Manchester United are on their third-consecutive pre-season tour of the United States as they yet again take part in touring some of the best stadiums America has to offer. And it is fitting that United and the rest of the teams participating in the Premier League's Summer Series should be playing at NFL venues, because it is these very arenas which led to English football modernising and the creation of the most watched league in the world.
As recounted in Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg's book 'The Club: How the Premier League Became the Richest, Most Disruptive Business in Sport', then-Arsenal owner David Dein and Tottenham chief Irving Scholar were inspired to help form the breakaway Premier League after their trips across the pond to watch American football. The pair were blown away by the modern stadiums, the friendly atmosphere and, in Dein’s case, the cleanliness of the toilets. The pleasant experiences they had watching live sport was in sharp contrast to the contemporary terraces of English football, where "the threat of physical violence hung in air - along with the powerful smell of urine".
The NFL grounds that Dein and Scholar visited would later influence Arsenal and Tottenham’s new stadiums, which opened in 2006 and 2019, respectively. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium even now hosts NFL matches. So when United began considering whether to renovate Old Trafford or build a brand new stadium, it was inevitable that they too would look to the NFL for inspiration.
Club staff studied new arenas, such as the SoFi stadium in Los Angeles, the Metlife in New Jersey and the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on their tours in 2023 and 2024. When United unveiled plans for their £2 billion, 100,000 capacity stadium in March, designed by Sir Norman Foster, the influence of American stadiums was plain to see.
It has recently emerged, however, that the club are also looking into adopting one of the most controversial and influential policies enacted by NFL franchises: charging supporters for the right to buy season tickets, known in the U.S. as Personal Seat Licences (PSL). And if the club want to avoid a full-scale revolt from supporters and alienating many of the fans who have watched the team week in, week out for decades, they need to urgently drop the proposal.
