Exclusive: FSG think 'Liverpool are being underpaid' as £6.7bn moment of truth looms
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Fenway Sports Group think Liverpool, as a global football super-brand, should be earning much more from the Premier League’s central TV money pot, says football finance expert Kieran Maguire.Liverpool earned £175m in prize money in last season’s title-winning campaign. This time around, with last night’s defeat to Wolves leaving them in a dogfight for the Champions League spots, it will be less.Currently, the Premier League distributes money based on where a team finishes in the league.
Clubs like Liverpool, who Nielsen data says were the most watched Premier League team last year, argue that they should be given a bigger cut. “But because they have one of the biggest brands in world football with Liverpool, they want to go direct to that fanbase as opposed to collectively bargaining through the Premier League.”As well as Liverpool, FSG own Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, NASCAR’s RFK Racing and Boston Common Golf outright, as well as stakes in the PGA Tour and NHL outfit Pittsburgh Penguins.
Is the Premier League’s financial distribution system FAIR? FSG think Liverpool deserve a bigger cut of £6.7bn TV rights Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images “The devil will be in the detail,” Maguire continues, musing on how the money from a D2C platform might be distributed among clubs.“If Singapore is successful, Liverpool will be able to say ‘look, you have the data now for how many people watch Liverpool matches – we are being underpaid, because we are delivering the biggest number of viewers, so we’ll only sign up for the broadcast deal if there is a change in the way that Premier League TV money is distributed.’ “This will increase the already significant lack of competitive balance when it comes to revenue in the Premier League.”Join Our NewsletterReceive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox