Kieran Maguire has warned that a potential rise in Premier League broadcasting revenue will not be at ‘staggering levels’ previously seen in 2014 and 2017.

The University of Liverpool lecturer went on to point out that increased revenue in the English top-flight does tend to go towards increased wages – a tangible positive that would benefit Liverpool’s operations.

This comes amid one report from the Telegraph claiming that online retailer giant Amazon are looking to potentially submit a bid for broadcasting rights in the league.

“There is huge interest in the Premier League rights,” the finance expert told Football Insider.

“We’ve seen other leagues plateau or decrease when it comes to broadcast rights, but I think broadcasters have realised that the Premier League sets a standard of engagement with fans which dissuades them from cutting the cord or cancelling the subscription.

“Therefore it is very much the go-to, and as a consequence of that, there is still upward potential with regards to the value of the broadcast rights.

“It will not be staggering levels like when we had a 70 percent increase in 2014 and 2017.

“The rise is magnificent for Premier League clubs, although they only proceed to blow it on wages.

“If you take a look at the history of the Premier League, revenue has increased by 2600 percent since it started and wages have increased by 3600 percent.”

Maguire went on to add that the Merseysiders could take advantage of further fringe benefits when it comes to ‘merit payments and higher facility payments’.

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More money on wages is good news for Liverpool

Obviously, it goes without saying that increased wage capabilities would benefit all in the Premier League – not just Liverpool.

However, even in a sustainable model, it should help us remain competitive when it comes to financially enticing players to Anfield in competition with our fellow footballing behemoths across Europe.

Judging by how the club has been operated of late, we’re pretty confident that it’ll be money well spent!

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Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has hinted that Liverpool fans will have ‘welcomed’ the appointment of new contractors to resume works on the redevelopment of the Anfield Road Stand.

The process of expanding that part of the stadium to bring the venue’s overall capacity to 61,000 hit a stumbling block last month when previous contractors Buckingham Group entered administration, with some workers walking off site.

However, a statement issued by the club last Thursday (via liverpoolfc.com) confirmed that Rayner Rowen Construction have now assumed the mantle and will finish the work their predecessors started.

Speaking to Football Insider, Maguire said that Liverpool’s decision to swiftly appoint the latter firm will have gone down well with the fan base, who are yearning for the expansion of Anfield to be finalised.

He stated: “Liverpool’s fan base will be desperate for an expanded Anfield to be completed. They want to see their beloved team and anything which helps to accelerate the delivery of the enhanced stadium will be welcomed.

“Therefore, Liverpool have made a practical as well as a desirable decision to appoint new contractors with a view to having the stadium open for as many fans as possible. 

“That includes, of course, the prawn sandwich-munching hospitality fans who make all of the difference as far as overall matchday revenues are concerned.”

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Liverpool supporters will have been breathing a massive sigh of relief upon hearing of Rayner Rowen being appointed to resume the work on the Anfield Road Stand, on which progress had already been worryingly gradual prior to Buckingham’s demise.

Some reports have cited December as the earliest date at which the stand will be opened to its projected full capacity (Football Insider), which means Jurgen Klopp’s side could go approximately half the season playing at an incomplete venue.

Few (if any) teams in world football better harness the power of a vociferous, passionate home support than the Reds, so fans will doubtlessly be clamouring for Anfield to once again be fully operational and duly allow the players to make the most of the fervour from its four stands.

There’s also the matter of enabling as many Liverpool supporters as possible to go to the stadium and follow their team at its iconic home, with supply never able to meet the worldwide demand for tickets to attend a match at the fabled L4 ground.

The day that the redeveloped stand finally opens to its fullest capacity will be one to savour for the club and their loyal legions of fans.

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Football finance expert Kieran Maguire doesn’t expect UEFA to abolish the 10-year coefficient system as part of the new Champions League format, namechecking Liverpool as a club who could duly benefit.

European football’s governing body recently confirmed changes to its flagship club competition which will see 36 teams qualify rather than the current 32, and the abolition of the long-standing group stage in favour of a league phase informally dubbed the ‘Swiss model’.

As explained by The Athletic, the new format could realistically see five Premier League clubs qualify, one more than the current four places reserved for English clubs. Had the change been brought in for next season, the Reds would be on course to make the tournament.

Despite some suggestions that UEFA will review their 10-year coefficient system which allows for greater revenue for clubs who enjoy success in Europe over the previous decade. Maguire thinks the contentious ruling will be kept and was critical of how it favours the perceived bigger clubs in the continent.

He told Football Insider: “I don’t think there is much chance of the 10-year UEFA coefficient being abolished. If you take a look at the current distribution, they get 30 per cent which does seem excessive.

“The aim of that is clearly to protect the interests of the elite and protect their incomes when clubs such as Liverpool do have a year out of the competition. From an investor point of view, you can understand why it is wanted, but it is essentially parachute payments with a small ‘p’.

“The new format will bring in more money, but if the elite clubs are going to get the same proportion of a much bigger cake then that is disappointing. It is a blow for aspirational clubs trying to push into European competition.”

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The 10-year coefficient benefitted Liverpool greatly in 2021/22, with the ruling accounting for £19.3m of the £89.2m they banked from reaching the Champions League final last year (The Mirror).

It was their third time getting to that stage in five seasons, while they’d also reached the Europa League final in 2016, all of which helped them to sit ninth in the historic coefficient.

Even if the Reds were to miss out on the competition for 2023/24 but qualify for the first edition of the new format, their cumulative 10-year performance would grant them a healthy supply of income.

While Liverpool could be among the big beneficiaries if UEFA keep the coefficient in place for the revised Champions League, it’s understandable why Maguire has questioned the fairness of the ruling, which appears to favour clubs who are already established as European heavyweights.

The various stakeholders will have differing views on the coefficient based on their placing within it, but the main takeaway for Jurgen Klopp’s side is that continued qualification for the tournament is crucial if LFC are to maximise the revenue coming into the club.

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One football finance expert has commended Liverpool despite some recent criticism of their decision to raise ticket prices for next season.

Last week, the club announced via its official website that most general admission tickets would see a 2% cost increase, with the price of season tickets also set to increase by up to £17.

The move was met with opposition from the Reds’ Supporters Board, which declared it a ‘cruel, unjust, unreasonable and unfair’ action during a cost of living crisis (via The Athletic).

However, Kieran Maguire has defended FSG and Liverpool for stopping short of taking complete financial advantage of their global fanbase.

Addressing the club’s decision on ticket prices and the objections of the supporters group, he told Football Insider: “I can understand it from the perspective of both parties. Liverpool could easily charge more than an extra £1 per match and they still would’ve sold every season ticket.

“On the other hand, Spirit of Shankly is well aware of the cost of living challenges in the UK.

“Both parties have some validity to their actions – Liverpool are not revenue maximisers when they come to matchday income, there’s plenty more they could squeeze out of fans.

“They could easily cut season tickets from 27,000 to 15,000 and could sell those extra tickets on a match-by-match basis at a much higher price point. But I think there are good people at Liverpool that understand this and not everyone at the club sees it as a cash cow.”

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Maguire is being quite fair and balanced in his assessment, taking the views of multiple stakeholders into consideration.

His point about Liverpool stopping short of their full potential in terms of ‘squeezing’ money out of fans is a pertinent one, considering that both Manchester United (5%) and Arsenal (10%) recently announced far greater increases to their season ticket prices (as per The Athletic).

That said, fan groups such as the Reds’ Supporters Board are quite justified in their concerns over a rise on ticket costs, irrespective of how marginal these might be.

Between entry to the game, plus travel to and from the stadium and paying for auxiliary items such as food and a programme, attending football matches in 2023 can make quite a dent in spectators’ pockets.

Matchday revenue at Anfield is still quite healthy – the club’s most recent financial reports show a £3m increase from the previous year to £86m (as per LFC’s official website).

At a time of economic worry, it’s only right that match-going supporters aren’t treated as commodities from which to glean maximum revenue.

If Liverpool are able to improve their revenues without completely exploiting the fanbase financially, it seems like the right balance is being struck.

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Kieran Maguire has called out plans for the Premier League to introduce half-time media talks with top-flight managers from the start of the next campaign.

The proposal in question is set to be voted on after the end of the current campaign in June.

“The job of the coach is to prepare your team for the remainder of the match. The 90 minutes should be sacrosanct,” the finance expert told Football Insider.

“I think this shows the domination by the media and how much control they really have.

“The questions, in any case, tend to be anodyne and the responses tend to be bland.

“It’s ludicrous to even try and figure out the benefits of this. I can’t figure it out.”

Should the new initiative go ahead, it’s understood that coaches will be required to conduct a maximum of five half-time interviews per season.

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Though the plans in question will exclude those whose sides are in a losing position at the interval, one can hardly blame managers for potentially taking exception.

The reality of the situation is that, regardless of whether or not clubs are in a winning position, coaches may feel more than inclined to make changes to ensure that circumstances remain as such.

Certainly, we’d find it incredibly hard to believe that Jurgen Klopp would be prepared to accept a reality where he couldn’t interact with his squad at the half-time break five times a season.

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Kieran Maguire has warned of the dangers associated with NFTs after Liverpool Football Club announced plans to sell their own NFTs.

The Merseysiders have attached benefits to their collection, with one normal token set to set fans back roughly £57.

“Liverpool and Nike will both see the financial benefits of doing something like this. Both parties can make money out of it,” the University of Liverpool lecturer told Football Insider.

“But you have to ask, if Nike, Liverpool and the NFT firm itself are making money out of this, somebody’s going to have to be losing money.

“There’s no doubt these things can be lucrative but certainly not lucrative for everyone associated with them. That is the problem.”

The initiative will reportedly make the club in the region of £8.5m, however, the critique associated with NFTs and, in particular, the environmentally unfriendly blockchains of which they are a part has led many to question to what extent such a move resonates with the values of the side.

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Whilst we can appreciate the need to expand our potential revenue streams in a bid to keep up with the financial juggernauts of Europe, it seems that, in short, the latest plans are far from being a neat fit.

Environmental impact aside (as if that wasn’t reason enough), NFTs have been judged by some commentators to be financially exploitative, with the art pieces in question subject to the fluctuations of the market.

Contributing some of the funds gained to the LFC foundation is certainly a smart move, however, we’re unlikely to see fan disappointment erode anytime soon.

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Kieran Maguire has urged Liverpool to be cautious when offering an extension to Mo Salah’s contract.

The Egyptian international is said to be demanding wages of between £300-380k-a-week, as reported by the Independent.

“If they have any sense, they’ll look at the total cost of the player over the next three or four years. That cost is transfer fee plus wages,” the finance expert told Football Insider.

“Liverpool need to extend the contract for a sensible period of time and not lock themselves into those wages for too long.

“If they pay him £300,000-a-week, that’s £36.2m for two years. If they get another two years out of him for that price, that’s got to be brilliant value.”

The former Roma frontman’s current terms are set to expire in the summer of 2023.

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There’s some amount of concern that, if left unattended, we could see a repeat of the Gini Wijnaldum fiasco, in which we lose a player who didn’t really wish to depart in the first place.

It’s even more troubling, of course, given that we’re talking about a player of Salah’s calibre; as good as our former No.5 was, he wasn’t quite earning comparisons to the likes of Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Maguire’s advice certainly makes a great deal of sense in terms of avoiding paying an astronomical sum for a player who simply isn’t contributing to the same standard as was the case in their peak years.

However, the early signs coming from the Egyptian – not to mention his impeccable attention to conditioning – would suggest that a two-year extension would be far from unreasonable.

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Kieran Maguire has suggested that Liverpool’s transfer funds could take a hit as a result of increased costs associated with the expansion of the Anfield Road End stand.

The Reds were expected to engage in a busier summer window, though only added centre-half Ibrahima Konate to the squad despite Gini Wijnaldum’s departure.

“I think the club will also be expected to self-fund this expansion. That’s no mean feat as it’s a massive project,” the finance expert told Football Insider.

“It’s therefore a case of having to rob Peter to pay Paul in terms of the club’s ability to compete in the transfer market.

“Because the Anfield Road end is behind one of the goals, those are not premium seats. The premium seats are around the halfway line.”

The COVID-19 pandemic had a damaging impact on the finances of clubs across Europe, particularly those outside of the English top-flight without access to the Premier League’s TV deal.

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With the likes of Mo Salah and co. heading into their 30s – not to mention a number of midfield stars ageing – there will be increasing pressure on the recruitment team to bolster the squad in the next major window.

Considering that the contracts of our entire forward line are set to expire in 2023, we can’t see the club extending the terms of all three.

It could mean that one of Sadio Mane or Bobby Firmino are offloaded in the near future to boost a limited transfer kitty next year, though it will depend a great deal on how the pair perform over the course of the campaign.

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Kieran Maguire has suggested that losing Michael Edwards potentially wouldn’t be disastrous for Liverpool given the likelihood of the Sporting Director being surrounded by “talented people”.

The 41-year-old’s assistant Julian Ward is respected at Anfield, though would have a tough few years ahead of him with Jurgen Klopp currently set to hand over the reins at L4 when his contract expires in 2024.

“Somebody of his skill base is a rare gem to find. Liverpool have benefited significantly from his stewardship at the club,” the finance expert told Football Insider.

“They are huge shoes to fill, but they’ve got phenomenal people there. If you are a good operator, you tend to surround yourself with good people.”

“You’d imagine they’d recruit from within because they have some very talented people at the club.”

Having said that, it would appear that not all hope is lost with regard to the Englishman extending on his current terms, following Neil Jones’ latest update.

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In a summer defined by our contract renewals, there’s an argument for Michael Edwards being potentially the most important extension to make of the lot.

There’s no questioning the quality of Virgil van Dijk and co., however, in a league where we are rivalled by financial powerhouses in Chelsea and Manchester City, the Sporting Director’s shrewd negotiation skills and eye are second to none.

Given how well we’ve recruited in the backroom over the years, we’d imagine the club would remain in good hands with Ward or another potential successor, though we’d certainly support extending our transfer guru’s stay with Liverpool.

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Kieran Maguire has suggested that Liverpool’s strategy of raising funds is following a similar trajectory to that of Premier League rivals Chelsea.

The Blues have earned a reputation of late for gathering numerous young talent with the goal of selling them for profit down the line.

“I think we will see clubs utilise players as commodities to a greater extent,” the finance guru told Football Insider.

“The classic example is Chelsea. If you take a look at their player sales over the past five years, they’ve sold players for £688m

“We can name some of them, Costa, Hazard, Morara. But many are players who’ve barely played for them.

“What we are seeing now is that, if a player has a bit of experience at an elite club such as Liverpool, it has a huge impact in terms of his market value.

“You can start to make significant sales in that £8-15m bracket, and these actually fly under the radar as far as excitement goes.

“It’s the factory shop model. You just scoop up loads and loads of talent, process them and make money out of them.”

The Reds have already raised over £30m from the sales of Kamil Grabara, Liam Millar, Marko Grujic, Taiwo Awoniyi and Harry Wilson – all players that barely featured for the club’s first-team squad.

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As far as transfer strategies are concerned, purchasing highly-rated youngsters deemed to have high ceilings and parting ways with them for profit is sound in practice, as Chelsea have demonstrated.

It does, of course, raise further questions about how this “factory shop model”, as Maguire puts it, affects player welfare and development but from a purely financial perspective, it apparently works.

We’re not quite sure that Liverpool are hoping to emulate this model exactly, though we’ve no doubt benefitted from selling on young talent who failed to make the grade with the first-team previously.

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Kieran Maguire has suggested that clubs with American owners like Liverpool could be at greater risk of being sold.

The big six Premier League outfits faced a severe backlash in response to the attempted formation of a European Super League.

“In terms of which of the ‘big six’ is most likely to be sold, it won’t be Man City or Chelsea,” the finance guru told Football Insider.

“Their owners weren’t in it for financial gain to begin with. Therefore, you’ve got to look at the US-owned clubs like Liverpool.

“From their perspective, the owners have got to assess where the upside is in terms of the value of their club.

“If they now feel that that upside is not going to materialise, and given that their main focus is on the bottom line, then it’s got to make a sale more likely than it was this time last week.

“But at the same time, ‘more likely’ does not mean ‘likely.’“

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Several fans have flocked to the Twittersphere to call for John W. Henry and co. to stand aside, though one might question the logic of requesting a change of ownership.

Considering the alternatives, if our fellow rivals are anything to go by, we’re unlikely to find more conscientious owners anywhere else.

Given FSG’s continued reluctance to part ways with Liverpool, however, despite a reported bid close to £2billion being issued from an unnamed party in the Middle East, it seems somewhat unlikely, at the current point in time, that our owners will cave.

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Liverpool could have earned as much as £750m from three games in the European Super League by selling their broadcast rights, as reported by Football Insider.

Following a united effort from the fans and players, FSG joined the rest of the big six owners in pulling the club out, with the sides involved set to face sanctions from the Premier League and UEFA.

“What was driving Liverpool in this deal was the opportunity to sell their own broadcast rights,” Kieran Maguire said.

“The terms allowed them to do that for three home matches, effectively on a pay-per-view basis.

“If you sell the broadcast to 50m people around the world and charge them £5 each, you’ve got £250m per football match.

“You’ve got the rights to do that three times so it could go up to £750m.

“On top of that, you’ve got all the Premier League TV money and the money from all the other franchise league matches.”

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Considering the financial benefit to Liverpool, it’s understandable (from a purely financial perspective) why the owners were so desperate to involve us in the proposed breakaway league.

With generational talents of the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe set to cost in excess of £100m, joining the Super League would have theoretically removed any obstacles to the club getting its ideal transfer targets in the upcoming transfer window.

That being said, no figure on earth would be worth selling our souls for, not to mention ultimately killing off domestic football as a byproduct.

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