Taylor Swift has added a third date to the Liverpool leg of her Eras Tour that could make the Reds a considerable sum.
The US singer, one of the biggest draws in the world of music, initially was slated to perform at the home of Liverpool on June 14 and 15, 2024, with tickets expected to be snapped up quickly, with Reds season ticket holders, official members and season hospitality members able to pre-register their interest for a chance to book.
But the songstress, who will be supported by the band Paramore across all dates, has added another date on Merseyside, Thursday June 13, such has been the demand for tickets from fans.
Last summer saw acts such as the Rolling Stones, Eagles and Elton John perform at Anfield in the first live concerts put on post pandemic. Prior to that, in 2019, the home of the Reds had played host to the likes of Take That, Pink and Bon Jovi, all of which proved hugely popular and financially beneficial for the football club.
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The absence of live concerts this summer is down to the redevelopment work on the Anfield Road End that remains ongoing. While the work is heading toward completion, it was decided that the full summer would be needed in order to complete the work and get it signed off before the start of the Premier League season, with the club having requested to the Premier League earlier this year to have their first game of the 2023/24 season away from Anfield.
But attention has now turned to next year and who will be the star attraction, with the addition of Swift to the bill a sign of the success that previous Anfield events have been for artists, club and city.
Liverpool are allowed to stage up to six non-football events at Anfield per season per an agreement with Liverpool City Council, but the logistics involved in putting on music concerts, the dismantling and rebuilding of enormous stages, staffing each event with Liverpool staff and putting on hospitality is no easy task. To do more than three gigs per summer for the Reds would be a stretch, especially with the relatively short turnaround time from the end of the season to the beginning of a new one, with the pitch needing time to settle ahead of pre-season friendlies and a gruelling Premier League season.
Speaking to the ECHO last summer, Liverpool commercial director Ben Latty said: “We're trying to increase the amount of events we put on throughout the year and not on a match day, and there's a great team that do that, whether it's conferences, events etc.
"We always work closely with the local residents and the community as well in terms of making sure that we're doing things the right way. But stadium concerts are absolutely a key part of how we bring major events to the city of Liverpool and we're incredibly proud.
“We will be looking at bringing more world class acts to the city of Liverpool and long may that continue. Everyone that has played that Liverpool, at Anfield, has been incredibly complementary and positive about the experience they've had. We've had some of the biggest acts in the world. So yeah, absolutely, we will be looking for that."
How much such concerts are worth to Liverpool can vary. Concerts provide valuable income, worth millions to the club when all is said and done. It is why clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur put so much effort into creating a world class venue that could attract major artists and events.
They aren't easy to put a price on, however, as the nature of them means that the actual value of what the club can receive can even change on the night as ticket and commercial sales are all considered and the numbers run by promoters and Liverpool staff during the event itself. At the end a figure is reached and then divided up as agreed. It is worth potentially millions when top tier artists come to town.
Three sell-out gigs, three global bands and three nights of merchandise and hospitality sales meant that the numbers last summer were significant, and allowed for the Reds to bring in the kind of important revenue streams that were denied in the summers of 2020 and 2021 as COVID-19 impacted life so significantly.
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group's continued redevelopment plan for Anfield had the maximisation of the facilities to help generate revenues during the off-season as key part of the plans. FSG have used the home of their Boston Red Sox baseball team, Fenway Park, as a venue for music concerts, with Def Leppard, Lady Gaga, Aerosmith and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers among those to be performing in Boston before the end of this year.
The value in live music is something that FSG have previously recognised. In 2021 they completed the development of a 5,000-seater music theatre venue adjacent to Fenway Park Stadium, a build that has been done in conjunction with global entertainment company Live Nation. Over the next 12 months the likes of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Billy Idol, Louis Tomlinson, Sting and Janelle Monae will all play at the venue, among many others.
Maximising the opportunities that exist with the real estate that they own is a key tactic for FSG, and with the redevelopment of the stadium that has been seen over the past seven years or so, where capacity has significantly increased along with the corporate hospitality offering and greater ability to service large crowds, it is something that is set to become an important facet of the club’s commercial business annually.
*An original version of this story was published in June, with an update on July 5th.
