This week, Man United's leadership has begun to change ticket prices for matches taking place at Old Trafford. The announcement said that from now until the end of the season, the price for tickets to Old Trafford is set at £66. This means that there will be no more incentives for retired elderly people or children.
The team also announced that season tickets, if resold to retail customers, will be listed at adult prices. Meanwhile, the 25% discount for Europa League knockout matches has also been removed.
The Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST), a prominent local fan club, immediately reacted to the club's decision. They say that from now until the end of the season, each adult bringing a child to the stadium to watch will cost 132 pounds. This is double what they are currently paying. A representative of MUST said that Man United did not consult the fan club when making this decision.
When receiving the protest signal, Man United argued that up to 97% of tickets for the whole season had been sold out. This means that the impact on the remaining 3% is not large. However, MUST said that this decision did not take into account the tickets that would be returned or resold. From here, conflicts began to appear.
Not only MUST, but other fan clubs of the "Red Devils" also disagree. They believe that if INEOS succeeds in this change, it could set a negative precedent for fans in the future. The proof is that Man United is not making any commitment to keeping the same season ticket prices for next season.
When still directly managed by Glazer, Man United have not increased ticket prices for 11 consecutive seasons, until they increased by 5%/season in the last 2 seasons. Experts analyze that the additional revenue from now until the end of the season, based on ticket price adjustments, is not much compared to the scale of Man United. However, if we look back from Sir Jim and his colleagues, they are seeing a very difficult prospect in business, so they need to be cautious from the smallest things.
After cutting Sir Alex Ferguson's ambassador contract, INEOS's meticulous actions this time are making them increasingly stuck with the label. In just over a week, Man United have spent more than £21 million to compensate Erik ten Hag and recruit Ruben Amorim. Fans are wondering whether the extra money they are spending on each ticket has been put into this deal - which was a mistake in Man United's coaching approach?
INEOS once wanted to bring the best of Manchester to Manchester United. However, they are currently cutting down on club personnel, with a large number of locals. Not only that, the team is also raising ticket prices for local children who want to watch the club play football every week at Old Trafford. INEOS once said it wanted to take fans as the center in developing the club, but this action is going against that.
INEOS is a business and of course does not want to lose money. The way Sir Jim and his associates do things may make many fans feel uncomfortable, but if the team suffers financial losses, it is the club's leaders who must take responsibility, not anyone else. In addition, if they want to build a new Old Trafford, INEOS needs a lot of money. Recently, Old Trafford was voted the second worst stadium in the Premier League. The team's fans also really want a new, magnificent stadium. So why don't they support INEOS with the most practical actions such as buying tickets at the new price?
Man United have not qualified for the Champions League this season and maybe so will they in the next season. Therefore, it is valuable to get a few million pounds from any source at this time to avoid a broken match. If the plan to build a new stadium remains the same, "Red Devils" fans should not be surprised if ticket prices will increase further in the 2025-2026 season.
