‘nbc Funds Key To MLS Growth’ Says Liverpool Cco

Speaking exclusively to sportindustry.biz, Liverpool FC’s chief commercial officer Billy Hogan discusses the commercial gains of achieving on-the-pitch success, the importance of social media engagement and what it means to be staying at Anfield. 

The club had a fantastic season on the pitch this year; what effect does the on-the-field performance have on commercial success?

At the start of the season, our aim was to bring Champions League football back to Anfield and the Club and the supporters are delighted that we achieved that goal this season.

So far this year we have announced five new partnerships – a mixture of global and regional – and I have been asked several times if this is a result of on-pitch success. There is no doubt that success on the pitch will help commercially but partnerships are often the result of 12-18 months of negotiations. When global businesses partner with Liverpool FC they see a global club with over 580 million followers worldwide, making up what we call the world’s greatest football family.

On the flip side, you came to within one game of clinching a surprise title, would the commercial gains have been vastly different if Liverpool had managed to take the Premier League trophy?

It is difficult to specifically measure but, yes, winning a title would no doubt help commercial growth. As a Club we have been working hard to deliver commercial growth over the last several years. The recent Deloitte Football Money League reported that our commercial revenue accounted for 47% of total revenue, which is higher than a number of other top flight clubs in the league.

This year saw you launch your social media presence around the world – even shortlisted for Best Use of Social Media, Sponsored by Sportlobster, at the BT Sport Industry Awards 2014 – what brought on the need for a consistent global presence?

We launched a major club-wide initiative to change the way in which we communicate with fans overseas and in January 2013, we overtook FC Barcelona as the world’s most globally-active club on the social media platform Twitter.

We have over 580 million fans across the globe and not everyone converses in English. The language barrier excluded many supporters from joining in daily conversations with the Club so we wanted to address this. The Club now has 18 international Twitter accounts and 10 international Facebook pages that have opened LFC up to fans in over 80 different countries around the world – that’s more than any other club in the world.

In total LFC has over 3M followers on Twitter and nearly 20M on Facebook.

Obviously you have a significantly larger social media following as a result of the programme, but has this converted into commercial gain?

Absolutely. Since changing the way we communicate with supporters overseas, we have seen fantastic retail growth in the countries where we engage with fans on a daily basis because we make it easier for them to find the right product, we’ve increased the number of countries taking our weekly international TV programme block meaning we can reach more fans in more countries than ever before and we’ve seen both an uplift in localised campaigns for current partners and increased interest from regional sponsorship partners around the world.

Social media is definitely helping us to better connect with our fans. That dialogue and engagement helps on all fronts across the Club. You can have the biggest fanbase in the world but if you can’t engage with them it doesn’t allow for a true relationship. We know that our fanbase is incredibly engaged and that helps us continue to evolve as a Club. As it relates to commercial opportunities, we have seen many partners enjoy high interaction rates with our fans. 

Speaking of international support, Liverpool will be heading off on its pre-season tour in the coming months, what impact does the ability to travel to all corners of the world have on your fan base?

Pre-season tours are an important part of our strategy to better connect with fans no matter where in the world they live.

This summer we will be travelling to North America where Liverpool FC currently has 22 official supporters clubs and we are always looking to grow our fan base in the US and across the world.

It is a very exciting time for football in America and the sport’s popularity is growing for a number of reasons. Major League Soccer is almost two decades old. The league is growing in size, scope, quality of play and credibility on the world football stage. NBC’s investment in the Premier League rights show that there is an appetite for football in the States and they have done a marvellous job promoting the world’s most exciting league and making it easier to watch through their free to air channels, which will no doubt help the Club grow it’s fan base.

Liverpool were the top earners in terms of TV revenue this year, earning £97.5m, after being screened live more than any other club (28 times) through the 2013/14 season – what is it about Liverpool that attracts broadcasters to Anfield so often?

Our manager Brendan Rodgers has the team playing exciting football. That coupled with our passionate, loyal fan base all over the world is probably the reason that we have been broadcast live more than any other top-flight club.

Finally, after several months of rumours and speculation, you recently announced plans to expand and redevelop Anfield – how crucial was it to you as a club that you remained at your home?

Anfield is the spiritual home of Liverpool Football Club. Football fans, both Liverpool fans and fans of other clubs, will know that it is one of the great sporting venues in the world. This stadium has been host to some of the most amazing matches and greatest triumphs in our history, so it makes sense if there’s a right solution that this is the place we should continue to play our football.

As part of our proposed stadium redevelopment project, we unveiled the detail of our ambitious plans for an expanded Main Stand and Anfield Road stand and we are embarked on a consultation process which will shape and inform our planning application.