FSG have already signed one key deal as talks in Japan could see Liverpool smash £300m barrier
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Liverpool are one of the only truly ‘global’ brands in football. Fenway Sports Group, the club’s Boston-based owners, are eager to exploit this to maximum effect.
While bedrock supporters may be frustrated by so-called ‘tourist’ fans, FSG see this demographic as an almost bottomless well of money to draw from.
As Liverpool University football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire and other have routinely explained to TBR Football, the ‘legacy’ supporter has outlived their usefulness to elite clubs.
Except as background characters in the broadcast arena, core Liverpool fans – widely regarded as among the most passionate in the global game – are no longer a focus for FSG.
The owners, just as so many are doing throughout football, are instead zeroing in on largely untapped markets internationally.
And while the vast, vast majority of those fans will never watch Arne Slot’s superb Liverpool side in action in the flesh at Anfield, they could represent the next big thing for the club financially.
As one sports business professional recently told this site, “If we can convert those ‘flirts’ into ‘fanatics’ then my organisation is going to unlock a new level of revenue.”
It’s an alien approach to most, but it is the reality of how most executives see supporters: as units to be monetised.
Increasing the scale and reach of the Liverpool fanbase has commercial benefits too, giving the club more leverage to barter with potential sponsors.
Liverpool’s commercial income was £272m in the last financial year and, per the Vanity, Sanity and Reality newsletter author Greg Cordell, will rise to £296m by the time they release their 2023-24 accounts.
FSG are looking at umpteen ways to surpass the £300m mark and continue their trajectory that has seen overall revenue almost treble over the last decade.
One of those is pre-season tours, which provide an opportunity for the club to engage existing overseas fans and potentially create thousands of new ones.
And there has been a significant update about what FSG are planning on that front.
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Liverpool in talks for Japan and Hong Kong pre-season tour
Ahead of 2024-25, Liverpool visited the United States for their annual pre-season tour.
The previous summer, the Reds flew out to Singapore and Thailand, as well as spending time in Europe.
Jurgen Klopp was apparently no fan of his squad spending prolonged periods of times far from their base in Kirby or prioritising commercial opportunities ahead of sporting preparation.
That may now be less of an issue, with FSG having had the opportunity to re-sculpt the setup to their spec after a new chapter begun at the club with Richard Hughes returning and Arne Slot installed in the dugout.
And today, The Athletic have reported that the decision makers at Liverpool HQ are in talks to take the squad to Japan and Hong Kong next summer for pre-season.
Nothing is yet set in stone, but it is understood that the east Asia is said to be an appealing destination for Liverpool for several reasons.
For one, Waturo Endo is the captain of the Japanese national team.
Liverpool have also already signed a sponsor deal with Japan Airlines. The synergies with the international travel element there are obvious.
Liverpool also have a huge following in the region, with hundreds of official supporters groups and a major commercial presence.
The Adidas factor: Why Liverpool’s new kit deal may taken them to the southeast Asia
Significantly, Japan is a major market for Adidas, who will take over as Liverpool’s kit manufacturer from next season.
That is the reason that Newcastle, who signed with Adidas in time for the current season, went to the southeast Asian country ahead of 2024-25.
The German sportswear giants are taking over from Nike in a deal which could be worth up to £90m per season, according to people close to the industry.
As FSG want Liverpool to be self-sufficient financially, that could potentially be a game-changer for the budget available to Slot and Hughes in the transfer market.
