Official announcement on 2024 accounts. The loss is a bit higher than I thought it would be. I will try to get hold of them and do a thread in due course, but they may not be available until next week. Obviously there is spin in the below.
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Summary of the financial period
- Media revenue fell by £38 million to £204 million
- Matchday revenue rose by £22 million to £102 million
- Commercial revenue rose by £36 million to £308 million
- Administrative costs rose by £38 million to £600 million
- Overall revenue rose by £20 million to £614 million
- Loss before tax was £57 million
Media revenue dropped by £38 million, which is mainly related to the club’s participation in the Europa League competition compared to the Champions League in the previous season. This was partially offset by increased Premier League media revenue as a result of stronger on-pitch performance in the 2023-24 season.
The new Anfield Road Stand opened in this reporting period and a higher number of competitive games played at Anfield contributed to a £22 million increase in matchday revenue. But it was the commercial operations that had the largest uplift in revenue, increasing by £36 million to £308 million, with strong growth in partnerships and retail.
Four new global partners were signed during this period – UPS, Google Pixel, Peloton and Orion Innovation – with Kodansha and Carlsberg extending their existing partnerships. Retail recorded record revenues across its seven global locations, which included a new store opening in Dublin. E-commerce also saw significant growth with more than one million downloads of the official LFC Store app, which represents nearly 20 per cent of e-commerce sales.
LFC’s Membership scheme grew to more than 250,000 supporters during last season, which is a club record from the previous season.
Records were also broken across the club’s digital infrastructure, with LFC becoming the most-engaged Premier League club, generating 1.5 billion social media fan engagements. The club also added a record 37 million new followers to its social channels, with the new WhatsApp channel becoming the fastest-growing platform. According to Brand Finance’s 2024 report, LFC has the strongest brand in the Premier League.
Despite the increase in revenues, administrative costs increased significantly to £600 million, which is mainly related to salaries and overhead costs across the club, which supported the increase in commercial revenues and the increased number of matchdays compared to the prior period.
On the pitch, the men’s team added four new players during this period – Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch – and 11 contracts were extended, including Kostas Tsimikas, Conor Bradley and Ben Doak. For the women’s team, seven new players signed – Natasha Flint, Jenna Clark, Mia Enderby, Teagan Micah, Grace Fisk, Marie Höbinger and Sophie Roman Haug – and five contracts were extended, including Niamh Fahey, Yana Daniels and Ceri Holland.
LFC Foundation also reported significant results during this period on its impact on the community. It supported more than 127,000 people, contributed more than £13 million of added benefit into the Liverpool City Region and generated a social value of more than £90 million, including £56 million in health benefits during last season. For every £1 spent, LFC Foundation created a social value return of £13.70.
The Red Way, which is the club’s wider environmental, social and governance (ESG) programme, also won multiple awards throughout this reporting period and is widely recognised as the best sustainability programme in football.
Jenny Beacham, LFC’s chief financial officer, said: “Operating a financially sustainable club continues to be our priority and, with the continued increase in costs, it’s essential to grow income streams year on year to maintain financial stability. The success of our commercial operations, together with the opening of the new Anfield Road Stand, has increased our revenues during this reporting period, which demonstrates our desire to continue to compete at the highest levels of football in the men’s and women’s games.
“The global appeal of this football club continues to be phenomenal and is the underlying strength and opportunity we have for continued growth. We also take our social responsibilities seriously, using our global appeal to increase our community impact and sustainability efforts, in which we are leading the way across the football industry.
“We will continue to operate in accordance with football’s financial rules and regulations while maintaining investment opportunities in our operations, infrastructure and players. Our focus right now is to finish this season as strong as possible, both on and off the pitch, to fulfil our collective ambitions for success.”
