While matters on the pitch are mired in struggle at present, that apparently hasn’t put the brakes on Manchester United making headway with their plans for a new 100,000-seater stadium.

Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been very clear on vision for a new home for United ever since acquiring a 27.7% stake in the club in December 2023, a move that saw the Glazer family hand him and his INEOS team oversight over football strategy and what happens next with Old Trafford.

Whether to redevelop United’s famous home or whether to build a completely new stadium adjacent to Old Trafford on the current site has been the source of much discussion behind the scenes, with Ratcliffe’s desire to see a new arena become a ‘Wembley of the North’, preferably part-funded by the taxpayer, a major part of his plans to revitalise the football club.

Talk of 100,000-seater stadiums and becoming a global powerhouse again might seem ill timed with the club languishing in 13th, closer to the bottom three than the top four on the back of a chastening 3-1 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. United boss Ruben Amorim posited that his side could well be the worst in club history after their latest defeat.

But while it is the here and now and how competitive United are, or are not being this season, the plan to change the club’s fortunes and ensure that they remain one of the world’s biggest clubs and brands has the building of a new stadium at its very core, as it will be the revenue-generating potential that a new home will deliver for the club that will allow for continued investment into the on-pitch product.

Last week the Telegraph reported that the plans had taken a significant step forward, with Ratcliffe leaning towards ‘fast tracking’ the building of a new stadium, mindful that the kind of stadium they seek to replicate and improve upon, namely the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, took four years to build.

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The cost of a new stadium has been estimated at between £2bn and £2.3bn, while redevelopment of Old Trafford at around £1.3bn, although it would see capacity increased to 87,000 from 74,310, and the potential for a more expensive redevelopment was a possibility given the work involved in bringing such a structure up to scratch for the modern game, and potential issues in building over the trainline at the back of the South Stand.

The projection is that a new stadium at a £2bn build cost could start paying off in 10 to 15 years through a combination of increased matchday income, hosting several non-football events such as music concerts, commercial sponsorships, and enhanced global brand exposure.

The increased matchday income won’t be minimal. For the most recently published 2023/24 financial year, an accounting period that took in last season in the Premier League for United, the club achieved £137.1m in matchday revenue, up £700,000 from the previous year. But, in the main, they are hamstrung by what they can really build on that figure, with additional income from concerts a challenge in a climate where there are a huge number of more modern, better equipped stadiums to house arena tours, including across the city at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, as well as competition from the Manchester Arena and Co-Op Live.

But a further 26,000 on the capacity, with some higher ticket prices taken into account, as well as the increased value, and volume, of hospitality and VIP suites, could see United’s matchday revenue increase by another £100m.

Concerts could deliver £20m to £30m per year depending on how many could be squeezed in, while the ability to upsell on commercial packages by leveraging the power of one of the world’s best venues could see the current £303m in commercial revenue push into the £400m-plus bracket in a relatively short space of time after completion.

Stadium naming rights could also be a huge boon. Renaming something as iconic as Old Trafford was always going to be a hard sell, regardless of the sums of money that might be on offer, whereas being freed from the shackles of tradition would allow the club to bank a huge amount from naming rights. The SoFi Stadium that United have looked at, for example, makes $30m per year over a 20-year deal for its owners, Arsenal chief Stan Kroenke’s KSE firm.

All told, the additional revenue generated for the football club could add some £250m-plus to the annual income of the football club, which is why it is such a strategic investment that Ratcliffe and his team want to get the wheels in motion for, with 2030 the goal.

Turning around the fortunes of the club on the pitch looks like a Herculean task at present, and without the benefits of Champions League football next season, as looks increasingly likely, futureproofing the club’s revenue-generating ability is seen as a key move, and one that they don’t want to delay on any longer than is necessary.

But competitive success drives fandom and global impact, and Ratcliffe and INEOS will know that in order to get their project for 2030 to realise its full potential, the elements on the field must also work well. There is less control in the hands of Ratcliffe and Co. in making that happen, though.