👹 Manchester United's Dream NFL Stadium Scenario

Old Trafford doesn’t have the same ring to it anymore, but New Trafford…now that might get the Manchester locals going!

Look, we get it. We understand the demos in this mailing list lean more towards the traditional American sports, not soccer. And we respect that (because honestly, we have no choice). But, that doesn’t mean we won’t do everything we can to shove soccer news and updates down your throat like RGIII and his wife, Grete, attempted so visually with a giant croissant during the Paris Games. What a beautiful couple (throuple?).

Today, we’ll be going over England’s most valuable soccer club, Manchester United. And what’s steering them towards building a new stadium after playing at Old Trafford — one of the most famous soccer stadiums in all of Europe — for over 114 years 🤯. What’s the history behind Old Trafford? What goes into the decision-making of a new stadium after over a century under one roof? Will this become a trend moving forward with other clubs in the Premier League?

Let’s get after it…

What’s the history of Old Trafford?

• Old Trafford has been the site of Lancashire County Cricket Club's Old Trafford stadium since 1857.

• Before the Manchester United’s formation, in 1864, it had been the home of Manchester Cricket Club, who had moved here in 1856.

• In the 1890s, the grounds were basically surrounded by water, with the new Manchester Ship Canal to the north and the older Bridgewater Canal to the south.

• The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch, a Scottish architect who was responsible for many of the most iconic British stadiums, and it was originally meant to house 100K fans.

• During WWII, Trafford Park was bombed and Old Trafford was collateral damage, forcing United to rent Manchester City’s Maine Road until 1949.

• After years of renovations coupled with slow growth in club revenue, Man United finally got Old Trafford to hold up to 60K in the 1980’s…

  • …Until the UK government responded to the Hillsborough disaster in 1990 by forcing all clubs in the top two divisions to sell seated-only tickets during matchday. This inevitably dropped the total to 44K.

Why is Man United thinking of building a whole new stadium?

• Short answer: Old Trafford is a dump. And who can blame it? It’s 114 years old! Give it a break already!

  • Old Trafford, hasn’t had a major upgrade in 20 years.

  • The infrastructure is breaking down, with massive leaks occurring in the stands as well as the locker rooms.

• But with their backs up against the wall financially and after their worst Premier League finish, Man United is actively considering the development of a new stadium seating 100K and costing upwards of $2.6B.

  • The facility would immediately become the U.K.’s largest, surpassing Arsenal’s Wembley Stadium at 90K.

  • And it would clearly be aimed at advancing European facility standards that often have trailed modern U.S. venues — especially when it comes to NFL stadiums.

• What better time to mull this over? As Man United just welcomed their new owner, INEOS founder, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who bought a 25% minority stake in the club (~£1.3B) this past year — he has been put in charge of the club’s soccer operations.

  • The current majority owners, the Glazer Family (also owners of NFL franchise Tampa Bay Buccaneers) will largely be in charge but will take a backseat when it comes to on-field operations.

  • Ratcliffe understands the need for a new stadium, which is why he put together an “Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force”.

• And even with all these issues with the current stadium, matches are anything but cheap.

  • Tickets range from $40-$700 depending on the opponent and type of seat.

• So why not renovate the current stadium and keep the history? Great question!

  • After their up and down season + financial struggles, Man United needs a win. And by closing even part of Old Trafford due to renovations, will almost guarantee a significant drop in matchday revenue & put the club at a disadvantage compared to other Premier League teams.

  • And since the new stadium would be built on the parking lot right next to Old Trafford, a new stadium wouldn’t impact Man United’s matchday revenue.

Could this end up being a trend for stadiums across Europe?

• Let’s not act like the Red Devils are trendsetters, here. They have quite the blueprint to follow, even in Europe:

  • Tottenham Hotspur’s new $1.5B stadium now brings in ~$135M in annual matchday revenue — compared to $57M at their previous stadium.

  • Real Madrid recently spent $1.9B to renovate Santiago Bernabéu, which has led to just their updated museum projected to generate ~$55M annually — comparable to the revenue some Spanish soccer clubs earn from broadcasting rights.

  • Even FC Barcelona is investing $1.6B in renovations on its historic stadium, Camp Nou. And the club is already projecting the project will generate an additional $215M in annual revenue.

• New stadiums and renovations are always complicated from a tax payers perspective. But, new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer is already open to conversations to help with the $2.6B bill.

All this to say, for Man United to get back on track (no, we’re not talking about soccer performance!). From a fan and business perspective, it would help if they took pages from the playbooks of NFL teams, Tottenham, and Real Madrid…which is to utilize their stadium not just for matchday revenue but for entertainment purposes.

Think: future Taylor Swift concerts, NFL matchups in Europe, etc. Stadiums aren’t just for the home team anymore…it’s open for all types of business.

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Quick Hitters

• 📺 The Olympics continue to show how valuable they really are! The final ratings results are in, and the 2024 Summer Olympics will go down in history as a massive hit for NBC Sports and parent companies NBCUniversal and Comcast. The entire 17-day event averaged 30.6M viewers in the U.S. on NBCU platforms, a whopping 82% above the 2021 Tokyo Games that were delayed and marred by the COVID-19 pandemic, and representing the highest figure for the Olympics since 2012. Interesting tidbit of info: New Orleans led all local U.S. markets in Paris Olympics viewership, followed by several other smaller markets including West Palm Beach, Fla.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Dayton, Ohio.

  • And how about Peacock?? Well spread those wings because…23.5B minutes of streaming coverage were consumed on NBCU platforms, led by Peacock, with that figure up by 40% from all prior Summer and Winter Olympics combined. More than a quarter of Olympics viewers on Peacock also watched through the multiview feature.

• 🥇 Ok, Team USA! The United States won 126 total medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the most of any country for the eighth consecutive Summer Games (we won’t bring up these numbers when it comes to relative to GDP 😉). Instead, just take a look (see: Table 2) for yourselves on how it all ended up!