For decades Liverpool and Manchester United have jostled for supremacy on and off the pitch. For much of the 1990s and 2000s such was the dominance competitively and financially by United that the gap had widened significantly and, with the United behemoth scoring legions of fans in key overseas markets it showed little sign of slowing down.
But the end of the Sir Alex Ferguson era at Old Trafford left United without a defined strategy, his departure coming three years on from Liverpool coming under new ownership in the shape of Fenway Sports Group.
The strategy from FSG has been pretty clear from the off; to grow revenue streams to a point that supports ongoing investment in the team. It is a virtuous circle where success underpins financial performance to a large degree and financial performance supports what Jurgen Klopp is able to achieve on the field.
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The announcement of an extension of the front-of-shirt sponsorship deal that Liverpool have held with Standard Chartered since 2009 provided the numbers for the first time that show that Liverpool have finally cracked both the on and off field battle with United, outstripping their Old Trafford rivals in what their shirt deal value delivers for the very first time.
The Erik ten Hag era at Manchester United gets underway this weekend with much optimism among United fans, but near on a decade of regression has taken its toll, United slipping well behind Liverpool and Manchester City competitively and, while it took some time, ceding ground on their main rivals when it comes to the power that they wield in the sponsorship market.
Liverpool's extension with Standard Chartered takes them through to 2027 and is worth in excess of £50m per year. That sum places the Reds second among English teams when it comes to the value of their main shirt partner, trailing Manchester City (Etihad, £67.5m per year), Paris Saint-Germain (Qatar Airways, £59m per year) and Real Madrid (Emirates Airways, £59m per year). The Standard Chartered deal is worth more than what debt-ridden Barcelona were able to glean from their Spotify deal, while it pushes ahead of United, who have had TeamViewer as their sponsor since last season, thanks to a £10m-plus uplift annually in the value of the deal.
The uplift in value is due to a number of factors. Brands want to be associated with success and in recent years there have been few more successful than Liverpool. The charisma of Klopp, the visibility of the club at home and in Europe and its increasing global appeal all feed into the mix, as does its ability to harness data from fans across the world that allows for brands to market their products more effectively.
Spanish website Sport reported back in February that when Spotify engaged in discussions with Barcelona chiefs over a partnership they wanted to know just how many of the claimed 350m-strong global fan base the club had data on. Only one per cent of that number had signed up to present their data to the club, consenting to share name, surname, email addresses, telephone numbers and other personal data. Having a lack of database harmed Barcelona's negotiating position when the two came to talking numbers, something that was the polar opposite to what Liverpool had managed to achieve.
The figure that is placed on the amount of fans who have signed up to club platforms and who the club has data on stands at around 40m, a figure over 1,000 per cent higher than that of Barcelona's. The better use of data is something that has allowed for Liverpool to leap ahead of Barcelona, while that and their progression on the pitch in recent years against United's regression is what has seen their commercial strength increase against their rivals from the red half of Manchester.
United saw more than a £15m per year drop in the value of their shirt sponsorship when they switched from a bumper deal with US car firm Chevrolet to a contract with software platform TeamViewer, a deal worth around £47m per year until 2026.
But there will be a hard stop at the end of that deal with TeamViewer, just a year into their United deal, confirming that they won't be extending for longer than the existing contract "in light of the macro-economic environment."
The Daily Mail report concerns over the company’s share price plummeting and losing four fifths of its value since the start of the agreement as the motivating factor.
"The international awareness of the brand was clearly increased last year through the partnership", a TeamViewer statement reads. "Nevertheless, the company has decided to review its long-term marketing strategy in light of the current macro-economic environment.”
"Decision-makers in companies are becoming more cautious and are postponing investments," the firm’s chief executive Oliver Steil added.
While the international awareness may have been increased the partnership has done little to aid the growth of the share price, which was as high as €30.12 per share in September 2021 but now stands at €10.54 per share.
There is no suggestion that the firm will look to exit the deal early but with the partnership not seen as one that will benefit the longer term marketing objectives for the firm it places the commercial operations of both United and Liverpool in the spotlight, something where there is starting to be contrast.
Speaking exclusively to the ECHO last month, Liverpool commercial director Ben Latty said on the Standard Chartered deal: "It is weird how things work out. It was an amazing announcement for us and to be able to do it in Singapore, in Standard Chartered's key main market as well, it was just the icing on the cake for them and for us to be honest.
"I think you will hear, and it's repeated a number of times, the sort of the way we run our club. Everything we do is sustainable, every single penny we make we put back into the football club. So terms of the importance of it, it's huge for us, it's huge.
"But more so than just the money, it's the message it sends to the market for us in terms of having a partner for 12 years that will be 13 come the end of this term, extending for another four. It's huge and it just shows the relationship we've built up with them over the years, it shows the effectiveness of the partnership every time it comes up for renewal with them. (When the deal is up for renewal) they go and see what else is out there that can give them the exposure that they need, the cut through that they need as a bank in emerging markets in Asia and they always come back to Liverpool as being the number one solution for them."
For Liverpool the increase in value of their main shirt partner points to what has been suggested for some time, that the past four years or so under Klopp have really helped raise the bar for the club globally, and the investment into infrastructure and finding ways to make the best proposition to brands has reaped the rewards.
As a new season gets underway for the Reds the goal will to keep progressing on both fronts and continue to close the gap on those ahead of them and widen the gap with those who trail.
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