Liverpool have echoed Arsenal’s approach in signing a new deal that will help them surpass their existing commercial record.
Liverpool have made several changes behind the scenes already this summer, coinciding with Arne Slot’s appointment as head coach, Richard Hughes’ as sporting director, and Michael Edwards’ return as CEO.
Three other appointments that might have gone under the radar involved the commercial team,
which helped Liverpool generate £228m in the last financial year, among other departments.
Ben Latty has been appointed as the club’s new chief commercial officer,
while Jenny Beacham has been made chief financial officer and Jonathan Bamber chief legal officer.
Fenway Sports Group has always wanted Liverpool to live within their means and is not as willing to bankroll losses as some other owners in the Premier League are.
And in an era when spending is anchored by turnover in terms of PSR, that means the club has had to supercharge their commercial income in recent years to continue to compete at the highest level.
Liverpool becomes the latest club to sign with an Indian company
As announced late last week, Liverpool has launched a global commercial deal with robotic technology company Husqvarna.
In a first-of-its-kind agreement, Husqvarna will become Liverpool’s official groundskeeping partner,
having supplied robotic mowers for Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre for the last three years.
The deal itself is likely to be worth in the low seven-figure bracket,
but it will help Liverpool who are on course to break their club record of £272m set in 2022-23.
Husqvarna is headquartered in Sweden but is financed by Indian investors.
Interestingly, the commercial deal is not the first struck by a Premier League side with an Indian-backed company in recent times.
Liverpool continues the trend set by Arsenal’s Sobha Reality deal
Just as Liverpool’s training ground is sponsored by insurance firm AXA,
Arsenal secured their own naming rights deal in September last year.
The deal with real estate firm Sobha Reality is worth £15m per year and,
although it has been in place for several months, went to the next phase in recent weeks, with signage erected at the training complex.
Sobha is another company who are financed by Indian investors and for whom the country is a key target market.
The Premier League is immensely popular in India, with Man City,
whose City Football Group owns Mumbai City, among the clubs to take advantage of the commercial appeal in recent years.