Neville: Man Utd should sell Old Trafford naming rights

Manchester United should sell the naming rights to Old Trafford in an effort to subsidise ticket prices for fans, according to Gary Neville.

Changing the name of the famous old stadium would not be popular among fans, which Neville accepts, but he thinks it could benefit the United supporters over the next ten years.

“The Glazer family [Manchester United owners], and to be fair, they’ve said it for correct reasons, have said that they’ll never put naming rights on Old Trafford, the brand of Old Trafford,” Neville told Stan Collymore’s podcast, The Last Word.

“I would sell the naming rights to Old Trafford if I was at Manchester United for £60, £70, £80 million-a-year.

“On the understanding that all of the money generated – £800m over 10 years – would mean that the whole of the Stratford end would be £10 or £12 to get in, and a proportion of those tickets would go to young people.

“It’s the first time I’ve made that suggestion, but I’ve thought it for many, many years.

“You would consult with the fans, you’ve sold sponsorships in every other area of the club. Old Trafford is an iconic stadium in name. I’ll never change calling it Old Trafford.

“But for the sake of it, let’s say you sponsor it for £80 million-a-year, and you call it ‘Stan Collymore’s Old Trafford’ or the ‘Jamie Carragher Arena’ it would subsidise ticket prices for 10 years and it would be wonderful.

“It would allow the communities of Stretford, Salford, Broughton, of Ordsall, to get into Old Trafford for the price of a Costa Coffee.”