Liverpool owners FSG are many things, but sclerotic is not one of them. The Boston-based regime know that we live in an attention economy. Data and eyeballs – that’s where the treasure is buried.
FSG bought Liverpool back in 2010. In their first season in charge, their three main revenue streams – broadcast, commercial and matchday income – stood at £65m, £77m and £41m respectively.
Fast forward 15 years and the picture has changed. We don’t have their figures from 2024-25 yet, but TBR Football estimates based on conversations with football finance brains that broadcast income will total around £275m, commercial £350m, and matchday £110m.
Chart showing Liverpool revenue over the years with projections for 2024-25 and 2025-26, with TBR Football logo
Liverpool revenue projections Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
That will take total revenue beyond the £700m mark. They will be only the sixth club in history to have broken that barrier.
No single spark caused the explosion in growth, but the Premier League and UEFA’s extraordinary TV deals, worth around £12bn and £13bn over their respective rights cycles, have been the main drivers. Sponsorship income has soared off the back of that, with Liverpool able to promise potential partners that millions of eyeballs will be on their brands.
That is why Liverpool can afford to sign Florian Wirtz for a mind-melting £116m without any anxieties about Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) or indeed cold, hard cash. The fact that they were so restrained in the transfer market last season helped too – that is one of FSG’s best qualities: striking only when they are adamant that there is real value to be had.
Liverpool owners John Henry, Mike Gordon and Tom Werner hold the Premier League trophy
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
And unlike many of their contemporaries, the Premier League champions don’t rely on handouts from John Henry, Mike Gordon and their FSG deputies to compete in the transfer and wage market. Liverpool wash their own face.
But all that said, Fenway Sports Group have only just about broken even in their 15 years on Merseyside. Factor in the £300m takeover fee and the £200m-plus that they paid to expand Anfield and they are actually significantly down on the deal. Why? Because while turnover has ballooned, so too have costs.
Chart showing Liverpool revenue vs squad cost, which is made up wages plus amortisation, with TBR Football
Liverpool squad cost vs revenue Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
Yes, FSG now own an asset which most analyses value at around £4bn, but to be able to realise that value, they need to demonstrate the viability of the business to the next buyer. At some point, Liverpool – like every other football club – will need to be independently profitable, otherwise the value bubble will burst.
And now, in a creeping development that has caused much hand-wringing in boardrooms throughout Europe, media revenue, for so long the golden goose of football investment, is slowing.
Liverpool could suffer if Premier League doesn’t change TV strategy, study says
In 2024-25, Liverpool were the Premier League’s most-watched team on television and in streaming.
The club were also the most popular in the coveted commercial markets, Central America, South America, the Middle East and North Africa.
And yet, overall viewing domestic figures for the Premier League were down by up to 10 per cent on last season. The broadcasters themselves attributed this to a lack of jeopardy in the run-in as Liverpool sauntered to a 20th league title and the three relegated sides’ fates were confirmed well in advance.
And while those are undoubtedly factors, there have been concerns about the slowing growth of the Premier League’s domestic TV deal for some time now.
While the current £6.7bn deal, which officially kicks in next season and lasts until 2031, is more lucrative than the previous iteration, the Premier League have had to lump in more matches as part of the package. On a per-game basis, the value is actually down on the previous rights deal.
Why should Liverpool care? Because without growth in the Premier League’s TV deal, they will have to limit their wage bill, which at an estimated £400m for 2024-25, is now one of world football’s biggest.
What’s more, Deloitte – one of the world’s most reputable consultancy firms – have now said that without innovation in the media rights space, Liverpool and their Premier League peers risk flatlining revenues.
Whilst modest increases in overall revenue are expected to continue, this growth will remain relatively limited unless bold and innovative changes are now considered and then pursued by both the League and its constituent clubs. Any transition towards more of a D2C (direct to consumer) offering would be an example of this, allowing the league to benefit from the unrivalled level of fan interest it holds globally. For such pivots to catalyse material transformation, clubs would though need to collaborate with and trust each other and the League, around key topics such as data sharing, to a much greater extent than is currently the case. The inherent reluctance to think about the best answer for the collective may well be limiting the overall progress of the Premier League.
Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance 2025
A direct-to-consumer model, in this case, would likely be a Premier League streaming service which cuts out the middlemen – Sky Sports and TNT – and sells match coverage directly to fans.
This idea has sometimes been dubbed ‘Premflix’ and is one that Liverpool owners FSG have thrown their weight behind before.
FSG have already set Liverpool up for streaming revolution
When the European Super League launched in April 2021 to howls from dissenting Liverpool fans, the mechanics of the breakaway competition weren’t entirely clear.
The plot, which FSG were absolutely fundamental in orchestrating, was forced to go live without much of a concrete plan in place. However, it is understood that one proposal under consideration was a direct-to-consumer model.
Several Premier League match balls on the turf before a Liverpool match
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
Now, the Super League has relaunched as the Unify League, though ongoing court proceedings mean its future isn’t certain. This time around, however, the competition’s organisers have promised that, if the breakaway league ever sees the light of day, it will be free-to-air via a direct-to-consumer platform.
Elsewhere in football, Ligue 1 are set to become the first major league to trial a streaming service, although that decision has been enforced by DAZN’s early termination of their French TV deal.
So where do Liverpool fit in?
Well, they were among the Premier League clubs to vote to end a 20-year relationship with IMG late last year. The upshot of that decision is that the league will take their international content production and distribution in-house for the very first time.
That move has widely been viewed as a potential move towards a direct-to-consumer approach, though sources have told TBR Football that we’re still some way off that point domestically given that the sale of IP to Sky Sports and TNT is easy and, broadly speaking, risk-free.
In terms of the ownership, FSG already have close relationships with a number of parties who would surely be interested in the rights if the Premier League ever decided to move away from the traditional broadcasters and launch, not a direct-to-consumer model per se, but one which moves the competition into the streaming age.
Liverpool have partnered with Amazon for a series documenting Jurgen Klopp’s final six months at Anfield, for example.
FSG have also given their blessing to a Netflix documentary about their Major League Baseball franchise, Boston Red Sox.
Meanwhile, Gerry Cardinale, the founder and CEO of major FSG shareholder RedBird Capital, is a big advocate of the direct-to-consumer model.
Whatever happens across the landscape, the outcome could define Liverpool’s financial future. And while it might ostensibly be a matter for grey-faced business executives, it will impact the way fans interact with their club – and, most importantly of all, what happens on the pitch.