Liverpool could theoretically mirror Man City’s owner-funded approach and sign an enormous £329m sponsor deal, the latest analysis shows.
City and Liverpool have been engaged in a competitive rivalry in recent times, with Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola contesting five of the last seven title races.
It has been Arsenal who have pushed City closer in each of the last two seasons, but Liverpool’s renaissance under Klopp has been reflected in the club’s accounts financially.
Owners Fenway Sports Group have seen revenue more than double in the last decade, from £256m in 2014 to an expected £600m-plus in 2024.
As well as the lucrative expansion of Anfield and soaring TV deals, commercial growth has played a large part in that, rising from £104m to £272m in the same period.
Their front-of-shirt deal with British international bank Standard Chartered has been one of the biggest drivers in this department.
In 2022, Liverpool renewed the deal at a reported £50m per year until the end of the 2026-27 campaign.
It is the joint-second most lucrative front-of-shirt deal in the Premier League, but some analysts believe that they could actually push the envelope even further.
Liverpool could bank £65.8m-a-year shirt deal
A recent in-depth study conducted by industry experts The Sponsor has found that Liverpool could theoretically earn as much as £65.8m per year from a front-of-shirt sponsor.
Extrapolated over the course of the current five-year contract length with Standard Chartered, that would be a staggering £329m in total.
The Sponsor’s methodology benchmarked against the Premier League’s Fair Market Value assessment, which is designed to prevent clubs from striking artificially inflated deals with owner-linked sponsors.
That means FSG could, if they followed the approach of Man City and UAE-funded airline Etihad, give Liverpool a £65.8m-a-year deal through one of their subsidiary companies without breaking the rules.
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Would John Henry and FSG ever echo Man City’s sponsor approach?
Whether John Henry and his colleagues would ever sanction such a deal is up for debate.
His motivations for investing in sport are very different to City’s owners, Abu Dhabi United Group.
Fundamentally, FSG want Liverpool to be sustainable in the immediate future and not reliant on owner funding for running costs.
An FSG-backed sponsor deal would go against this model, as it would essentially mean FSG taking money out of one pocket and putting it into another.
Henry wants a huge return on the circa £300m he paid for the club back in 2010 and exhibiting real-world commercial value to would-be investors is therefore in his best interests.