When it comes to generating commercial revenues there are few in European football who have seen as much success as Manchester City.
While Liverpool have sought to leverage their success on the field and their global fanbase of hundreds of millions into commercial gain, getting blue chip companies such as Standard Chartered, Expedia, Nike and AXA to commit for the long haul, and while major growth has been achieved, they have been unable to keep pace with the current Premier League champions, who published their financial accounts for the 2021/22 period in early November.
Revenues of £613m, the second highest in Premier League history, the first-ever squad in the top flight to cost more than £1bn and commercial revenues of £309m - a figure some £91m higher than that of Liverpool's in 2020/21 - made for what City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak described in an accompanying statement as "the most successful financial year in the club's history". That was backed up the fact that they made a record profit of £41.7m.
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Liverpool are predicted to achieve revenues of more than £600m for the same financial period, with their results due in the next couple of months. Analysis from football business website Off The Pitch, as part of its 'Financial Forecast 2022' predicts that Liverpool will finally overtake Manchester United in terms of revenue, forecasting record turnover of £602m for the club and a predicted pre-tax profit of £76m. In that, the report predicts commercial revenues will rise by around £23.6m to £241.2m for the 2021/22 period.
It is still some way behind City, however, and for a club whose ownership have very much relied on the success as a business underpinning what can be achieved in the transfer market, it makes the task even greater.
For some time the nature of Manchester City's sponsorship deals has been scrutinised. The Abu Dhabi-owned club have been able to leverage the simpatico relationships that exist in the MENA region and bring considerable revenues into the club. In 2020 they were alleged by UEFA to have breached Financial Fair Play regulations by inflating sponsorship deals before having that decision and their ban from European competition overturned on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Last year they were placed on a UEFA watchlist where they would be 'monitored closely'. They remain under investigation by the Premier League.
There is no legal foul at play for City to be able to lean on their relationships in the region, and the club have not broken any rules by doing so. What it does present is the challenge for other ownership groups to eke the kind of value out of their commercial deals that they need to remain competitive, and places greater duress on commercial departments to deliver new official partnerships regularly, at the same kind of value that Manchester City are delivering, which in line with Premier League rules must be 'fair market value'.
City have leaned on another simpatico relationship to bag their latest partnership, it seems.
On Thursday the Citizens announced a new regional partnership with Jio Platforms, a firm that comes under the Reliance Industries umbrella. Reliance is owned by Mukesh Ambani, the Indian billionaire who had been linked with interest in a Liverpool takeover back in November before his office distanced him from the rumours.
Jio will become Manchester City's official mobile communications network partner in India, where the two will, according to a club statement "collaborate on a variety of engaging experiences that fans will be able to access through Jio’s digital ecosystem comprising JioTV, MyJio, Jio STB, JioEngage and other applications and platforms, in addition to exclusive giveaways and in-market activities." The aim will be to aid City's long-term growth prospects in the Indian market.
The link with City's owners arrives through the 2020 investment of $1.2bn by Mubadala Investments into Jio Platforms. Mubadala is a company where City chairman Kaldoon Al Mubarak also serves as CEO.
Liverpool, like City and the rest of their rivals, are wanting to expand their reach into new markets and enhance the way that they can connect, and ultimately greater monetise, their supporter base of hundreds of millions. City's latest move gives them greater exposure in the major Indian market and is another deal that will add to the commercial clout that has been able to prop up the club's spending to maintain their success at the summit of English football.
The challenge for Liverpool is to find a way to grow commercially against the backdrop of a playing field that might not be perfectly level.
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