Manchester United CEO Omar Berrada has issued an apology to fans for a poor decision last season.
When Sir Jim Ratcliffe completed his £1.25bn minority takeover at Manchester United, his top priority was to reshuffle the boardroom and introduce some elite-level executives.
Omar Berrada was poached from Manchester City to become the new CEO in January 2024 and he has worked closely with Ratcliffe ever since to start a long-term project at Old Trafford.
Berrada was key to Ruben Amorim’s appointment as head coach in November, and he has rallied behind the Portuguese to deliver success.
However, it has certainly not been a smooth first 18 months in charge for Omar Berrada and he apologised to fans for one drastic oversight.
Manchester United CEO Omar Berrada at Web Summit 2024
Photo by Rita Franca/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Omar Berrada apologises for Man United ticket hike
It is no secret that there is plenty of financial tension at Old Trafford after successive years of heavy losses under the Glazers.
Ratcliffe warned United are running out of cash, and as a result, Ineos have implemented several controversial cost-cutting measures this season.
One decision made was for United’s ticket prices to rise to £66, a decision that was understandably met with a lot of criticism from the fanbase.
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United fans protested the ticket prices on several occasions, and it was one of many decisions that has opened up a rift between supporters and the club executives.
In an attempt to repair that rift, Berrada spoke to The Athletic and took full responsibility for the poor decision.
“What I accept is that the way it was rolled out was not good. I raise my hand, I’m responsible for that decision,” Berrada said.
“If we go back to the actual decision itself and the percentage of people that it was going to impact, it’s low. Really low. But we didn’t communicate it well. And we did it too quickly, mid-season. So that was a lesson and something that we will try to avoid in the future.
“What we’ve done since is engage heavily with the fan advisory board and they’ve all been good. We’ve had some robust conversations and they pushed back on a lot of the ideas that we had and the initiatives that we wanted to implement.”
Man United continue to dominate matchday revenue figures
The idea behind raising ticket prices at Old Trafford is to increase the club’s matchday revenue generation.
But United are already dominating every aspect of matchday revenue compared to other Premier League clubs.
The latest accounts showed that United earned £137 million in matchday revenue, considerably more than any other top-flight club. To ask fans to pay even more for tickets to Old Trafford was an oversight by a new ownership group that are already under scrutiny.
Chart showing recorded revenue and projections for Manchester United, with United in Focus logo
Man United revenue projections Credit: Adam Williams/United in Focus/GRV Media
READ MORE: Rival Premier League club chief blasts Man United’s 100,000-seater stadium plan, expert says ‘it won’t happen’
With a new stadium set to be completed in 2030, United’s matchday revenue figures will continue to grow with a 100,000 capacity venue.
Finance expert Adam Williams predicts United could earn £230m per season from a new stadium, which should encourage Ineos to lower ticket prices rather than raise them.