Stefan Borson: Man United set for £13m blow – ‘It’s a big issue’
Manchester United are set to be around £13million down on matchday revenue after failing to qualify for Europe.
Ruben Amorim’s side missed out on European football after finishing 15th in the Premier League table last season, while they lost in the Europa League final to Tottenham.
Man United have smashed their club-record revenue after publishing their 2024-25 accounts on 17 September, revealing their turnover increased from £661.8m to £666.5m.
That figure was boosted by Man United’s significant uplift in commercial revenue, which improved from £302.9m in 2023-24 to £333.3m last season.
The 20-time English champions’ broadcast revenue fell from £221.8m to £172.9m due to their lack of Champions League football, while matchday income at Old Trafford increased from £137.1m to £160.3m.
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Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Man United’s matchday revenue will be down around £13m this season without European football.
It means Amorim’s side have a gap to make up in other competitions across the campaign, with a higher Premier League finish the goal at Old Trafford.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “The other big takeaway from the numbers is that last season United had 11 total additional home games outside of the Premier League, four domestic and seven Europa League home games.
“Now, we know that the Europa League home games generated about £13m because if you go into the notes in the accounts you can see what United do. Although some of the numbers don’t seem to reconcile historically, so there must be something that isn’t that clear.
“But if you go in the accounts, it gives you a breakdown of what broadcast plus matchday for Uefa looks like, and it’s £43m. We know that approximately £30m turned out to be Uefa broadcast, so that leaves £13m from matchday, which is a bit less than people sort of forecast for the seven games.
“People talk about £4-5m per game for Manchester United at home, but by the time you have all the payaways to various people, it turns out to be a bit less than that. They obviously will have none of that £13m.”
This is the first season Man United won’t be playing European football since the 2014-15 campaign.
Man United plan to fill £30m gap revealed
Meanwhile, Man United were beaten by Grimsby Town on penalties in the second round of the Carabao Cup last month, ensuring they won’t be able to fill the gap in matchday revenue through that competition.
Borson said: “Going out the Carabao Cup means that the chances of them getting four domestic home games in the domestic cups also diminishes, so together it’s a big issue because they simply don’t have that many games this season compared to previous seasons, which is obviously going to impact on the total broadcast revenue for this season.”
Borson previously told Football Insider Man United are planning to finish higher in the Premier League this season to fill their £30m hole in lost European broadcast revenue.
Amorim’s side have picked up seven points from their opening five games of the new campaign.
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