The reporter reported coldly On 19 February, Manchester United will report their fourth-quarter 2024 financial results, but there will be no expectations for them. Just four days before the earnings report, Manchester United supporters' groups also sent a lengthy open letter to Ratcliffe about ticket price increases and the club's operating policies.

As Manchester United legend Neville said: Manchester United has long since changed beyond recognition. Not only is Manchester United no longer the most profitable football club in the world, but it is not even the club with the highest commercial income in the past. The Reds are now in the worst league league of their time on the pitch and are struggling off the pitch – they are in a dire financial situation, even to the point where sponsors are considering including an exit clause in their sponsorship contracts. It's been more than a year since Sir Ratcliffe took over the operations of Manchester United, but the Reds are getting worse and worse and show no signs of improving anytime soon.

After Ferguson's retirement, despite United's poor performance in the arena, it was still able to attract top sponsors in the commercial field and was a top sports IP with global influence. Before Ratella's takeover at the end of 2023, Manchester United had just renewed the contract with Adidas until 2035 in July 2023, with the annual sponsorship fee rising from £75 million to £90 million. In September 2023, Manchester United signed a three-year contract with Snapdragon, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Group, to replace the previous chest advertiser TeamViewer in July 2024, and the annual sponsorship fee has also increased from £47.5 million to £60 million.

But the achievements of these two major commercial income areas have nothing to do with Lord La, who will only become the owner at the end of 2023. After he took over the full operation of Manchester United at the beginning of last year, the Red Devils' business situation deteriorated. Manchester United's total revenue in 2023/24 reached a record 661.8 million pounds, and with the cost-cutting measures of "three new officials in charge", Manchester United still lost money for five consecutive seasons, and the net loss last season was as high as 113.2 million pounds. In the last five seasons, Manchester United's net losses have totalled more than £370 million.

After the full takeover of Manchester United in July last year, the cost cuts were drastic, with the first step being to lay off 250 employees, cut most of the benefits of the club's staff, and even eliminated the allowances of many club veterans led by Alex Ferguson. As such, Manchester United's Q1 2024/25 financial results (July-September 2024) remain disappointing. The club's revenue for the three months was only 143 million pounds, down 14 million pounds, or 8.93%, from the same period in 2023. Among them, broadcast revenue fell by 20.4%, from 39.3 million pounds in the same period last year, a sharp decrease of 8 million pounds, which is the price of missing the Champions League this season; Quarterly business income was also down 5.6 per cent, down £5.1 million from £90.4 million, and matchday revenue was down 3.3 per cent to £0.9 million in the absence of European competition.

Raja has slashed costs through "cold-blooded redundancies", including a £10.1 million drop in total wages, with the club making a profit of £1.3 million in the first quarter of the season. Compared to the loss of £32.8 million in the same period in 2023, the earnings report does look much better, but everyone knows very well: the financial report for the second quarter of the 2024/25 season (October-December 2024) has not yet been released, and given the increased cost of liquidated damages for the sacking of Ten Hag and the poaching of Amorim during this period, and the absence of large new sponsor revenues, the report could only be more "ugly". In the 2024 financial report announced by Manchester United's listed company, Manchester United's revenue has plummeted by 14.34% in the fourth quarter of last year, which confirms the continuous decline in Manchester United's revenue.

What is even more difficult for Manchester United fans to accept is that Manchester City, the former "little brother" of the same city, will earn as much as 715 million pounds in the 2023/24 season, 53 million pounds more than Manchester United. The Blues made a profit of £73.8 million, in stark contrast to Manchester United's net loss of £113.2 million. What's more, Manchester United still have more than £1 billion in debt, including £700 million in bank debt and £340 million in transfer fee debt.

The INEOS Group, helmed by Mr. La, was a world-renowned professional sports sponsor before taking over Manchester United, and almost all of the sports sponsored have received a win-win return on both competitive and commercial branding. However, after taking over Manchester United, La Jue, a lifelong Manchester United fan, did not transplant INEOS's success in the field of sports sponsorship to Manchester United.

In August last year, Manchester United signed a two-year contract extension with chest advertiser Qualcomm until the summer of 2029. The British media believes that this renewal contract does not include Manchester United's failure to qualify for the Champions League or relegation, and the sponsorship deduction or even termination of the contract clause can be regarded as a success to some extent. However, the annual income from the sponsorship fee did not increase, and Qualcomm's rights continued to expand, in addition to the right to display the brand logo on the back of the Manchester United jersey on the chest. Moreover, the advertising space behind the back will not only be displayed in the adult men's football jersey, but also in the women's football team and other youth games this season. Based on the market valuation of Manchester United's jersey advertising space, the advertising space behind the jersey is estimated to be at least 10 million pounds, and this happens to be the amount of sponsorship deducted by Adidas for Manchester United to miss the Champions League. Compared with the two, it is equivalent to Manchester United using the sponsorship income of advertising space behind it in exchange for Qualcomm's contract renewal without a fee-deduction clause linked to results.

Ratchet has been in charge of Manchester United for more than half a year, and the only new million-pound sponsor negotiated in terms of commercial sponsorship is a contract with Tiger Beer in October last year, worth 4 million pounds. Manchester United even sought sponsorship from Malaysian automotive group Perodua, but the latter declined on the grounds that it "takes into account the group's consumer support throughout Malaysia". Manchester United also plan to restart business competitions in Asia in the summer, with a focus on Southeast Asia, with an estimated £8 million in Malaysia alone. However, because of the sluggish performance of Manchester United, it is still questionable whether they can meet the expected income.

What's even more embarrassing for Manchester United is that after a year of joining Manchester United, Manchester United, whose commercial income was far ahead in the Premier League in the past, is now not only greatly surpassed by the city's sworn rival Manchester City, but even the equipment sponsorship income that has been at the top of the Premier League for 30 years will also be surpassed. Liverpool are about to sign Adidas for a £60 million annual sponsorship fee, but with a 20% royalty share on net sales of merchandise, the total revenue will exceed Manchester United and Adidas' sponsorship revenue (£90 million per year). Liverpool expect Liverpool's commercial revenue to surpass Manchester United in 2025/26 as soon as the new contract with Adidas comes into effect.

Arsenal receive £75 million a season from Adidas, which is lower than Manchester United, but just poached Chivas Regal, a "spirits partner" from the Reds last summer. Chelsea, whose advertising revenue has always been lower than Manchester United's in the past, is negotiating a new sponsor whose annual sponsorship fee will be the same as Manchester United's. As the Daily Mail put it: The arrival of Lord La has not boosted the growth of Manchester United's commercial revenue, and Manchester United is losing its global brand appeal at an accelerated pace.