Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants Manchester United to decide on their stadium construction plans in December and is currently backing a new 100,000-seat stadium, which will cost more than £2 billion and take about six years to complete.
The new stadium was built next to Old Trafford, which would allow Man United to use the current home stadium until the new stadium is completed. The most important factor to consider when constructing a project is that it must match the image of the club.
Another option is to renovate Old Trafford. However, assessments show that, financially, the renovation is estimated to cost around £1 billion to £1.2 billion - about half the cost of new construction - and could take more than 6 years to complete due to the complexity of the renovation of the site built in 1910.
Furthermore, renovating Old Trafford means a significant decrease in revenue as some parts of the stadium will be closed, or Man United will have to play at another stadium during that time.
Man United will not make a final decision until after full consultation with fans. However, the club's stadium expert team has made an initial conclusion that building a new stadium is the best way to truly change the experience of fans and the surrounding community.
A consultation with local fans and communities will be conducted before making a final recommendation in December.
Sources from Old Trafford believe they have a large fan base and a need to regularly fill a 100,000-man stadium.
Colette Roche, Man United CEO, has visited Los Angeles three times and held a series of meetings with those behind the SoFi development project to exploit his expertise and experience, especially the project's campus elements.
Roche has also been watching the Bay of Chicago Bears' Burnham Park project and their ambitious plans to use a new stadium as a springboard to recreate a larger area in the public-private partnership similar to what Ratcliffe hopes to achieve with the Man United project.
She also visited the Bernabeu earlier this year to learn about Real Madrid's development project and spend time with the people behind Tottenham Hotspur and Wembley.
SoFi Stadium, owned by Arsenal club owner Stan Kroenke, opened in 2020 and was also the venue for the Man United - Arsenal friendly match last Sunday morning (Vietnam time).
The stadium has a capacity of 70,240 people, can be increased to 100,240, takes 4 years to build, costs more than 5 billion USD and has a roof of more than 92,000m2, with 27,000 LED screens, providing ideal advertising space because you can see screens from vehicles entering nearby Los Angeles airport.
SoFi is home to LA Rams and LA Chargers of NFL and is a major concert venue that has welcomed Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Ed Sheeran. The stadium is located in the Hollywood Park campus.
