Skip to main content

Liverpool revenues likely to exceed £700m

There are signs that FSG’s vision of a virtuous circle — where success on the pitch powers commercial revenues, which can then be reinvested into the playing squad and the youth academy — is becoming a reality.

Liverpool won the title despite spending less than any other Premier League club across the summer and winter transfer windows, according to Transfermarkt data. Its use of sophisticated data analysis techniques to identify undervalued players — such as midfielder Ryan Gravenberch and defender Ibrahima Konaté, each signed for €40mn — means they have spent less on transfers than all their major rivals since their last title win, in 2020.

However, keeping a successful group of players together has required Liverpool to extend contracts and increase player wages. The result is that its wage bill is now the second highest in the league.

That puts the onus on Liverpool’s commercial department to increase revenues. Ben Latty, the club’s chief commercial officer, told the Financial Times that his department’s role was to generate income to “sustainably finance the pursuit of trophies”. “We’re already looking to the future and working out how we can best maximise this success [winning the Premier League] to continue our commercial growth and support further on-pitch success,” he added.

Commercial revenues, increasingly important at a time of slowing media rights growth, surpassed £300mn for the first time last year. They are expected to rise again next season following Liverpool’s change of kit supplier from Nike to Adidas. The club’s commercial partners include insurer AXA, phonemaker Google Pixel and beer brand Carlsberg. This summer, players and staff will fly to Japan and Hong Kong with the club’s official airline partner Japan Airlines for the club’s pre-season tour.

Analyst Kieron O’Connor, who writes the Swiss Ramble football finance blog, estimates Liverpool’s revenue for the 2024-25 financial year is likely to surpass £700mn, on account of its participation in this season’s Champions League. Liverpool failed to qualify for the 2023-24 Champions League.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...

A poor financial record, but new hope at Everton

I recently saw an amusing video online in which a group of Everton fans were rebuked in jest for being hopeful.  Football fans in general tend to swing between excessive optimism and excessive pessimism, but for many it seems that moaning is in their bloodstream (Spurs fans probably take the trophy).  However, Everton fans have had plenty to moan about on and off the pitch.   Let’s hope that a new era is about to begin for this grand old club. Everton’s 2023/24 financial results covered a fairly momentous season, when they ended up 15th in the Premier League, though they would finished three places higher if they had not received an 8-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR). It was a worrying time for Everton fans, as the club faced a “perfect storm” of issues, including large financial losses, an ever increasing debt burden, a challenging stadium build and the tortuous sale of the club. There were eve...