Old Trafford, a 114-year-old stadium, could become history. Both the venue and the name of the Manchester stronghold. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, co-owner of Manchester United, wants to give the club a complete facelift, and the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ is not exempt from reconstruction. That is why, as reported exclusively by TheAthletic, “Manchester United is studying selling the naming rights to Old Trafford to increase its income.” “As part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s plans to redevelop Old Trafford or build a new stadium.”
The owner of INEOS has always been up front regarding this issue. In numerous interviews he has expressed his desire to build ‘Manchester’s Wembley’, even if that means destroying a temple of English football such as Old Trafford.. The Glazers’ disastrous management has turned the Manchester home ground into an antiquated and faulty stadium, far from the appearance and alternatives offered by the best venues in the Premier League. To this end, as the media adds, The club has already “held discussions with major financial institutions, including Bank of Americato study how to finance the stadium project.”
Manchester United has two options for naming rights at Old Trafford. On the one hand, There is the possibility of renovating the stadium itself and keeping the Old Trafford name, but with the name of an associate. This is the case of Spotify Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona. The second option, in case of delving fully into the construction of a new ‘Theater of Dreams’, the fiefdom of the red devils could simply acquire a completely new name. In the Premier League, for example, there are Arsenal and Manchester City, whose stadiums are the Emirates Stadium and the Etihad Stadium.
The Manchester club, which “It is also considering increasing the price of tickets”according to The Athletic, needs to find a new source of income to gain liquidity in its coffers and have cash to launch into the transfer market. The £245 million (over 280 million euros) investment promised by Sir Jim Ratcliffe when he took over 25% of the club, in order to improve the infrastructure of Old Trafford and the Carrington training ground, it seems to be insufficient, and that is stadium remodeling plans have been stalled for almost two years.
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