Are Liverpool Set To Be A Future NFL Destination With The Associated Riches

The National Football League in the United States of America is massively well followed by fans of all franchises, and it is even bigger business for clubs, owners, players and sponsors and commercial partners.  Given the rules and play contain marked differences to England's own Rugby League, or Rugby Union, set ups, over the years the NFL has also garnered a growing fanbase in this country - with live broadcasts being well watched and quite lucrative for those who take on the rights.

Having been met with plenty of interest and excitement, the NFL London Games were established back in 2007, and thousands of eager supporters have packed out Wembley Stadium to get their annual fix of a truly live experience, and although Wembley continues to feature in the UK calendar, Twickenham Stadium got a slice of the pie back in 2016/17, with the newly built Tottenham Hotspur Stadium first featuring back in 2019, and having secured further games from 2021 through to 2029. These games will feature the best teams in the world, according to the Super Bowl odds so the opportunity is there to attract plenty of new fans. 

With Mexico and Germany also now featuring on the calendar, these exhibition type match ups are likely to only grow further, and with recent improvement works taking place at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool had thrown their hat in the ring to become another hosting venue - and with the NFL's own research and statistics showing that the London based games regularly feature more than 60% of fans who do not hold a London address, the idea of pulling some games and holding them elsewhere in the country, makes all the sense in the world.

Back in early 2020 as it was confirmed that Liverpool had plans in place to extend their home ground to a capacity of around the 61,000 mark, the potential for NFL matches to take place was floated up as a viable option, and there was even some talk of hosting some Gaelic Games as well.

The renovation to the Main Stand was completed and opened back in September 2016, lifting our capacity to close to 55,000 and the announced plans for the upgrades and improvements to the Anfield Road end will take us beyond 60,000.

The Anfield Road end has, however, had plenty of unforeseen complications, and although it was originally planned to have the new development open, with time to spare, for the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign, October again saw another delay announced to the ongoing construction work.

With the Buckingham Group filing for administration at the start of September, Raynor Rowen Construction took over and there was some optimism that it would finally been completed and passed over in time for the Merseyside derby on October 21 - but this too, did not come to pass.

Much to the annoyance of fans, the upper section of the stand has seen its opening mothballed until at least the New Year now, and we have taken a hit (and fans have been inconvenienced) as three of our highest profile games (Everton, and the upcoming December ties against Manchester United and Arsenal) are all going to be at a reduced 51,000 capacity.

Liverpool chief executive officer Billy Hogan said at the time.

“Over the course of the last few days it has become clear that in order to complete a thorough assessment of that project completion timeline, it’s going to take longer than really we first thought. Ultimately, what that means for supporters is that until we have visibility of all the information needed, we’re going to have to maintain the status quo for the remainder of the calendar year, essentially meaning capacity at Anfield will remain the same as for the previous home games that we’ve seen this season."

Whilst this is far from ideal, and fan anger is understandable, sadly it is the nature of the beast on construction projects of this size, particularly when you are redeveloping and not building fresh, and it certainly seems that John W. Henry understood that point as recounted by former chairman Sir Martin Broughton, as he made the decision after attending a game at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, specifically noting that whilst state of the art, there was no soul or character to the ground.

“Redevelopment was the most important decision – to do that rather than go for an Emirates-style stadium in Stanley Park. We organised a trip for John to the Emirates for a game, and the feedback was always how everyone loved the stadium, except the Arsenal fans. They could instantly see, why would you throw away 'This is Anfield'?"

Similar sentiments have also been shared by West Ham fans at the London Stadium and even some Tottenham Hotspur fans, and what Liverpool will gain by keeping our storied history will be followed by financial gains, both in the increased capacity attendance, but also in holding future events.

If a future NFL deal is approved, and a similar sort of deal to Spurs is struck, it is believed they get a flat fee for stadium use for each game, but they continue to hold all the rights to the food and drink net income, plus merchandising.  Bottoms Up Beer, who provide the technology for the innovative 'fill from bottom' pints of beer, claimed that the club had set a new European record for beer sales at the first NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and the Chicago Bears, with over £1 million taken in from that alone.

With 90% of their megastore stocking NFL related merchandise for those games, there is a massive further gain to be made there, and it is said that large queues had formed four hours before the game started.

Ultimately, an educated guess would state that such a deal - per game - is potentially worth up to £5 million, if not more, if all conditions can be maximised.

Written by Alan Spencer