Liverpool TV Income May Top Record 250 Million Pounds After Win
Bumper broadcast payout to assist fight to catch Spain rivals.
(Bloomberg) -- Liverpool’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur to take the Champions League title on Saturday will let the club make another claim: it’ll become the first global soccer team to bring in more than 250 million pounds ($316 million) in a season from broadcast income.
The estimate, according to analyst Swiss Ramble, means the English club’s overall revenue is edging closer to its Spanish rivals, Real Madrid and Barcelona, as well as Manchester United -- the biggest sales generators among European soccer teams.
Swiss Ramble, an anonymous blogger who keeps a forensic score of soccer clubs’ finances, tweeted a breakdown of club revenue on Monday, updating figures after Liverpool’s 2-0 win. The data show broadcast income of 251 pounds in the 2018/2019 season for Liverpool, with Tottenham at 235.2 million pounds and Manchester City and Manchester United following behind.
UEFA, the regulatory body for the top soccer competitions in Europe, won’t release the final figures for a few weeks. A spokesman for Liverpool declined to comment.
Record Holders
Broadcast revenue for teams has been climbing as intense competition for TV rights sold by leagues has steadily boosted their value. The previous record was held by Liverpool and Real Madrid at 222.6 million pounds in the 2017/2018 season, according to Deloitte LLP partner Dan Jones.
Liverpool came seventh last year among European clubs in Deloitte’s Football Money League table, which ranks soccer teams in terms of their annual revenue. Largely due to the strength of the Premier League’s broadcast deals, six English clubs rank in Europe’s top 10. But they all come behind Spain’s Real Madrid and Barcelona, with revenue totaling 750.9 million euros and 690.4 million euros, respectively.
Liverpool “will surely be targeting the top five” this year, Jones said. “Domestic television revenues are up 8% for the next three-year round, so that will help.”
Liverpool has been a sound investment for American businessman John Henry, the principal owner of Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Boston Red Sox. Fenway Sports bought Liverpool for about $500 million in 2010 and the club had an enterprise value of around $2.4 billion at the start of 2019, according to KPMG.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Hellier in London at dhellier@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, John Bowker
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