Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group sold 38% of their shares to Amit Bhatia's 1892 Holdings group in August
New Liverpool Vice-Chairman Amit Bhatia
New Liverpool Vice-Chairman Amit Bhatia(Image: Getty)
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A penny for the collective thoughts of 1892 Holdings as the Amit Bhatia-led consortium, which took a 38% share in Liverpool FC in August, continues to get its feet under the table at Anfield. It's less than two months since it was confirmed that Reds owners Fenway Sports Group had sold a significant minority of the club to Mr Bhatia and his organisation, with it being confirmed on August 14 that the former Queens Park Rangers chief was to be appointed as the club's new vice-chairman.
Bringing with him Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of Facebook and Jeff Bezos, the creator of Amazon - and third richest man in the world at an estimated £204billion - Bhatia arrived on the board at Anfield with some powerful people in tow.
Neither Bezos nor Saverin - himself estimated to be worth around £24billion - are on the new-look Liverpool board.
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However, the reconfiguration sees them represented alongside Bhatia and the FSG triumvirate: principal owner John W Henry, chairman Tom Werner and Fenway president Mike Gordon, who is the most hands-on of all at 'ownership' level.
Bezos is represented by his K5 Sports business partner Bryan Baum, while Saverin's wife Elaine, as part of the EE Capital arm of the consortium is also on board and it's undoubtedly been a whirlwind couple of weeks for anyone new to the governance of English football.
It would be fascinating to hear Bhatia's views on the recent developments where Manchester City are confirmed, given his near two-decade stint at QPR, a club relegated from the Premier League during the nine-year period of financial chicanery at the Etihad, back in 2015.
It's perhaps much easier to speculate as to how the staunch financial fair play champions FSG will have reacted to the extraordinary development last week.
City, of course, were found to have artificially inflated their commercial revenue to the tune of £830m during a period between 2009 and 2018, which allowed them to supercharge the club to its current level.
In an astonishing statement given last week, Premier League chief Richard Masters said City had "systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade" with the core decision referring to "sham" contracts as many as eight times in a redacted, 40-page document.
Arriving on the scene just in time to see one of the biggest sporting scandals in British history unfold was perhaps not what Bhatia and his 1892 Holdings consortium envisioned when they partnered up with FSG.
Everyone connected to Liverpool, however, are now watching on for the sanctions and punishments as intently as anyone, should City's appeal fail.
Brendan Rodgers's Liverpool were denied the 2013/14 title after being bested by City and Manuel Pellegrini's men beat Jurgen Klopp's Reds on penalties in the 2016 Carabao Cup. But there appears to be little appetite for retrospective titles beyond a smattering of supporters.
Liverpool were one of four clubs that served legal notices on City in 2024, reserving the right to seek compensation if the Etihad side were found guilty of serious charges, alongside Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
It's been reported that clubs feel those damages may sit as high as £100m over issues such as missing out on the Champions League and the income awarded by the Premier League to its champions.
"Perhaps the most subjective thing to argue or the most difficult is across the course of those nine years is an award for the team who finished second," former Liverpool CEO Christian Purslow told the Football Boardroom podcast last week when discussing what a comprehensive settlement from City may look like.
"Now I think in two seasons it was Manchester United and in one season it was Liverpool.
"As someone who structured three of the biggest sponsorship deals in the last 20 years - and I can tell you now that whether it was a kit manufacturing deal or a sponsor, there were always bonuses associated with winning trophies.
Christian Purslow, former chief executive officer of Liverpool Football Club
Former Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow(Image: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images )
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"So I have factored in my estimation of what those kinds of bonuses would be into a payment for the teams finishing second.
"This gets much more subjective because I am sure if I had the CEO of Manchester United or Liverpool on the phone right now, they would argue all about sorts of very-difficult-to-compute financial benefits associated to being 'champions' - not second
"But I would counter that by saying there are a whole lot of costs that flow from winning titles as well that need to be balanced off.
"You compute the profit benefit of being first versus second. It's just my attempt at trying to compute in an extreme scenario where firstly, these charges across nine seasons are stood up.
"These allegations, these charges are indeed determined as guilty findings. You take as an analytical start point that Man City, in those seasons, finished bottom - I get to a figure, in order of magnitude, of £550m to £600m on that basis."
Liverpool have remained tight-lipped over their potential legal case regarding compensation but at the front of house, it appears to be business as usual.
Last month, the club confirmed that Turkish Airlines were to be the club's now main club partner from next season onwards.
The five-year agreement was a record-breaking deal worth £300m, which was a figure the club starting seeking when they took the option not to renew their previous terms with Standard Chartered.
Rather than ending their association with the US bank, however, Liverpool confirmed that Standard Chartered, who have sponsored the club since 2010, will transition to becoming a 'global partner'.
“This is a milestone announcement for us and we are delighted to welcome Turkish Airlines as our Main Club Partner from June 2027," chief commercial officer Ben Latty said.
Ben Latty, Liverpool FC's commercial director
Ben Latty, Liverpool FC's commercial director(Image: Liverpool FC)
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“The front of the Liverpool shirt holds a special place in the history of our Club. Turkish Airlines is a globally recognised organisation with an extensive international network, and we look forward to beginning our partnership and building a strong relationship together, with already strong foundations built from those special memories back in 2005 (when the Reds won the Champions League).
“This announcement also provides an opportunity to recognise the extraordinary contribution Standard Chartered has made to Liverpool FC over the past 17 years.
"They have been an important part of our journey through an exceptional period in the Club’s history, and we are delighted that Standard Chartered will remain part of the Liverpool FC family as a Global Partner from June 2027.
“As we prepare for this transition, we look forward to this new season and welcoming Turkish Airlines as our Main Club Partner from June 2027.”
Liverpool will earn around £10m a year more with Turkish Airlines than they did with Standard Chartered but the ability to reposition the banking firm and remain partners is an important part of growing revenues for a club with a self-sustainable business model.
Trusted partners are not cut adrift if they are bested at the negotiating table, meaning the Reds can still earn as part of their association with Standard Chartered, whose logo and branding has become synonymous with FSG-era Anfield.
Liverpool's most recent commercial revenue figure in the annual accounts increased by £15m to £323m.
Partnerships with Japan Airlines, Engelbert Strauss, Lucozade, and Husqvarna all helped as did the extension of the agreement with Carlsberg, the Danish beer brand who have become synonymous with the Reds these past four decades.
“We make no secret of our desire to run and operate a financially sustainable club, to grow revenue streams, and to do all we can off the pitch to help bring more success on it," chief financial officer Jenny Beacham said in February.
“The 2024/25 season is a great example of how this can work, with record revenues alongside the men’s team winning our 20th league title.
"The challenge for us is to continue with our growth, through the incredible work that we do in areas such as our partnership portfolio and retail offerings, as well as continuing to diversify our focus to best serve our global fanbase."
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Liverpool were confirmed in January to have broken the £700m barrier in their revenues for the first time, with Deloitte estimating the 20-time champions earned £702m, the most of any English club.
A brand new club store has now opened in Durban, with the help of Lucas Leiva, giving Liverpool three separate outlets in South Africa alone after openings in Cape Town and Johannesburg earlier this year.
Located at the Gateway Theatre of Shopping, one of the world’s 100 largest malls with nearly 2m visitors per month and South Africa, according to club figures, is home to 12.5 million Liverpool supporters.
Lee Dwerryhouse, senior vice-president of merchandising at Liverpool FC, said: “South Africa has a huge and incredibly passionate community of Liverpool FC supporters, and we’re really pleased to be opening our third store in the country in just six months.
“Having a presence in Cape Town, Johannesburg and now Durban allows us to bring the club closer to even more supporters and give them a dedicated place to access official LFC products.
“To be the only European football club with standalone retail stores in Africa is something we’re very proud of and reflects both the strength of our support here and our long-term commitment to the market.”
When 1892 Holdings came on board, it was explained how Liverpool will seek to explore the relatively untapped Indian market, given that Bhatia's father-in-law is Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian billionaire steel magnate.
Adding the expertise and financial power of tech giants such as Bezos and Saverin means the potential for further growth at Liverpool is currently vast in a number of areas.
City's guilt, pending the results of an appeal, might just have played into Liverpool's hands at an opportune time.
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