Manchester United Stock

Manchester United plc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, engages in the operation of professional sports teams.

Sectors

The company operates through three principal sectors: Commercial, Broadcasting, and Matchday.

Commercial sector

Within the Commercial revenue sector, the company monetizes its global brand via two revenue streams: sponsorship and retail, merchandising, apparel and product licensing.

Sponsorship

The company monetizes the value of its global brand and community of followers through marketing and sponsorship relationships with leading international and regional companies around the globe.

Retail, Merchandising, Apparel & Product Licensing

The company markets and sells sports apparel, training and leisure wear and other clothing featuring the Manchester United brand on a global basis. In addition, the company sells other licensed products, from coffee mugs to bed spreads, featuring the Manchester United brand and trademarks. These products are distributed through Manchester United branded retail centers and e-commerce platforms, as well as the company's partners' wholesale distribution channels.

The company's other two revenue sectors, Broadcasting and Matchday, ordinarily provide predictable cash flow and global media exposure that enables the company to continue to invest in the success of the teams and expand the company's brand.

Broadcasting sector

The company benefits from the distribution of live football content directly from the revenue the company receives and indirectly through increased global exposure for the company's commercial partners. Broadcasting revenue is derived from the global television rights relating to the Premier League, UEFA club competitions and other competitions. In addition, the company's wholly-owned global television channel, MUTV, delivers Manchester United programming to territories around the world. In addition to the company's broadcasting channel, the company has also launched a MUTV D2C subscription mobile application, which is available on iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Roku and Xbox.

Matchday sector

Old Trafford is one of the world's iconic sports venues. It seats 73,925 inclusive of accessible platforms accommodating 556 disabled supporters, and is the largest football club stadium in the United Kingdom. The company has averaged over 99% of attendance capacity for the company's Premier League matches played in front of a crowd in each of the last 25 years. Matchday revenue will vary from year to year as a result of the number of home games played and the performance of the company's men's first team in various competitions.

Strategy

The key elements of the company's strategy are to continue to invest in the company's team, facilities and other brand enhancing initiatives; expansion and renewal of sponsors; further develop the company's retail, merchandising, apparel and product licensing business; exploit digital media opportunities; and enhance the reach and distribution of the company's broadcasting rights.

Football Operations

The company's football operations are primarily consisted of the following activities: the company's men's first team, the company's youth academy, the company's global scouting networks, the company's women's team and other operations, such as the company's sport science, medical and fitness operations at Carrington.

Men's First Team

The company's men's first team plays professional football in the Premier League, domestic cup competitions in England, including the FA Cup and EFL Cup and, subject to qualifying, international cup competitions, including the Champions League.

The company's men's first team is led by the company's manager Erik ten Hag, supported by his Assistant Coaches Mitchell Van der Gaag and Steve McClaren and Football Director John Murtough. They are all supported by a team of over 225 individuals, including coaches and scouts for the company's men's first team and youth academy, medical and physiotherapy staff, sports science and performance and match analysis staff.

The company has 60 players under contract of whom 32 have made an appearance for the company's men's first team. The remaining players may play for the youth academy teams but are being developed such that they may make it to a starting position on the company's men's first team or the first team of other clubs. This structure has been put in place with the aim of developing some of the world's best football players and maximizing the company's men's first team's chances of winning games, leagues and tournaments.

Domestic transfers of players between football clubs are governed by the Premier League Rules and the FA Rules, which allow a professional player to enter into a contract with and be registered to play for any club, and to receive a signing-on fee in connection with such contract. Players are permitted to move to another club during the term of their contract if both clubs agree on such transfer. In such circumstances a compensation fee may be payable by the transferee club. FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (the 'FIFA Regulations') govern international transfers of players between clubs and may require the transferee club to distribute 5% of any compensation fee to the clubs that trained the relevant player. In addition, a 4% levy on any such compensation fee would also be payable to the Premier League. The transferor club in an international transfer may also be entitled to receive payment of 'training compensation' under the FIFA Regulations when certain conditions are met. If an out-of-contract player (i.e. a player whose contract with a club has expired or has been terminated) wishes to play for another club, the player's former club will be entitled to a compensation fee if certain conditions are satisfied. For a domestic transfer, these include conditions regarding the player's age and requiring the former club to offer the player a new contract on terms which are no less favorable than his current contract. For an international transfer, these include conditions regarding the player's age only. Subject to limited exceptions, transfers of professional players may only take place during one of the 'transfer windows,' which for the Premier League is ordinarily a mid-season winter transfer window during the month of January, and a post-season summer transfer window spanning a maximum of twelve weeks throughout June and August. The summer 2023 transfer window began on 14 June 2023 and ran through until 1 September 2023.

The company's players enter into contracts with the company that follow a prescribed model based on FA and Premier League rules. Players on the company's men's first team typically also enter into an image rights agreement with the company, which grants the company enhanced rights and protections with respect to use of their image. The company's men's first team players generally enter into contracts of between two and five years' duration.

Women's Team

The club launched its first professional women's team in the 2018/19 season, winning the FA Women's Championship in their first season thereby securing promotion to the FA Women's Super League (the top tier in England). The team finished in 2nd place in the 2022/23 season, qualifying for the 2023/24 UEFA Women's Champions League, as well as reaching the Women's FA Cup final. Led by Head Coach Marc Skinner, the company's aims are to contribute to the growth of the women's game, to develop a team capable of competing at the highest level in the women's game both domestically and in Europe which has a core consisting of players who have graduated from the company's long-established and highly successful Manchester United Girls' Regional Talent Club, and to offer academy players a clear route to top level football within the club. 8 players from the company's Women's team represented their countries at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup including 3 that were part of the England squad that reached the final.

Youth Academy

The intention of the company's youth academy is to create a flow of talent from the youth teams up to the company's men's first team and the company is proud to have included a home grown player in every matchday squad for the last eighty-five years. Developing academy players is embedded as part of the history and culture of the company's club, and also means that the company can avoid the expense of purchasing players in those positions from the transfer market. As part of their development plan for reaching the company's first team, its academy players may be loaned to other clubs such that they gain first team experience elsewhere. This also enables these players to enhance their standing and value within the game, and those who do not make it into the company's men's first team frequently achieve places at other professional football clubs, often generating income for the club through transfer fees as a result.

The company's youth academy program consists of 10 junior teams ranging from under 9s to under 23s. Each team consists of 15 to 30 players, each of whom takes part in an age specific elite player development and games program during the season.

Scouting network

Together with the company's youth academy, the company's scouting system is another source of the company's football talent. Through the company's scouting system, the company recruit players for both the company's men's first team and youth academy. The company's scouting system consists of a professional network of staff who scout in general and for specific positions and age groups.

As well as being an established domestic network that allows the company to identify and attract the best talent within Manchester and England, the company has an enhanced scouting infrastructure, with a presence in all major footballing nations. This will enhance the company's ability to identify and recruit the best players for the company's academy and first team for many years to come.

Training Facilities

The company has invested significant resources into developing a performance center which contains advanced sports and science equipment. The company has highly experienced training staff working at the performance center, where the company provides physiotherapy, bio-mechanical analysis and nutritional guidance to the company's players as part of its drive to ensure that each player is able to achieve peak physical condition. Fiscal year 2023 has seen a refurbishment and upgrade program take place, including the swimming pool, gymnasium and associated facilities, as well as office relocations and improvements.

Revenue Sectors

Commercial

Within the Commercial revenue sector, the company monetizes its brand via two revenue streams: sponsorship; and retail, merchandising, apparel & product licensing. The primary source of revenue in this sector comes from sponsorship, which allows highly diverse and global companies to partner with Manchester United, regionally or internationally, in order to realize sponsorship benefits and associate themselves with the company's brand.

Sponsorship

The company's sponsorship agreements are negotiated directly by the company's commercial team. The company's sponsors are granted various rights, which can include rights in respect of the company's brand, logo and other intellectual property; rights in respect of the company's player and manager imagery; exposure on the company's television platform, MUTV; exposure on the company's website and mobile application; exposure on the company's club branded social media channels; exposure on digital perimeter advertising boards at Old Trafford; exposure on interview backdrops; and the right to administer promotions targeted at customers whose details are stored on the company's CRM database.

Any use of the company's intellectual property rights by sponsors is under license. However, the company retains the ownership rights to the company's intellectual property.

Sponsorship Development and Strategy

The company pursues its sponsorship deals through a developed infrastructure for commercial activities. The company has a dedicated sales team that focuses on developing commercial opportunities and sourcing new sponsors. The company target potential sponsors that will benefit from association with the company's brand and have the necessary financial resources to support an integrated marketing relationship. By cultivating strong relationships with the company's sponsors, the company generates significant revenue and leverage the company's sponsors' co-branded marketing strategies to further grow the company's brand. The company is successful in executing a geographic and product categorized approach to selling the company's sponsorship rights.

The company offers category exclusivity on a global basis to companies within particular industries, such as beverage, logistics and hotels. The company also offers sponsorship exclusivity within a particular geography for certain industries, such as travel.

In seeking any individual partnership, the company intends to establish an indicative value for that sponsorship based on the prospective sponsor's industry and marketing objectives. The company will only pursue a sponsorship if it reflects the value that the company delivers. The company's strategy is to focus more closely on larger, established global brands rather than regional partnerships.

Certain key sectors play an active role in sports sponsorship. The company has sponsors in a number of these sectors and there is significant potential to expand this platform by selectively targeting companies within the remaining sectors and by growing revenue in existing sectors through additional sponsorship arrangements. High growth markets such as Asia, which the company expects to be a key focus for many of the company's prospective sponsors, are an important element of the company's sponsorship efforts.

Global, Regional and Supplier Sponsors

In addition to revenue from the company's shirt sponsor TeamViewer and training kit partner Tezos, the company generated a further £123.1 million in the year ended 30 June 2023 from other global, regional and other sponsors. The length of these sponsorship deals is generally between two and five years. The majority of these sponsorship deals have minimum revenue guarantees and some have additional revenue sharing arrangements.

Global sponsors are granted certain marketing and promotional rights with respect to the company's brand and intellectual property, as well as exposure on the company's media, such as digital perimeter boards at Old Trafford, MUTV and the company's website. These rights are granted on a global basis and are exclusive by category. Regional sponsors are granted certain marketing and promotional rights and media exposure, however, these rights are granted for a limited number of territories. Regional sponsors are able to use the rights in their designated territory on an exclusive basis, however they are not granted global category exclusivity.

Financial Services Affinity Sponsorship

There is a significant growth opportunity to further develop Manchester United branded financial services products. These financial services products include credit cards and debit cards, which represent key commercial opportunities within the financial services sector, and also serve as a means of follower expression and loyalty. Depending on the product category, the company may pursue affinity agreements on a territory specific or regional basis. Examples of the company's financial services affinity sponsors include Co-operative Bank (Myanmar), Emirates NBD Bank (UAE), Eurobank (Serbia), Guild Technology Inc. (US), ICICI (India), Invex (Mexico), Krungsri (Thailand), Maybank Group (Malaysia), Shinsei (Japan) and Virgin Money (UK).

Exhibition Games and Promotional Tours

The company conducts exhibition games and promotional tours on a global basis. The company's promotional tours enable the company to engage with its followers, support the marketing objectives of the company's sponsors and extend the reach of the company's brand in strategic markets. The tour matches are broadcast and/or streamed live to subscribers of MUTV. These promotional tours are in addition to the company's competitive matches and take place during the summer months or during gaps in the football season. Over the last 6 years, the company played 29 exhibition games in Australia, China, Ireland, Norway, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The company normally receive a guaranteed fee for such tours. The company also generates revenue from tour sponsorship opportunities sold to existing and new partners.

Commercial income from the Premier League

In addition to revenue from contracts that the company negotiates itself, the company receives revenue from commercial arrangements negotiated collectively by the Premier League on behalf of its member teams. Income from these commercial contracts negotiated by the Premier League is shared equally between the clubs that are to be in the Premier League for the season to which the income relates. The company's pro rata income received from the other commercial contracts negotiated by the Premier League is not material to the company's results of operations.

Retail, Merchandising, Apparel & Product Licensing

Unlike American teams in the NFL, MLB and NHL, Manchester United retains full control of the use and monetization of its intellectual property rights worldwide in the areas of retail, merchandising, apparel & product licensing.

The company's retail, merchandising, apparel & product licensing business includes the sale of sports apparel, training and leisure wear and other clothing featuring Manchester United brands as well as other licensed products from high fashion and luxury products to children's toys and household items, such as mugs and bedspreads. These products are distributed on a global basis through Manchester United branded retail stores and e-commerce platform, as well as through the company's partners' wholesale distribution channels.

The Manchester United match jersey and training wear collections are completely redesigned for each season by adidas. The annual launch of the new jerseys is always a much-anticipated day for the company's global community of followers. The result is a robust adidas collection apparel business.

In addition to the company's adidas collection, the company has a number of premium brands utilizing Manchester United intellectual property for the creation of dual-branded merchandise, where the company receives a royalty payment and a sponsorship fee from the partner.

Retail

The company operates its flagship retail store at the Old Trafford stadium, which ordinarily trades year-round, and not just on Matchdays. In addition to the Old Trafford store, the company has a Manchester United branded retail location in Macau (which is operated under franchise by a third-party licensee).

Merchandising & Product Licensing

The company grants product licenses across a wide range of Manchester United products which are highly sought after by the company's followers around the world. Under the company's product licensing agreements, the company receives royalties from the sales of specific Manchester United branded products. Under some product licensing agreements, the company receives a minimum guaranteed payment from the licensee. The majority of licenses are granted on a non-exclusive rights basis for specific product categories, within a specific country or geographic region.

E-commerce

The company has arrangements in place whereby Fanatics has been granted separate licenses to use the company's brand and/or trademarks to operate the official online store, branded as 'United Direct', in the United States and the rest of the world. The online store sells a range of Manchester United branded merchandise including official replica kit and other clothing from adidas. In addition, the online store offers a broad range of other apparel, equipment, such as balls, luggage and other accessories, homewares such as bedroom, kitchen and bathroom accessories, and collectibles, souvenirs and other gifts. The company receives a percentage of net sales from the online store as a royalty payment.

There is a significant opportunity for the company to expand its e-commerce capabilities through improved leverage of the company's digital media platform, and focusing on delivering a tailored digital shopping experience at a regional level. Specifically, the company intends to improve the company's ability to offer targeted merchandise to the company's followers, complemented by more efficient fulfillment mechanics, including product delivery, availability and payment methods.

Broadcasting

Central Media

The Premier League and UEFA negotiate their own media rights contracts independently of the participating clubs. In respect of the Premier League, media agreements are typically three years in duration (although some longer deals have been agreed in certain overseas territories) and are centrally negotiated and entered into with media distributors by the Premier League on behalf of the member clubs. Under the agreements, Broadcasting revenue for each season is typically shared between the clubs that are to be in the Premier League for that season and a part-share for the clubs that were relegated from the Premier League in the previous four seasons. After certain deductions approved by the Premier League (for example, donations to 'grass roots' football development and other causes), the income from the sale of the domestic broadcasting rights is allocated to the current and relegated clubs according to a formula based on, among other things, finishing position in the league and the number of live television appearances. Under the current Premier League broadcasting cycle which commenced in the 2022/23 season, international broadcasting rights are fixed at the previous cycle's equal share adjusted for inflation. The increase in rights values above this are allocated to the twenty Premier League clubs based upon finishing position in the league.

In the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League, media agreements are also typically three years in duration and are collectively negotiated and entered into by UEFA on behalf of the participating clubs. Each club receives a fixed amount for qualifying for the group stage plus bonuses based on performance. Further fixed amounts are received for participation in the knock-out rounds; knockout play off (Europa League and Europa Conference League only), round of 16, quarter-final, and semi-final. The runner-up and winner of the competition also earn additional amounts.

Digital Media

The company's website, ManUtd.com, is published in seven languages and is available globally. The company uses its website, which incorporates e-commerce services and venue microsites (United Events, Exec Club, Foundation, Matchday VIP), to communicate with the company's followers, promote the Manchester United brand and provide a platform for the company's sponsors to reach a global audience. The company's website is designed with a mobile first approach, with content including exclusive articles, exclusive videos, real-time match updates, live blogging capabilities, social integration and sharing capabilities, improved search and discoverability, content recommendations, fan polls, voting trivia and statistics.

The proliferation of digital television, broadband and fibre internet, smartphones, mobile applications and social media globally provides the company's business with many opportunities to extend the reach of the company's content. Specifically, the company intend to use the company's digital media platforms to generate value through extended sponsor positioning, driving e-commerce, and direct-to-consumer opportunities, including selling premium services such as video and exclusive content subscriptions. The company will also continue to leverage its digital media platform to generate customer data and information, as well as follower profiles of commercial value to the company, its sponsors and its media partners.

Content and Localization

The company's digital media properties are an increasingly important means through which the company engages with its fan base, domestically and internationally. To take advantage of that opportunity, the company is constantly developing its premium, localized and exclusive content to enhance the proposition for the company's followers, members and paid subscribers around the world.

The company's followers generally prefer to consume the company's content in their language and context. The company can effectively deliver tailored services to the company's followers globally through various language offerings, geographic targeting and personalized content. The company's mobile application is available in Simplified Chinese. The company also has international language websites in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Korean and Japanese. On the company's social channels, the company has international language feeds in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Malay and Thai. This enables the company to engage with its followers in their native language and to produce content that is specific to each region. This focus on true localization, not translation, can be seen across all the company's social media platforms. For example, on TikTok the company uses local trends, hashtags and culturally relevant music to speak to fans in a truly global, local way.

Mobile Services and Applications

Mobile devices running the iOS or Android operating system enable consumers to browse websites, watch video, share content, access dedicated applications and conduct e-commerce and, as a consequence, the majority of the company's followers access the company's website and digital content via their mobile devices.

In 2018 the company launched its first free global mobile application. This application was developed in conjunction with the company's website to provide benefits to the company's fans, through a clean and easy navigation interface. The company's mobile application also provides significant benefits to the company's business through better e-commerce functionality and more digital inventory for the company's commercial partners to benefit from. Since launch, further enhancements were made to the company's mobile application to incorporate the company's direct-to-consumer MUTV offering and provide additional functionality including messaging, Matchday audio streaming and providing access to the company's Premier League archive collection for the first time. These additional features have been successful in driving additional data acquisition and have further enhanced the company's personalization capabilities within the mobile application. The company's focus on its owned and operated products will lead to an improved customer experience via the mining of owned data, which will lead to more personalization and a more engaged fan base, as users spend more time on the company's platforms and return regularly.

The company launched a free content section allowing all fans access to the company's exclusive programming, with subscribers then having access to the company's full range of programming, including both on demand and linear experiences around full match commentary for all Premier League, Champions League and domestic cup matches, as well as live tour matches and coverage. Subscribers can also view pre- and post-match analysis for all matches by club legends, exclusive interviews with the team manager and men's first-team players, award-winning documentaries, celebrity features, and live broadcasts of Academy team matches and more recently women's team matches.

The company intends to continue developing the functionality of the company's mobile applications to facilitate greater engagement and to satisfy global demand.

Video on demand

The proliferation of broadband internet and mobile access also allows the company to offer video on demand to the company's followers around the world. Through the company's new website, official club mobile application and the MUTV D2C applications, the company provides live video and video on demand to the company's followers in a variety of formats and commercial models. Some video on-demand content is free to all users, some content is only accessible upon registration and some content, as in the case of live pre-season tour matches, is available on a subscription basis.

Depending on the market, going forward the company may offer video on demand services via the company's media partners as part of a comprehensive suite of content rights, as well as on a direct-to-consumer basis.

Social media

With a global fan base, there is a significant opportunity to leverage the capabilities of social media platforms to augment the company's relationships with the company's followers around the world. By establishing an official presence on these platforms, the company will be able to deepen the connections with its follower base and improve the company's ability to market and sell products and services to the company's followers.

As of June 30, 2023, the company had over 240.9 million social connections, including approximately 76.2 million connections on the company's Facebook page, over 62.1 million followers on Instagram and over 41.7 million followers to the company's X (formerly known as Twitter) accounts. For the 2022/23 season the company generated over 1.9 billion interactions across all platforms.

The company use the company's social footprint as a means to communicate news and other club updates, engage with the company's followers, identify active followers, solicit feedback from the company's users, tailor future digital media offerings and enhance the overall follower experience.

The company intends to continue to expand the company's reach through new and different social media and mobile chat platforms by launching additional Manchester United branded presences on global platforms, as well as regional and language-specific platforms.

This continuous expansion will enable the company to broaden the reach of the company's brand and the content the company produces, enhance the company's engagement with followers in many of the company's key international and emerging markets as well as opening up a new demographic of fans.

While there is no guarantee that the company's social connections will continue to grow at comparable rates in the future, the combination of platforms on which the company has an official presence will provide an increasing source of traffic to the company's club branded digital media services and e-commerce properties, enhance the company's ability to convert users into customers through video and exclusive content subscriptions and e-commerce, and continue to provide extensive positioning opportunities for the company's partners.

Customer Relationship Management

One of the company's ongoing strategic objectives is to further develop the company's understanding of and deepen the relationships with the company's fans and followers. The company operates a CRM database in order to better understand the size, location, demographics and characteristics of the company's fan and follower base on an aggregated basis. The company's CRM database enables the company to more effectively deliver targeted communications to the company's fan base which ultimately leads to upsell opportunities through the company's product and service offerings, such as digital subscription services, merchandise and tickets. A deep understanding of the company's follower base is also valuable to sponsors and media partners who seek to access specific customer categories with targeted and relevant advertising.

MUTV

MUTV is the company's wholly owned global television channel and is broadcast in numerous countries. MUTV broadcasts a wide variety of content which is compelling to the company's global community of followers, including live first team football from the company's pre-season tours, academy and women's team live football, club news, game highlights, and exclusive 'behind the scenes' coverage of the company's club.

Depending on the market, the company may offer MUTV as a single product to television distributors for distribution to the company's fans on a linear television basis or directly to the company's fans on a D2C basis which allows them to subscribe directly to the club via the company's OTT offering. MUTV is available in 230 markets globally. (Markets are defined to reflect regional mobile application availability).

For example, in the company's domestic territory, the United Kingdom, MUTV is offered to consumers through the Sky and Virgin Media distribution platforms and on a D2C basis via a subscription on MUTV mobile applications on iOS and GooglePlay App stores and 'Connected TV' applications on platforms, such as Roku, Amazon Fire, AppleTV and Xbox. In addition, MUTV is available on MUTV.com.

Outside the United Kingdom, the company offers MUTV through distribution partners as part of a suite of media rights, which can be purchased on a bundled or selective basis, and can include certain promotional rights, and via the OTT offerings (both on mobile application and Connected TVs).

Matchday

The company's stadium, which the company fully owns, is called Old Trafford and is known as 'The Theatre of Dreams.' Old Trafford is one of the most famous and historic stadiums in the world. Football followers travel from all over the world to attend a match at Old Trafford, which is the largest football club stadium in the United Kingdom, with a capacity of 73,925. The stadium has approximately 10,000 executive club seats, including 133 luxury boxes, 24 restaurants and 4 sports bars.

The company has one of the highest capacity utilizations among English clubs, with an average attendance for the company's home Premier League matches played in front of a crowd of over 99% for each season since the 1997/98 season. The substantial majority of the company's tickets are sold to both general admission and executive season ticket holders, the majority of whom pay for all their tickets in advance of the first game of the season.

Other Matchday revenue includes match day catering, event parking, programme sales, as well as membership, Manchester United Museum revenue and a share of the ticket revenue from away matches in domestic cup competitions. Matchday revenue also includes revenue from other events hosted at Old Trafford, including other sporting events (including the annual Rugby Super League Grand Final) and entertainment events.

The company operate a membership program for the company's supporters. Individuals who become official members have the opportunity to apply for tickets to all home matches. Adult Official Members pay £35 per season to join the company's Lite Membership, £40 to join the Full Membership or £60 to join the Premium membership scheme. At the end of the 2022/23 season the company had over 360,000 members, one of the highest in world sport.

The Manchester United Museum is located within Old Trafford. It chronicles Manchester United's 144-year history and houses the club's most precious artifacts and trophies.

The company intends to maximize ticket revenue by enhancing the mix of experiences available at each game and by providing a range of options from general admission tickets to multi-seat facilities and hospitality suites. In particular, the company has recently increased overall Matchday revenue by restructuring the composition of the company's stadium, with an emphasis on developing hospitality facilities which sell at a higher price and improve the company's margins. As part of this effort, the company has invested in new and refurbished multi-seat hospitality suites as well as improvements to the company's single-seat facilities. The company expects its enhancements to its hospitality facilities to continue to be a key driver of the company's profit from Matchday sales going forward.

Intellectual Property

The company considers its brand to be a key business asset and therefore have a portfolio of Manchester United related registered trademarks and trademark applications. The historic emphasis has been on seeking and maintaining trademark registrations for the words 'Manchester United' and the club crest but that emphasis was then extended to cover the devil device and the words 'MUTV' and 'Man Utd'.

Real Property

The company owns or leases property dedicated to the company's football and other operations. The most significant of the company's real properties is Old Trafford. The following table sets out the company's key owned and leased properties. In connection with the company's revolving facilities, the company's secured term loan facility and the senior secured notes, several of the company's owned properties, including Old Trafford are encumbered with land charges as security for all obligations under those agreements, although the Manchester International Freight Terminal and the Carrington training ground are not encumbered.

Subsidiaries

The company's directly or indirectly wholly-owned principal subsidiaries are: Red Football Finance Limited, Red Football Holdings Limited, Red Football Shareholder Limited, Red Football Joint Venture Limited, Red Football Limited, Red Football Junior Limited, Manchester United Limited, Alderley Urban Investments Limited, Manchester United Football Club Limited, Manchester United Women's Football Club Limited, Manchester United Interactive Limited, MU Commercial Holdings Limited, MU Commercial Holdings Junior Limited, MU Finance Limited, MU RAML Limited, MUTV Limited and RAML USA LLC. All of the above are incorporated and operate in England and Wales, with the exception of Red Football Finance Limited which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and RAML USA LLC which is incorporated in the state of Delaware in the United States.

Customers

The company's top customer was the Premier League, who represented 27.5% of the company's total revenue in the year ended June 30, 2023. The company's second largest customer was adidas, who represented 11.7% of the company's total revenue in the year ended June 30, 2023.

History

Manchester United plc was founded in 1878.