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Football

26th Jun 2024

Manchester United are considering renaming Old Trafford

Harry Warner

Football fans fighting in Manchester

The club are looking at options to sell the naming rights

Manchester United are considering renaming Old Trafford or a newly-built stadium in its place as per reports.

This comes as part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks to increase revenue in order to fund a future project concerning the stadium.

The renaming of the stadium could be accompanied by the increase in ticket prices.

United have also held talks with financial institutions such as the Bank of America in the search of more funding although it is unclear in what capacity this will be.

In a scenario that sees the club borrow money, it is uncertain whether Manchester United or Ratcliffe’s company, Ineos, will carry the burden of new debt.

As revealed in the second quarter of the financial year, Manchester United’s total debt, excluding transfer fees owed, amounted to £653.3m.

Old Trafford has always held the same name through out its 114-year-old history, never selling its stadium naming rights.

Many stadiums outside of England have names synonymous with brands who sponsor the stadium, however, in England, this has been a contentious issue with the charm of an original name often associated with the historic stadiums

This said, the construction of new stadiums have seen naming rights being allocated to help fund or subsidise costs of construction like with Arsenal’s Emirates stadium.

Talk of a new stadium and now sponsoring rights comes as Sir Jim Ratcliffe sees a complete overhaul and renovation of Manchester United whose facilities have been left behind in another era.

Just two weeks ago the club announced the £50m revamp of its Carrington training centre.

Only time will tell what decisions the ownership of the world-famous club will make going forward.