With the Anfield Road Stand expansion nearly complete, Liverpool’s commercial director has said they “would consider” selling its naming rights, as well as revealing “ongoing conversations” with Nike.
The new Anfield Road Stand looks magnificent when full and really adds to the special feel created at Anfield when the Reds are on the pitch.
It is running nearly a year behind schedule, but it is now almost complete and almost all the seats are able to be filled on a matchday.
With the renovation, came the inevitable question of how the club can make money from it. One big topic of conversation has been whether the club would be open to selling the stand’s naming rights.
Speaking to James Pearce of the Athletic, Liverpool’s commercial director, Ben Latty, revealed: “We have debated and discussed it.
“Nothing is off the table related to that, of course we would consider it.”
The income generated from the sale of these rights could be lucrative. Marca report that Barcelona will earn about £17 million per year from their agreement to sell the Nou Camp’s naming rights to Spotify.
Meanwhile, 90min reports Chinese IT company Wanda pay Atletico Madrid £8.4 million a year to call their stadium the Wanda Metropolitano, where Liverpool won the 2019 Champions League.
Liverpool’s deal would likely not be as large as that, as those deals are for full stadia. In addition, Latty explained how the “most likely outcome” isn’t to sell the naming rights to the whole stand.
Latty said: “I think the biggest potential and most likely outcome in terms of commercialising the Anfield Road End is going to be having themes and areas of it.
“Whether it’s the naming rights to a hospitality lounge or an activation space within the fan zone, which is going to hold 2,500 fans pre-game. Those kinds of things are going to be more interesting to the blue-chip partners we’re speaking to.”
It isn’t the first time the topic of naming rights has come up. In 2022, Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan told the Athletic: “We wouldn’t say no to it, but it’s not something we’re actively pursuing currently.”
While many would accept that having a sponsor’s name on the Anfield Road Stand is a sacrifice that comes as part of modern football, many would be opposed to it, though not to the same extent as renaming Anfield itself.
Liverpool have renamed their old training ground, Melwood, where the women’s team now train, as well as their new base in Kirkby.
Both now have AXA in their official names, the insurance company who also sponsor Liverpool’s training kits. Liverpool’s clothing is made by Nike and the partnership is worth at least £30m per season.
When asked about the renewing deals with AXA and Nike, Latty explained: “We are having those conversations with AXA and hopefully we can get to a good outcome.
“As for Nike, given the sheer volume of kit we produce around the world and the distribution related to a deal like that, there is a long path leading to those types of deals.
“We are having ongoing conversations with them. I can’t break any confidentiality in terms of where they are heading.”
The Reds’ current contract with Nike is believed to expire at the end of next season.
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