Man Utd ‘could scrap 114 years of history as they consider RENAMING Old Trafford.. and ticket prices could shoot up too’
MANCHESTER UNITED are considering selling the naming rights to Old Trafford.
The Red Devils have played there for 114 years and the stadium has never been named after a sponsor.
But new chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe has proposed the idea in an attempt to increase the club’s revenue.
The British billionaire, who is now in charge of football operations at Man Utd, wants to refurbish Old Trafford with the ground in need of improvement amid the roof leaking.
Ratcliffe is also open to potentially building a new stadium as he eyes a “Wembley of the North”.
To help raise funds for the redevelopment and the possible new home of Man Utd, selling the stadium naming rights is viewed as an option.
Club chiefs have held talks with the Bank of America over funding for the multi-billion pound project.
The Athletic report that one proposal is that Old Trafford keeps its historic name but has a brand as an associated partner – similar to Wembley Stadium’s deal with EE.
They supposedly pay £10million every year to sponsor the arena.
And should an entirely new ground be built, United would like to find a sponsor for it to be named after as it will raise tens of millions.
Ratcliffe believes refurbishing Old Trafford will cost £1bn and a new home could need over £2bn of funding.
A ticket price increase has also been suggested to help raise revenue.
The club controversially increased the cost of season tickets by five per cent for the coming season.
But reports suggest that further price hikes have been discussed.
Fans have slammed the idea, with one saying: “Crikey, what a horrible decision that would be.”
Another added: “Ticket prices have already risen in the past few seasons despite woeful results on the pitch. How about they find other sources to milk like the Premier League and broadcasting companies rather than the fans.”
A third raged: “Don’t you dare Jim.”
More reacted: “Trash this idea asap.”
Ratcliffe has pumped £238m into the club since acquiring his 27.7 per cent stake.
And £120m has been put aside for improving the infrastructure.
But financial results from March show the club still has £653m of debt – not including transfer fees still owed.
With them needing to balance the books, Erik ten Hag’s transfer budget for this summer is under £50m.
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