Liverpool remain in the half billion pound zone – GAME OF THE PEOPLE
ALTHOUGH the 2022-23 was, to some extent, a transitional season for Liverpool, the club still managed to generate over half a billion pounds in revenues for the third time in five years. Liverpool failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, finishing fifth in the Premier, their lowest position since 2016, and were knocked out of all competitions fairly early on. This modest performance, by their own standards, impacted some revenue streams in 2022-23. Moreover, the club made a pre-tax loss of £ 9 million, compared to a profit of £ 7.5 million a year earlier.
Income remained flat at £ 593.8 million, but only the commercial stream showed an increase on 2021-22, a rise of 10% from £ 246.7 million to £ 272.5 million. The club’s strong retail base and the lucrative pre-season tour to Thailand and Singapore contributed to this decent level of growth. With the team absent from the latter stages of the FA Cup, EFL Cup and UEFA Champions League, both matchday (-8%) and broadcasting (-7%) earnings were down. Given Liverpool are in the Europa League in 2023-24, broadcasting revenues will fall further in the current campaign, even if they happen to win the competition.
Liverpool were the fifth best supported club in the Premier in 2022-23 with an average gate of 53,183. Their stadium utilisation rate was 98% but the club will benefit from bigger crowds when the redevelopment of the Anfield Road stand is completed, bringing the ground’s capacity to 61,000. The project is costing around £ 80 million and is the main reason why the club’s bank debt has risen to £ 123 million. Nevertheless, Liverpool can expect matchday money to rise significantly in the coming years with regular 60,000 crowds.
Liverpool’s net debt rose to £ 193 million, a relatively high level for the club and cash has dropped to only £ 3 million, one of the lowest in the Premier League and way behind the other members of the “big six”. They have been less active in the transfer market, although they spent around £ 133 million in 2022-23. Their gross spend was the 12th highest in English football and their net outlay was just £ 62 million. Notable acquisitions included Darwin Núñez (£ 64 million) and Cody Gakpo (£ 37 million) from Benfica and PSV Eindhoven respectively. The club was outspent by a number of rivals, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United.
Liverpool’s wages totalled a record £ 372.9 million, equating to 63% of income. They have the second highest bill in the Premier League, some £ 50 million behind Manchester City (£ 423 million) but £ 13 million higher than Chelsea’s salaries (£ 360 million). Liverpool’s wages have increased by 73% in the past five years and in 2022-23, they were impacted by extension deals for a number of players, including star striker Mohammed Salah. The cost of Liverpool’s squad amounts to £ 787 million, which is the fourth highest in the Premier League, but the market value – as calculated by Transfermarkt – comes in at around €869 million.
Liverpool’s profit from the sale of players in 2022-23 was £ 33.8 million, bringing the total over the last five years to £ 173 million. In the five-year period from 2013-14 to 2017-18, the club made £ 257 million from player sales. Although these figures are still among the highest in the Premier, Liverpool trail Manchester City and Chelsea by a considerable margin. These two clubs are very prolific in selling academy products for significant sums, witness City’s sale of Cole Palmer to Chelsea for over £ 40 million in the summer of 2023.
Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, have invested very little cash in the club in the past few years compared to the owners of clubs like Everton, Chelsea and Aston Villa. It hasn’t always been that way, for in the six years from 2011 to 2016, Fenway pumped in £ 174 million, much of which was used in the development of the Anfield stadium.
Rumours abounded last year that Fenway might be interested in selling the club, but what actually emerged was the desire to seek fresh [strategic] investment. Dynasty Equity, a New York-based sports investment firm bought a minority stake of between 1.9% and 3.8% in Liverpool, worth between US$ 100 million and US$ 200 million. Fenway have since reiterated they are as committed as ever to Liverpool Football Club.
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