Manchester United is considering selling naming rights to a redeveloped Old Trafford or an entirely new stadium in order to help finance its construction, according to an ESPN report.
Qualcomm, which produces the semiconductor brand Snapdragon, could be interested in signing such a deal. The telecommunications company already signed a lucrative jersey sponsorship deal with the club last fall, and according to the company would consider expanding its relationship if the opportunity presents itself.
Don McGuire, the company’s chief marketing officer, told ESPN that “Old Trafford is Old Trafford,” but indicated a willingness to share the brand name with the venue similar to its rights deal with a stadium in San Diego. “We are working very closely with the team on the re-imagination of Old Trafford from a technology and innovation standpoint and Carrington (Man United’s training center) both,” McGuire said. “So if that leads to something bigger, where it would make sense for us to go even bigger …we are always looking out for opportunities.”
Qualcomm declined to comment on the possibility of a stadium naming rights deal with Man United when asked by Sportico.
Man United is hoping to either build a 90,000 to 100,000-seat stadium next door to Old Trafford or revamp the current home by 2030, and it will make a decision on those plans by the end of this year. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the team’s new co-owner, said he would prefer to build a new stadium.
Last September, the club announced a record-breaking three-year kit sponsorship with the Snapdragon brand that will reportedly bring in approximately $75 million per season. The new kits were revealed in July, with the Snapdragon brand emblazoned on the home, away and third shirts. Snapdragon will also be the kit sponsor for the women’s team and the training shirts for both teams.
Qualcomm already has naming rights to a stadium as the NWSL’s San Diego Wave share Snapdragon Stadium at Bashor Field, on the campus of San Diego State University, with the Aztecs’ football team. A second pro soccer team, MLS’ San Diego FC, will begin play there in 2025. The telecom company is headquartered in San Diego and had long been a fixture in the city’s sports. Qualcomm held the naming rights to Jack Murphy Stadium, the home of the then-San Diego Chargers, from 1997 to 2017. The stadium was fully torn down in 2021, four years after the Chargers returned to Los Angeles.
For what it’s worth, even expressing interest in a lucrative naming rights deal can do wonders for a brand. In 2010, Farmers Insurance got a ton of media exposure when it announced that it would sign a 30-year, $700 million deal to the naming rights of a potential new NFL stadium in Downtown Los Angeles; the stadium never materialized, and the company never paid a dime. In 2015, National Car Rental signed a $158 million deal for a hypothetical stadium if the Rams chose to remain in St. Louis, but the team still moved to L.A.
The Red Devils finished eighth in the Premier League for the 2023-24 season, its worst position since the league launched in 1992. According to third-quarter financial results that were reported on July 10, Man Utd’s revenue was down 20% for the three months ending March 31 due to fewer games played at the time. Compared to the Europa League quarterfinals and winning the Carabao Cup in 2023, Man United was bounced out of Champions League during group play and the fourth round of the Carabao Cup this past season.
Though the club expects to bring in record revenue of £660 million ($842.6 million based on current exchange rates) for the full year, the financial results confirmed that there will be around 250 layoffs before the start of the new Premier League season.
Manchester United ranked tenth in Sportico‘s most valuable sports teams in the world with a valuation of $6.2 billion.
(This story has been corrected in the final paragraph to note Man United’s valuation is $6.2 billion.)
