Liverpool have proven that competitive success and commercial success are linked as they surpass rivals
General view of Liverpool's Anfield Stadium.
General view of Liverpool's Anfield Stadium.(Image: Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
A few years back, on a conference call with shareholders, former Manchester United vice-chairman Ed Woodward said that the club’s competitive performance didn’t have a “meaningful impact” on the commercial side of the business.
At the time he had some confidence in saying that, because it hadn’t. It had been four or five years after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and United, while failing to hit the high notes of the legendary boss, were at least competitive. They were still a major draw and in the mix for the biggest trophies.
Fast forward to 2025 and they are in a different spot. Yes, they remain a club with a huge valuation, second in the annual list of football team values published by Sportico, and they have commercial revenues of £303m. They still attract big brands, and they are able to cut through in global markets. All good.
But there once existed a major gulf between them and the rest when it came to commercial revenue. That gap has been chipped away at, particularly by Liverpool who this season reached the peak and bettered Manchester United when it came to commercial revenue. Competitive success, as it happens, plays a significant role after all.
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In 2015, Manchester United’s commercial revenue stood at £197m, the largest in the Premier League at the time. Liverpool were some £81m behind at £116m. The following year it was even bigger, with Liverpool’s commercial revenue remaining static at £116m and United’s stretching out to £268m, a £152m difference. Such a gulf seemed unassailable, but the Reds’ focus on business building and the understanding that competitive success, and the ability to leverage that, was a key component in clawing back the deficit.
United reached that £268m figure in 2016, but 2017, 2018 and 2019 saw commercial revenue stay at £276m for two years, then dropping by £1m in 2019. The Red Devils hit £279m in 2020, but as competitive success continued to elude them, the fatigue around the brand had started to bite, with the following year seeing a drop to £232m in 2021, impacted by the pandemic, before jumping back up to £258m by 2022. For the most recent financial year for 2023/24, it stood at a record £303m.
But to take a longer-term view, after the biggest gap of £152m that existed between the two clubs, the growth slowed, and between 2016 and 2020 the growth was just £3m, a little over 1%. To look at Liverpool between those years, which included a Champions League win in 2019 and a Premier League title in 2020, the Reds’ commercial growth was £81m, a rise of almost 60%.
More success drew bigger deals, and the club put significant focus in driving commercial revenue forward, understanding the importance of leveraging those moments of competitive success. Indeed, the two biggest years of growth in that period came from the UCL win and the Premier League title.
From 2021 to 2024, Manchester United’s commercial revenue jumped from £232m to £303m, a healthy increase buoyed by long-term deals that were inked for major sponsorship inventory such as a kit deal with Adidas and a shirt sponsorship with Qualcomm, with the Snapdragon logo featured.
Liverpool’s growth was from £218m to the most recent figure of £308m, an increase of £90m, and a rise of 41%. That meant the jump in commercial revenue from 2016, the year of the largest gap, was 166% into United’s 16%.
Liverpool won the Premier League this season, and Manchester United could yet finish the campaign one place above the drop zone and have been mired in what has seemed a perpetual state of crisis for some time now, even with Sir Jim Ratcliffe taking the heat of the Glazer family with his 2023 deal for 27.7% of the club for £1.2bn, a move that saw him handed football strategy oversight.
They do have the get out of jail free card if they win the Europa League final which would book them a spot in the Champions League next season, and that would aid the effort in getting a higher figure for some commercial deals, although the club has undoubtedly taken a reputational hit and will find the partnerships market to be a little more brutal when it comes to negotiating.
But Liverpool will continue to climb, and companies they partner with are mostly major, blue-chip brands. That should be instructive as to how the partnerships market view the club right now, it is seen as a safe, strong investment that activates better than most, and has real reach through what it does globally. That is impactful and Liverpool will almost certainly beat their £308m figure next year.
There is a major plan at play, as explained by chief commercial officer for Liverpool, Ben Latty, when speaking to the ECHO last month.
“I have said this before but I want Liverpool to be the most impactful partnerships platform in sports and entertainment,” said Latty. “That's what we're working towards.
“This season already, we've seven partners as it relates to Japan Airlines, Husqvarna, STRAUSS, Ladbrokes, Lucozade, Visit Maldives and a retail collaboration with 1PointFive. We’re also moving to Adidas as a kit manufacturer from the start of next season.
“It's no coincidence. We've got a really good team of good people that are working towards the vision that we set. We’ve got a leading role in the sports marketing industry and that's down to everything that we have, whether it's our reach, our audience, the values that we stand for or the talented team that activate the partners around the world.
“I am going to be biased but I don't believe there's another club out there that can offer what we offer, and I really don't mean that in an arrogant way. I just think we are very fortunate in terms of what we have here as a commercial platform for partners to activate. I think you see that in the results of our partners renewing as well.”