By Adriano Marchese

Manchester United has plans to build a new stadium to house the team near the area of its existing one, which will be able to host nearly one-third more soccer fans.

The 147-year old soccer club said Tuesday that it plans to purse a new 100,000-seat stadium as the centerpiece of the regeneration of the Old Trafford area.

Jim Ratcliffe, the co-owner of the team, said that the Old Trafford stadium has served the team well for the past 115 years, but it has fallen behind the best arenas in the world of sports, even with its current capacity of 74,000.

"We will be able to preserve the essence of Old Trafford, while creating a truly state-of-the-art stadium that transforms the fan experience only footsteps from our historic home," Ratcliffe said.

Manchester United, which went public in 2012, has won 69 trophies in its century and a half as a competing sports team. The team has won the country's top football prize, the Premier League title, 13 times, most recently in 2012, and brought home the Champions League cup three times.

The team said that the stadium and wider regeneration project has the potential to add an additional 7.3 billion British pounds ($9.4 billion) to the greater U.K. economy through the creation of thousands of jobs and housing.

The team has a following of 1.1 billion fans around the world, Manchester said, and expects that the regeneration project could bring in nearly 1.8 million additional visitors to watch the games.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 11, 2025 06:47 ET (10:47 GMT)

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