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Manchester United have fallen down the pecking order of European elites in one key metric.
This is according to a recent report by UEFA that has shown that United have been overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal in the income they are able to generate on matchdays.
The “UEFA financial report shows Spurs make more money per match than any other Premier League club and are third in Europe behind Barcelona and PSG”.
United are all the way down in seventh place, despite having the biggest club stadium in England. Arsenal also make more money per matchday, as they sit in fifth place.
UEFA financial report shows Spurs make more money per match than any other Premier League club and are third in Europe behind Barcelona and PSG pic.twitter.com/3zso0ma2aY
— Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) February 17, 2024
On first glance, the statistic is puzzling as the Red Devils have the biggest average attendance in all of England with an average of 73,514 fans filling up Old Trafford every other weekend.
In fact this is just under 12,000 more than Tottenham’s average of 61,580 spectators and over 13,000 punters more than Arsenal bring in.
In addition, The Athletic took a deep dive into how much Premier League club’s charge their fans for a matchday experience and United actually charge less than Spurs in this regard.
According to the report, the cheapest ticket on offer at The Theatre of Dreams is actually £1 less than the Tottenham Hotspur stadium while the most expensive is a considerable £33 cheaper.
United also charge quite fair prices when it comes to drinks. Where a pint would set you back over £5 in any London stadium and a whopping £6.30 at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, you can buy one at Old Trafford for just £3.
Therefore, it stands to reason that not being based in London, and hence offering cheaper prices for matchday fans, probably hurts the club financially when compared to Spurs and Arsenal, but it is a definite plus point for fans during hard economic times across Europe as a whole.
A clear solution to seeing United rise up the rankings once again and generate increased matchday income would be rebuilding the stadium and consequently, increasing the capacity. Like this, they could also continue to keep more customer-friendly prices while being able to accommodate an increased number of fans that they easily could, due to the sheer popularity of the club.
Finance expert Kieran Maguire and the chief architect on the feasibility project both agree that only a complete rebuild on the adjacent site will allow the club to generate more income and improve the experience of match-going fans.
Thankfully, new part owners INEOS seem very aware of the problem and it is very much on their agenda to do something to upgrade the broken down stadium in the near future.
Accordingly, United can return to making the money they should be from being the country’s most supported team, playing in the nation’s biggest club stadium, but also being able to keep their prices competitive with the rest of the league.
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