Sell out the name of Old Trafford?! Blaspheme, right! Or “shrewd business?” That is the debate Manchester United supporters look set to have as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS organization are exploring this option. According to multiple sources, this idea is indeed very much on the table.
Considering how big, rich and powerful MUFC already are, why would they need to do something so commercially crass?
(Update: Man United Transfer Talk on Jean-Clair Todibo and Dani Olmo)
According to the Manchester Evening News, Ratcliffe is hoping to “build a new stadium on the existing Old Trafford footprint but such a project would likely cost in excess of £2bn. That has led Ineos to consider finance through bank loans, selling naming rights for the stadium or raising ticket prices.”
So, if this is the case, then you could make your peace with the eventual corporate name, whatever it may be, because it’s a means to an end. A sponsored stadium name would not exactly roll of the tongue, but if helps fund the club, in order to make the team more successful, then it would be a necessary evil.
Not ideal, but understandable.
Besides, next to no one refers to Twitter as X, or Facebook as Meta or Miller Park as American Family Field. We show these examples only to illustrate this point- people will still call it Old Trafford.
We now move on to more pleasant and less controversial news.
We still don’t know if Sofyan Amrabat will stay or leave MUFC this summer.
Manchester United and Morocco National team Middlefield Sofyan Amrabat visit Tanzania for vacation.
?Mikumi National Park ?? pic.twitter.com/i2D2D9Xu2J— Visit Tanzania (@VisitTanzania1) June 26, 2024
His season long loan deal is over, and now it’s up to him, the club and his parent club, AFC Fiorentina to figure it out.
In the meantime, he’s currently on vacation this offseason. It’s rare to see an official site, of a national tourism bureau, promote an individual footballer, so this is pretty cool of Tanzania.
Sofyan Amrabat in Mikumi National Park ?? pic.twitter.com/scu31ZtEL5
— Visit Tanzania (@VisitTanzania1) June 26, 2024
Additionally, we’ve done some Man United transfer talk here, and also here.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.