Manchester United financial results show increasing debt interests and a sharp profit drop

Manchester United's collapse is not only on the field: it's also financial. The club has published their quarterly results, from October to December 2024, and it shows a decrease in revenue of 12%: £198.7m, down from £225.8m during the same period in 2023.

This is due mostly to broadcast revenue, which declined 42%, from £106.4m to £61.6m, due to the men's team playing in Europa League rather than Champions League. The figures disclosed today also show that Manchester United spent £14.5m on the hiring and then sacking football figures like Erik ten Hag and his coaching team (after four months), as well as sporting director Dan Ashworth (after six months).

Manchester United fans are tired of mismanagement

Meanwhile, the club has made cost cutting decisions including firing 200 people and raising ticket prices to a standard fee of £66 per game, with no discount for children or pensioners, which made fans angry, teaming up with Liverpool fans to protest under the same banner: Stop Exploiting Loyalty.

What is worse, the £18.8m in debt interest payments the last six months add to £1bn since the Glazers bought the club in 2005. Manchester United Supporters Trust published a statement after the results went public, saying that ticket price hike would actually be "futile and counter-productive" and criticised the mismanagement on the club. "United has amongst the highest revenues in world football and yet we see huge financial problems in these results". "Fans should not pay the price for a problem that starts with our crippling debt interest payments and is exacerbated by a decade or more of mismanagement", and asks for ticket price freezing so that all supporters can get behind the club "and restore it where it belongs".