Liverpool F.C. Might Replace Carlsberg as Shirt Sponsor

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Liverpool F.C. “might be considering new sponsors” to replace Carlsberg, according to Ian Ayre, commercial director at the club. The news came at a meeting between Ayre, a candidate to become CEO of the club, and a supporters’ group.

Carlsberg’s £7 million shirt sponsorship of Liverpool is in its last 12 months, Ayre said, and the club and the brewer are currently in a renegotiation of the contract. The club is not actually talking to anyone else, however:

Carlsberg had an exclusive period of time during which LFC were not entitled to have negotiations relating to sponsorship with any other organisation.

He indicated that they might be considering new sponsors but had to be aware of the exclusivity period that Carlsberg had.

The result of the negotiations will be interesting in light of Manchester United’s replacement of AIG with insurer Aon as its lead sponsor. That deal is thought to be worth more than $100 million. The paltry size of Carlberg’s sponsorship was clearly on the mind of Liverpool fans at the meeting who asked about Man Utd’s sponsorship strategy. Ayre replied:

… the club had added Thomas Cook, Paddy Power, Maxxis Tyres and Konami in the last 18 months as well as renewing with Bank of America as a partner. The Club’s attitude was to try not to have too many sponsors as it diluted the value to sponsors.

Ayre also gave out some tidbits regarding corporate largesse that goes with sponsorship: Around 500 tickets every game go to Premier League sponsors such as Barclays Bank (the stadium’s capacity is about 45,000). If that sounds a little low, it is. When asked for a breakdown of corporate guests, Ayre gave these numbers:

80% of the tickets were made up of Season Ticketholders and other fans.
6.5% represented the corporate entertainment figures
the remainder went to visiting fans, sponsors, staff and players.

If you’re interested in the minutiae of football sponsorship, the rest of the article is worth a read.

Separately: Ayre visited India recently in an attempt to broaden the club’s fanbase in the East.

Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.

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