Manchester United is one of the most followed sports teams in the world, and as such, tickets to their matches can be some of the most highly sought after, and figuring out how to buy them can lead to plenty of frustration. However, the rewards are immense if you’re actually able to score them.

Whether at the famous Old Trafford ground or elsewhere, supporters come in droves to see the Red Devils in action — meaning demand for Manchester United tickets are extremely high for nearly every match.

If you’re a Manchester United supporter living in the USA, or perhaps are just a fan of soccer or international sports, you might be considering a journey to watch the club in action.

Ticket-buying for Manchester United — or any other major European soccer club — is similar in some ways to buying tickets for sports teams in the United States. But there are a few major differences that are worth knowing, and can help you score those tickets you really want.

Find out how to buy Manchester United tickets from the USA, from the various methods available to obstacles you may not be aware of. And check out the link for a general overview of how to buy Premier League tickets.

Finding the Manchester United match you want to attend

Typically, planning for every new season begins in mid to late June, when the Premier League reveals its schedule. The season is divided into 38 matchweeks, and provides the framework for a campaign for Man United and the other 19 clubs.

Initially, kickoff times are set for 3 p.m. British time on the Saturday of the matchweek in question, with the exception of a handful of midweek games. For example, the Premier League traditionally has a matchweek centered around Boxing Day, aka the day after Christmas.

However, not every game will wind up kicking off at 3 p.m. on Saturday. For each matchweek, the Premier League will move two or three matches to a different time — perhaps one or two on Sunday, or one on Thursday or Friday night, etc. This is done in large part to move marquee matches into coveted TV broadcast slots. As a popular club, Man United is often involved in these time switches.

If you’re a supporter from the USA hoping to buy tickets to a Manchester United match from abroad, it’s helpful to know that the Premier League does this planning in stages. In general, kickoff times aren’t finalized until at least six weeks prior. So December matches, for example, aren’t set until mid-October.

This presents a challenge if you’re trying to fit a match in with everything else you’re hoping to do on a vacation in the United Kingdom, and something you must keep in the forefront if you hope to plan your itinerary well in advance.

Don’t forget the various competitions that clubs like Man United often participate in, such as the UEFA Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao (aka League) Cup. These present additional opportunities to buy tickets to see the club in action.

But be aware that these matches are played in conjunction with the Premier League season, and thus match days and times could be moved — sometimes on relatively short notice — to accommodate them.

Considering a Manchester United membership

The quickest way to gain access to Manchester United tickets is through a membership to the club. Nearly every Premier League club — and certainly all of the popular ones — offers a membership, and while it offers fans perks such as merchandise discounts and access to exclusive content, the ability to buy tickets is what draws most fans in.

Members are given priority not just on home matches at Old Trafford but visiting supporter tickets to away matches as well as tickets for other competitions held at neutral sites such as Wembley Stadium.

For the 2024-25 season, a “lite” adult membership for Manchester United begins at £35 for adults, and is the minimum tier required to buy tickets. A membership login will give you immediate access to the club’s ticketing platform.

Note that Man United sold 350,000 memberships for the 2022-23 season — purportedly the most of any club in the world — and ended up cutting off new sales that year.

If you’re coming from the USA and want to buy tickets for just one Manchester United match during your stay in the UK, you might be wondering whether it’s worth buying the membership just for that.

There is one other membership option the club offers: A “forwarding membership,” which will cost you £20 and allows you to receive forwarded tickets from paid MUFC members.

Introduced for the 2022-23 campaign, the membership tier was met with controversy from fans irate at what amounted to a £20 surcharge just for the privilege of being able to receive a ticket second-hand (on top of what you’re paying to actually purchase the ticket).

If you’re looking to buy tickets to a Manchester United match without a membership, including on the secondary market (more on that below), you will need one of these memberships along with your ticket in order to get in.

Buying Manchester United tickets online

Becoming a Manchester United member also means you’ll also be placed on the club’s email list, and will be informed whenever tickets are about to go on sale for upcoming matches. Typically, certain matches enter single-game ticket sales not long after the kickoff time is finalized (refer to the above section on finding matches to attend for how that is determined).

If you’ve ever tried buying tickets for a high-profile event in the USA, you’ll see that on-sale processes for Manchester United or any other major Premier League club isn’t much different. A date and time is given for ticket on-sales for every match, and the demand typically means your best chance will come if you’re ready to go when that time comes.

The main obstacle for fans living abroad is the time difference compared to the UK. On-sale times are usually set for 10 a.m. British time, so if you live in the Pacific time zone, for example, yes, you’ll need to be at your computer at 2 a.m. local time.

If it’s your first time accessing the ticket platform, you might want to log in and load it a few minutes early to familiarize yourself with the seat selection process.

We can speak from experience and attest that any delays in selecting the seats you want — like if you spend time browsing and comparing available seats — can lead to you striking out completely. Don’t forget that thousands of people covet the seats you’re trying to get!

Hospitality options at Old Trafford

Perhaps you’re thinking to yourself: “This sure seems like a lot of work that I don’t want to go through — but I still want to buy Manchester United tickets.” There is an option that allows you to sidestep all of this, but it’ll cost you.

It’s called the hospitality package, and most Premier League clubs offer it for their home matches. At an elevated price point, you can buy a ticket for a Manchester United match at Old Trafford that also comes with high-end perks such as lounge access, catered meals, exclusive souvenirs and even the opportunity to meet a former MUFC player.

The advantages to hospitality packages are that anyone can buy them, membership or not (you’ll have to create a free account on Manchester United’s website, though); they’re usually available for purchase well before kickoff times are set or single-game tickets go on sale; and depending on demand for the match in question, can often be purchased last-minute.

The primary disadvantage, of course, is the cost. Man United’s hospitality packages begin at £249 per person and rise in price if the game is in high demand. So you’ll have to consider whether shelling out all that money is worth it to you, even with all the perks involved.

Buying Manchester United tickets on the secondary market

In the USA, we’re used to being able to buy tickets for even the biggest sporting events on secondary platforms such as StubHub, SeatGeek etc. Such a market also exists in the UK, but it’s more frowned upon.

Manchester United and its fellow Premier League clubs control their supply of tickets quite strictly, and do their best to discourage exorbitant markups on tickets via the secondary market.

Collectively, the Premier League strongly discourages buying tickets on secondary platforms, and warns that anyone deemed to have a ticket acquired second-hand could be denied entry at the gate — and ticket privileges could be revoked from sellers as well.

Against this backdrop, it is possible to buy tickets via the secondary market. We have used a platform called livefootballtickets.com to purchase Premier League tickets in the past, and despite the tickets being sold at significantly above face value, the transaction went smoothly and we were able to attend the match without issue.

Note that if you purchase a ticket in this manner, you’ll have to take steps to ensure entry and protect the seller. In the case of Manchester United, you’ll either need an active membership or will have to purchase the aforementioned “forwarding membership” before being forwarded the ticket via smartphone.

While the secondary market can be a tempting option, we tend to only look at it as a last resort if the primary options through the club prove to be prohibitive.