Liverpool FC Forum

by **Ciggy** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:55 am

Liverpool to Tour Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Official Says

By Tariq Panja

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Liverpool, the record 18-time English league soccer champion, will play in Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong at the end of the season, a club executive said. The club also renewed a sponsorship deal with Bank of America Corp.

The Reds, who have millions of supporters in Asia, haven’t been as active as Manchester United and Chelsea in touring abroad. United will return to the region for a fifth time in 10 years in July, while Chelsea will take part in the Barclays Asia Trophy that same month.

“If you are going to build a business overseas a key part is to allow people to touch and feel the product on a regular basis,” commercial director Ian Ayre said in an interview yesterday. “What’s clear is that there’s an opportunity for Liverpool to do much better than they had in the past.”

The team intends to continue climbing up soccer’s rich list, said Ayre, 45, who is a candidate to replace outgoing chief executive officer Rick Parry. Ayre joined the club two years ago.

According to a Deloitte report released last month, Liverpool is the seventh-richest club in the world with revenues of 210.9 million euros ($265 million). The third-place Premier League team gained one place from the year before and Ayre says sponsorship gains made in the past 12 months mean he “would be shocked if we didn’t climb further.”

The Bank of America sponsorship will last four years and is worth 5 million pounds ($7 million). The American bank can use the five-time European champion’s logo in its branding and gets access to corporate seats at Anfield stadium, Ayre said. Other transactions are under discussion.

“We are in very, very late stage discussions with two or three very big sponsors,” he said, without giving details. He said they were in the consumer electronics, gaming and automotive sectors.

‘Heaven Sent’

Ayre wouldn’t comment on speculation about him replacing Parry, who’ll step down at the end of the season. The director, who ran Asian operations of satellite dish maker Pace Micro Technology Plc, is close to Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks, who described his appointment two year’s ago as “heaven sent.”

“At this stage I am just committed to driving forward the commercial operations of this football club,” said Ayre.

Liverpool owners Hicks and George Gillett have squabbled since they bought the club in 2007. The pair has four months to refinance a 300 million-pound loan with Royal Bank of Scotland Plc and Wachovia Corp. amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

They remain in talks with Kuwait’s Al-Kharafi family, an American group and another one in the Middle East to raise private funding that according to British media may lead to Gillett’s departure.

Manager Rafael Benítez is also stalling on signing a new contract after turning down previous offers, saying they failed to meet his demand for greater control over transfers.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps....zCK25yc

New sponsers maybe? Bout time we got rid of carlsberg they noway pay us enough.

by **inglis5** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:14 am

Interesting article, I think we all appreciate that we have been left behind in terms of corporate sponsorship and commercial revenue generation.

On a side note, I met Ian Ayres shortly after he joined the club. I obviously can't give a full reference based on a 5 minute conversation but I have to say I he's an impressive guy. Very passionate about the club and apparently very determined to ensure we have the sponsorship and commercial revenue that a club our size should have. Also told me a story about on his first day how he was given King Kenny's old car parking space and that he welled up

by **red_guy** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:00 am

Aaaa....cr@p! Still no Malaysia.

by **Boocity** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:18 pm

red_guy wrote:Aaaa....cr@p! Still no Malaysia.

Can't you go across to Singapore

by **GRAHAM01** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:25 pm

Ciggy wrote:New sponsers maybe? Bout time we got rid of carlsberg they noway pay us enough.

don't start on carlsberg again ciggy :veryangry

by **red37** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:30 pm

As long as we finish 3rd or higher this term we will be automatically in the Group stage of next seasons Champions League. Fourth place though means the usual qualifyer.....this trip would then put a small spanner in the works.

by **112-1077774096** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:37 pm

red37 wrote:As long as we finish 3rd or higher this term we will be automatically in the Group stage of next seasons Champions League. Fourth place though means the usual qualifyer.....this trip would then put a small spanner in the works.

it says the end of the season, not pre season

by **GYBS** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:40 pm

Would rather they just played games in Uk or Europe to help with the pre season but understand from a financial point of view why they are going there

Edit - just seen its end of season - would rather the guys have a break until pre season .

by **112-1077774096** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:41 pm

its not pre season, read it again

by **red_guy** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:08 am

Boocity wrote:
red_guy wrote:Aaaa....cr@p! Still no Malaysia.

Can't you go across to Singapore

We have a bigger fan base than Singapore. Should come here instead bcos i cant recall when was the last time Liverpool came here..at least come here once. If the mancs managed to come here every 3-4 years , why cant Liverpool? It's not the issue whether we can go to Singapore or not.

by **maypaxvobiscum** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:40 am

woohoo!

by **SupitsJonF** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:42 am

Come to America, I'm tired of watching the Red Bulls vs barcelona

by **GYBS** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:28 am

Hopefully none of the big stars will go and players like torres and gerrard and xabi and pepe etc can just stay and home for a well earned rest .

by **red_guy** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:30 am

By the way, the mancs are coming to Malaysia in June... wonderful.. :angry:

by **Flight** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:01 am

The article has been updated since the OP btw. It no longer says when we will be going there.

It now says :

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Liverpool, the record 18-time English league soccer champion, renewed a sponsorship deal with Bank of America Corp., a club executive said. The team will also play in Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong to expand its Asian fan base.

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