Play Laws, 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 can cost about 1 billion pounds. Meanwhile, if the stadium is rebuilt, it will cost more than 2 billion pounds. 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. Typically, Wembley stadium, connected by EE - a famous British mobile network operator. This network must pay 10 million pounds/year to have its name associated with the stadium name. Similarly, Barcelona also reached an agreement to sell the stadium name to Spotify Camp Nou, along with printing the partner logo on the jersey within 3 years, with a contract worth 280 million Euros.
If they decide to build a new stadium, Man Utd are said to be planning 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 teams signed stadium naming contracts with airlines.
In addition, Man United is expected to increase the price of season tickets 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 earn revenue if the team decides to upgrade the stadium.
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