LFC generates half a billion pounds for Liverpool City Region

Liverpool FC was worth £497m to the Liverpool City Region’s economy in GVA last season (2017-18), according to a report by Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.

And club chief excutive Peter Moore believes it can add even more for the city, city region, and UK, if it can improve key infastructure elements.

He told TheBusinessDesk.com this morning that the city needs to add even more capacity to add to the club’s economic impact: “We need more hotel rooms in this city. The Lime Street station expansion was great, but we need expansion of the airport, and we need to utilise our stadium better, for example, as a business venue.

“Infrastructure is key and I talk to Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram about this,” he added.

The report, believed to be the first of its kind by a Premier League club, revealed that LFC provided £454m of GVA for the city, £497m for the city region, and £575m looking at the UK as a whole.

This included input from a variety of sources, from matchday revenues, to hotel, restaurant, bar, transport, supply chain and tourism revenue streams.

The club also revealed that its activities support 4,564 full time equivalent jobs in Liverpool, rising to more than 5,700 across the city region.

Last season Anfield hosted more than 1.5m football fans, which generated £102m from visiting fans from outside the city region.

That figure included 750,000 visitors from outside the region, and 140,000 international visitors.

The club is seeking to build on its international reach and is actively marketing itself in the Middle East, Far East and North American markets, with China a key target for the future.

It has generated a huge online fanbase internationally, which is reflected in its 68 million-strong digital audience, which included a 67% increase in website visitors compared with the previous season.

Mr Moore said: “Technology is the key to serve the fan base better and build out the global reach.”

The report revealed that visitors last season spent £85m in the city, £102m in the city region and £53m throughout the UK.

That included £42m on accommodation in Liverpool, £28m in the area’s restaurants, cafes and bars, £15m on travel, £12m in the region’s retail sector, and a further £5.4m on groceries and other sundry items.

The report also highlighted the value of the club to the tourism industry, with 25% of visiting fans saying they would return to visit the city as a tourist.

Liverpool was recently granted council permission to stage concerts at the 54,000-seat stadium. Acts already booked this Summer include Bon Jovi, Pink and Take That.

Deloitte estimates that each event could generate £4.1m through visitor spend on accommodation, restaurants and bars, and travel.

The report also claims that the club generates £108m in additional spend for the city, unrelated to football, such as supply chain spending, rising to £171m for the city region.

Peter Moore said: “Understanding how our club impacts our region, both from an economic and a social perspective, is important.

“It’s clear that many of our matchday visitors come to Liverpool for the football, but return for the city itself, so there is a longevity and continuous cycle to the impact we’re creating.”

He added: “Through our community initiatives we’re also growing our impact season-on-season and through things like foodbank collections, have already surpassed last season’s total with still a third of this season to go.

“We’re also broadening this impact and as work starts on our new training ground development in Kirkby, so too will our community work through Red Neighbours.”