‘Into the hundreds of thousands’ – ‘Man United £4k seat reservations could become commonplace’
Man United are exploring the idea of selling licences to buy season tickets for their new stadium.
According to Dan Plumley, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider, that it was one of many options that the club are looking at to boost revenue.
Man United unveiled their plans for a new stadium in March 2025, with the new Old Trafford set to cost in the region of £2billion [BBC Sport].
However, Jim Ratcliffe claimed the club were struggling for money in a series of interviews at the same time that the plans were announced [The Standard].
Whilst the club is seeking government funding for a huge regeneration project for the surrounding areas, the Red Devils would be looking to raise the funds for a new stadium themselves, according to MailOnline.
This coincides with news that Man United are exploring the possibility of charging fans up to £4,000 to pay for a licence to then be able to purchase a season ticket at the new stadium.
Man United exploring USA-style ticket licence
This article contains exclusive comment from Dan Plumley, a football finance expert and senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University.
Man United fans are already going to be paying more to watch their team play this season, after ticket prices rose for the first time in 11 years, sources told Football Insider back in March.
Speaking to Football Insider exclusively, Plumley explained that this was a concept borrowed from North American sports teams, where some licences cost in the “hundreds of thousands”.
He said: “It’s a US concept, in terms of where this idea is coming from. Personal seat licenses are commonplace in America, and a far higher value in America, we should add, than the £4,000 we’re talking about here.
“Some of them go into the hundreds of thousands for some of the major clubs in America.
“It’s another example of a commonplace thing in American sport potentially coming into the English game.
“There’s a lot of consultation with this in the background, of course. It’s one of many options that United are looking at.
“We’ve seen other clubs do it as well.
“I think this is something that would be done more, and we’ve got no evidence to back this up at the moment because it is under consultation, but I’d be looking at this as something that you’re probably going to look to charge your corporate clients in this regard.
“I think that would be the way to do it. If it is going to enter English football.
“We’ve seen Barcelona and Real Madrid do it as well. The high net worth individuals who want those corporate seats [are who this is aimed at].”
Man United fans set to fight back against ticket licences
Speaking to Football Insider exclusively, former Aston Villa and Everton CEO Keith Wyness revealed he expects Man United fans to fight back against the decision to charge for a seat licence.
Supporters group The 1958 are already planning to protest the ticketing scheme, which is slowly becoming commonplace in North America.
The decision to build a new stadium is controversial enough, given that several hundred employees have been laid off in cost-cutting schemes rolled out by Ratcliffe since he took over in 2024.
But that has not stopped the club from spending over £200m [transfermarkt] on the likes of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, and Benjamin Sesko this summer.