Skip to main content

Liverpool's commercial success

Under the ownership of US billionaire John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group, which bought the club for £300mn in 2010, Liverpool have made the most of the commercial opportunities that arise from on-pitch success. Winning has powered growth in the club’s commercial revenue, which exceeded £300mn for the first time in 2023-24, roughly half of overall revenue.

In a world where media rights growth is under pressure and ticket prices are already pushing the limits of fan patience, commercial revenue is increasingly critical to funding success. Owners also need to limit losses to comply with the financial regulations set by the Premier League and Uefa, European football’s governing body.

While Liverpool have dominated this season despite spending less in the transfer market than most rivals, their wage bill has climbed sharply in recent years — highlighting the cost of keeping their star players.  The club has just agreed contract extensions with Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah and centre back Virgil van Dijk, two of the team’s top earners.

Commercial revenue from club sponsors, including insurer AXA, phone maker Google Pixel, beer brand Carlsberg, and state-owned enterprise Visit Maldives, means the money should be there for replacements when the time comes.

More partners are coming. Next season, German brand Adidas will take over from US group Nike as kit supplier, another deal that bod Football finance analyst Kieron O’Connor, who writes the Swiss Ramble newsletter, estimates Liverpool’s revenues for the 2024-25 financial year will surpass £700mn.

But for now the focus will surely be on savouring what will be only the club’s second title since the Premier League launched 35 years ago. Presumably the club shop will be open on Monday morning.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's no deal say Spurs insiders over Taiwanese takeover

Senior figures at Tottenham Hotspur insisted on Friday that they had not been informed of any deal to sell Daniel Levy’s stake in the club. A business group, Eight Sports Capital — which is said to include a billionaire Taiwanese financier — claimed that it had an agreement in place to buy a 24.99 per cent stake in ENIC, the club’s majority owners, from Levy, who owns 29.88 per cent. The Times has been told Ng Wing Fai and Brooklyn Earick form part of the group, having both been linked previously to potential takeovers of the Premier League club. The Taiwanese businessman, Richard Tsai, is also said to be part of the consortium. He is reportedly worth £7 billion.  Last year Earick, the former DJ and tech entrepreneur, was part of an attempted £4.5 billion takeover, which was “unequivocally rejected” by Spurs.  An ENIC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that neither ENIC nor THFC are aware of any sale by Daniel Levy’s Family Trust of its minority stake in ENIC, THFC’...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reports about Charlton sale exaggerated

Reports have appeared in The Guardian and elsewhere that Charlton has been put up for sale. Richard Cawley is an authoritative local journalist who runs a South London Sport substack site.  He reached out to the club yesterday evening to ask for comment on The Guardian’s article. Early indications from the club have been that nothing has changed since the story about them seeking investment, except that it is now a different company doing it. Charlton have since managed to consolidate their place in the Championship, avoiding an instant return to League One, with their women’s side promoted to the WSL, returning to the top flight for the first time since 2007, although staying there is likely to be costly. It would be counter-intuitive for owners Global Football Partners not to progress the club when looking for investment, that the focus remains on driving it forward, that their spend this summer is in line with long-term planning and will see an increase in wages spent on players...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hull City's 'strange' loan

When football finance guru Kieran Maguire seems flashing lights in a club's loan deal, I become concerned.  He is the leading football finance expert in the UK. Hull City have borrowed £55m against their stadium and training ground yet they should get £30m from the Premier League before long.  What is going on? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cpwel48y51do
Post a Comment
Read more