Manchester United has decided to withdraw from confidential negotiations over a potentially record-breaking access-all-areas documentary with Amazon Prime for the next season. The club concluded that such a project could distract from the progress of the first team.
Sources privy to the matter, who chose to remain anonymous due to business relationship considerations, revealed that United had been in talks with Amazon towards the end of the 2024-25 campaign. The proposed deal was worth significantly more than £10 million ($13.64m), making it Amazon's largest ever payment for an "All or Nothing" series. Previous editions have featured Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
Despite high-level executives being involved in these discussions, they were abruptly halted earlier this summer. This decision was largely influenced by head coach Ruben Amorim's discomfort with potential intrusions on his team's activities.
Coach Amorim’s concerns
Amorim expressed his concerns about how such a project might affect his team after being presented with the proposal at season-end. His feedback led to a unanimous recommendation by United’s Executive Committee to abandon this idea. The Portuguese manager has faced several challenges since joining United and felt that an intrusive documentary would be an unwelcome distraction amidst ongoing issues within the club environment.
United is currently grappling with financial difficulties, including debts exceeding £700m and no European competition next season. Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe warned earlier this year that without implementing cost-cutting measures - which included up to 450 redundancies - United risked bankruptcy by Christmas. Commercial income has also taken a hit following expired partnerships and yet-to-be-announced new sponsors. However, there have been some positive developments recently as Apollo Tyres extended their endorsement by three years and other deals are reportedly in line.
The shelved Amazon proposal could have alleviated some of these financial concerns. United’s business side, including INEOS and the club’s chief executive Omar Berrada, were supportive of it.
Player buy-in
Any documentary would have required player buy-in as Amazon would have gained near-unlimited access to the team. However, without Amorim's endorsement, convincing players about its merits was unlikely.
United has previously explored similar opportunities with U.S. entertainment platform Disney for a multi-million-dollar deal to create programmes about the club. The focus of this project would have been on United's era of success under legendary Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson.
However, this concept did not materialize due to lack of agreement and was put on hold once Ferguson’s annual ambassadorial role ended as part of cost-cutting measures by United. Both Manchester United and Amazon declined to comment on these developments.
