Finance expert reveals how much Man United will make from Saudi friendly
Man United are exploring the possibility of a mid-season friendly in Saudi Arabia as a money-making exercise.
That is according to football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley, who told Football Insider exclusively that a trip to Saudi Arabia and a potential reunion with Red Devils legend Cristiano Ronaldo could be a useful source of revenue.
Man United missed out on Champions League football after losing to Tottenham in last season’s Europa League final.
The club also scrapped an all-access Amazon documentary that could have served as a useful source of revenue generation.
However, a mid-season trip to the Middle East could serve to bolster the club’s financial position, although it will amount to less than what Man United made from their post-season tour of Asia in the summer.
Man United will net around £5m for one Saudi friendly
Speaking to Football Insider exclusively, Plumley explained that a pre-season trip to Saudi Arabia would likely net United about £5million per game.
He said: “Yeah, it’s an interesting one, isn’t it?
“If you look at when they did the post-season games in Malaysia and Hong Kong, that was rumoured to have got them about £10million for two games.
“So, even on one game, let’s conservatively say that’s £5million. So it would be in, you know, the low millions, because it’s Manchester United, which is a decent amount of money for a single game.
“So that’s what you’d be looking at in kind of benchmark ballpark figures, I would say. And again, it comes back to the point we were talking about earlier around the opportunity for them to do that.
“Okay, they’ve got to work with the league, and you’ve got to give fair warning, because it can’t impact any league fixtures, but they’ve got no midweek European football, they’re out of the Carabao Cup, so their midweek calendar actually now is freed up. I don’t think there’s a midweek Premier League fixture till December.
“So it does give them the opportunity for a money-making opportunity.”
Man United facing £50m sticking point on new stadium
Amidst the club’s downturn in income, Man United have made alterations to its stadium plans.
The controversial canopy that adorned the plans for a “new” Old Trafford has been scrapped and the club are struggling to agree on a price with Freightliner, who own the land on which Jim Ratcliffe wants to build a new home.
The landowners are asking for £400m which is £50m more than the Red Devils are willing to pay.
However, more creative money-making ventures like their mid-season trip to the Middle East may be the solution to helping bridge the gap on that issue.