Image Credits: Imago Images
Liverpool FC’s relentless pursuit of commercial growth has become the financial engine keeping the Anfield machine humming, even as escalating wage costs and fluctuating broadcast revenues present ongoing challenges.
The club’s commercial operations surpassed £300 million for the first time in the 2023-24 financial year at £308 million—a £36 million increase that represented the largest uplift across Liverpool’s three revenue streams.
This milestone came through a combination of new global partnerships with brands including UPS, Google Pixel, Peloton and Orion Innovation, alongside extensions with existing partners like Kodansha and Carlsberg.
The success continued into the current campaign with November announcements of both a multi-year Coca-Cola extension and a significant new deal with US technology firm Trimble.
But it seems that the club may be pushing forward with all these deals to keep up with the wage structure on Merseyside.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Anfield Wrap’s podcast, Dave Powell – a respected football finance journalist who recently launched infoRED, a paid-for subscription service covering Liverpool’s business operations after departing his role as Chief Business of Football Writer at Reach Plc – sights into the club’s wage trajectory.
He suggested that Liverpool’s wages could be in excess of £400 million when the next set of financial club accounts come out:
“Every other week there seems to be a commercial partnership being pulled out, but it’s so important because other things will decline [in the future] like broadcast revenue,” Powell said.
“So, clubs will need to continue to pay big wages, because Liverpool’s wage bill when the next accounts come out is going to be £400 million plus.”
“It’s a lot of money, and John Henry used to say to baseball fans at the Red Sox winter bowl (before he got heckled for it) that baseball players and football players are expensive – and they are not going to get any cheaper.”
“So we’re going to see more and more of it [commercial deals], if we think last year the commercial revenue was around 308 million, it’s probably going to be close to 350 million this time.”
The wages will no doubt be inflated largely by bonuses owed to players and management for winning the Premier League title last season.
The likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk both believed to be earning around £400,000 per week after signing new deals in April 2025.
In 2023/24, media revenue fell by £38 million to £204 million in 2023-24 due to Europa League participation rather than the far more lucrative Champions League, contributing to an overall pre-tax loss of £57 million despite the record commercial performance.
Liverpool’s 2024/25 financial accounts will almost certainly be published in February or early March 2026.
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