Full statement as Glazers ‘big idea’ involves Man United player-cameras in games

It has been revealed that the Glazer family ‘hope’ to generate a new revenue source by introducing player cameras in Manchester United games.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS team are awaiting their 25 per cent stake to be approved by the Premier League in the coming days, and they will take charge of the footballing side at Old Trafford.

However, with the Glazers still involved, they will still be aiming to commercially benefit from United, as they have been doing since the takeover almost two decades ago.

A source has explained to ESPN that the family are still hoping to replicate an idea pushed by ex-CEO Ed Woodward, whereby they can charge supporters an added fee to watch footage from a player’s perspective in-game.

“The big idea, or maybe the big hope, that the Glazers have — and this was driven by Ed Woodward — is the emergence of Augmented Reality,” a source familiar with the Glazers’ business model stated.

“The technology is already out there whereby a player could have an AR wearable on his body, and a supporter anywhere in the world could pay a small fee to experience a game through the eyes of his favourite player.

“Just imagine how much United could generate from their huge global fanbase if supporters were able to pay to be Marcus Rashford or Bruno Fernandes for 90 minutes?”

Woodward has also confirmed to ESPN that AR was seen as a “huge opportunity” at Old Trafford.

This idea would need to be in line with the authorities who showcase the Premier League – Sky Sports, TNT Sports and Amazon Prime. Aston Villa tested this type of idea during their pre-season tour last summer.

Another source told ESPN: “All [the Glazers] care about is money and social media engagement figures,” a United source told ESPN. “You’ll have internal meetings with staff trying to get praise for getting so many likes on this or engagements on that.”