Although Liverpool have endured a difficult season on the pitch, one of the club’s senior employees has been proclaiming ‘a really successful 12 months’ behind the scenes at Anfield.
In February, LFC published its accounts for the year-long period ending 31 May 2022, recording a £107m increase in overall revenue to £594m and a pre-tax profit of £7.5m, with commercial revenue rising by £29m to £246m thanks to the establishment of several new partnerships.
The renewal of the long-standing Standard Charted shirt sponsorship deal last July is also set to yield more than £50m per annum until its expiry in 2027 (The Times).
Liverpool commercial director Ben Latty was speaking with the Liverpool Echo to outline the Reds’ plans for further off-field partnerships, and he also reflected on the club’s fiscal fortunes over the past year.
He stated: “For us it has been a really successful period. We don’t apologise for the fact that we run the club in a sustainable and responsible way.
“This is a really key part of it and we have to not only focus on adding but also making sure that the partners we have got are happy. That’s so important to the business model that we have got.
“The last 12 months from a retail perspective, also, have been really strong. We’ve had really strong kit sales with Nike and our partnership has expanded and is growing. It has been a really successful 12 months and we have to keep building on that.”
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It’s certainly a fair comment that, in financial terms at least, the last year or two has gone well for Liverpool.
In addition to the aforementioned commercial deals, the Reds banked £89.2m from last season’s run to the Champions League final alone (The Mirror), so there’s plenty of money coming into the club.
However, many supporters would surely much rather see Jurgen Klopp’s team enjoying success on the pitch, something which has been in short supply since the summer as the prospect of missing out on a top four place in the Premier League looms ever larger.
That could hit Liverpool in the pocket, with the Europa League yielding just £20m in prize money for the winners – a full £5.2m less than simply reaching the last 16 of the Champions League (AS), which we did this term.
It’s pleasing that the club is thriving commercially, as financial stability can’t be understated, although we’d also love to see the team enjoying the same degree of success on the pitch!