FSG's latest move shows Liverpool are taking Wrexham threat very seriously - Kieran Maguire
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Liverpool have witness countless attempts to shake up football’s established order. But with the game increasingly leaning into digitalisation and commercialisation, the challenge is evolving.
The Wrexham project, financed by Hollywood’s Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, has seen clubs courting celebrity endorsements as a way to reach new audiences.
Football and celebrity culture have always been somewhat interlaced, granted.
But the fact that Tom Brady now has an equity stake in Birmingham City, Ed Sheeran sponsors Ipswich Town, and A$AP Rocky could take over Tranmere Rovers represents a new phenomenon.
Liverpool themselves have dabbled in this market.
Until relatively recently, NBA legend LeBron James was a minority shareholder in Liverpool. He remains a partner in FSG investors RedBird Capital and has sponsored a line of Liverpool-branded merchandise.
Celebrity endorsements are big business for clubs, especially when it comes to establishing and growing their ‘brands’ in overseas markets.
Liverpool are one of the most followed teams worldwide, with more than 300 official supporters clubs in over 100 territories worldwide.
For them, global reach isn’t the issue. The task is how to monetise the interest in their badge, with Liverpool keen to supercharge the £272m they made in commercial income in the last financial year.
Liverpool make key new hire: All eyes on USA and South America
Over the summer, Liverpool named Ben Latty as their new chief commercial officer and have now named his successor as commercial director at Anfield, a key role in the club’s long-term financial plan.
Kate Theobald-Pratty has been announced as Liverpool’s new commercial director having previously worked in the club’s New York office, cultivating the club’s brand in the USA and South America.
“They will be aware that with the ever-increasing interest in Premier League soccer, you have the view the US market as an opportunity,” Kieran Maguire, football finance lecturer at Liverpool University, told TBR Football.
“If you don’t take that opportunity, your peer group is going to take advantage. That peer group now includes Wrexham, remember.
“FSG understand that. You can’t stand still. Having a knowledge of how the US market works, which hands to shake and which not to is vital.”
Liverpool’s plan to monetise global and regional interest
Liverpool spent pre-season in the United States ahead of 2024-25, as they have done in many summers gone by.
While they were there, Arne Slot’s side visited Pittsburgh, where FSG own several sports teams, for an exhibition match against Real Betis.
That was followed by friendlies against Arsenal and Man United in Philadelphia and Columbia respectively, ensuring Liverpool planted a flag in three different states during their US tour.
“The United States is a very diverse country in terms of profiles of people in local cities towns,” says Maguire, expanding on how Pratt-Theobald will zero in on specific regions in the US , as opposed to treating the American market as a monolith.
“Pratt-Theobald’s expertise will benefit the club is targeting those areas that are expanding the interest in football and have an existing foothold.”
Liverpool’s expanding network
Elsewhere on Planet Liverpool, RedBird Capital have named Janet Nova as their newest partner.
The experience lawyer and former confidante to media baron Rupert Murdoch will also act as general counsel to RedBird, who own a significant chunk of equity in FSG.
Her expertise will be useful at a time when legal warfare is ravaging the Premier League, says Maguire.
“Liverpool have access to expertise independently but it is always useful to have a friend on board who can advise whether the advice being given externally is useful to the club.
“It is a reflection of the professionalisation of Liverpool on a financial level which, to be brutally honest, comes at the expense of the romance of the club.”
