Premier League giant Manchester United is considering sell the naming rights to a refurbished Old Trafford or a newly-built stadium as part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe seeks to drive up revenues to fund the project, while the club is also deliberating over substantial ticket price rises.
United wants to follow the likes of Arsenal for naming their stadium Emirates and Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, the naming rights brings a lot of revenue streams for both clubs. In each case, the airlines have acquired the rights not only to the stadium’s name but also the front-of-shirt sponsorship.
According to the Atlantic, United have also held exploratory talks with major financial institutions, including Bank of America, as they explore a series of funding options to raise the capital required to cover a potentially multi-billion pound project.
It is unclear at this stage whether the club or INEOS, the company owned by Ratcliffe, would carry the burden of fresh debt if money is borrowed to fund the infrastructure project, stated Atlantic. “Those financial results also revealed that £120m of Ratcliffe’s £238m cash injection into the club — which had been pledged to go towards infrastructure — had been used to pay down money on United’s revolving credit facility.”
Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) questioned the need to raise ticket prices to help cover the cost of the Old Trafford refurbishment or new build, and called for fan consultation before the stadium’s naming rights were sold off.
A spokesperson for MUST said: “Everyone agrees the stadium needs development and we understand that needs to be paid for. But we do not believe fans should bear the brunt for capital investment via ticket price rises. Funding for capital projects should ideally be sourced from new shares issues rather than debt.
“As to whether the the club should sell off stadium naming rights this has long been a highly emotive issues which affects fans directly. Fans need to be at the heart of these decisions and we expect the club to start consultation before decisions are made. MUST will be consulting supporters so that their views are heard.”
United’s 114-year-old stadium has always been known as Old Trafford and the club has never before sold its stadium naming rights. While stadiums across Europe and the United States have long been associated with major brands, it has been a more contentious issue in England, where supporters cherish the history of a stadium’s name.
