How Taylor Swift will make Liverpool millions as FSG plan comes together

Taylor Swift will arrive on Merseyside next week to play in front of thousands of fans at Anfield – and in doing so realise FSG’s grand ambitions for the home of Liverpool.

The American pop sensation will be followed by Pink, who will play her second gig at Anfield later in June after the stadium expansion to a capacity of 61,000 was completed earlier this year.

Having been unable to welcome some of the biggest names in music to Anfield this past summer, Liverpool are making up for it this summer in what is clear signal at what will await Anfield each year after FSG made the Reds’ home a music venue.

In the summer of 2022, Anfield played host to live acts such as Elton John, The Rolling Stones and The Eagles, with the stadium packed out on each night and delivering millions of pounds worth of revenue to the football club.

And now Swift, arguably the biggest music artist in the world at present, will play three dates at Anfield next week, bringing her Eras Tour to the city on June 13, 14 and 15, with the three dates selling out in record time.

Meanwhile, Pink last played in the city in June 2019 and will return again for two shows on June 24 and June 25. The additional dates to her Summer Carnival World Tour have been added due to “unprecedented demand” from her fans across the UK and Europe.

Liverpool are allowed to stage up to six non-football events at Anfield per season per an agreement with Liverpool City Council. Hosting concerts during the closed season are valuable to Liverpool, worth millions to the club when all is said and done. They aren’t easy to put a price on, however, as the nature of concerts means the actual value of what the club can receive can even change on the night, as ticket and commercial sales are all considered and the numbers run by promoters and Liverpool staff during the event itself. At the end a figure is reached and then divided up as agreed.

But the bigger the acts, the bigger the pull. More fans and more merchandising and hospitality offerings mean that playing host to such events can be a lucrative exercise, albeit one that Liverpool have to take great care in agreeing to given the impact that they have on the local community in and around Anfield Stadium.

“Bringing world class acts to the city of Liverpool we feel is important,” said Ben Latty, commercial director of Liverpool, who was speaking exclusively to the ECHO. “Having them play at an iconic stadium such as Anfield is perfect for us as a football club but also for the city. We have Taylor Swift coming for three nights, there will hopefully be some more acts being announced over the next few weeks and months.

“For us it means that Anfield is a venue that is used for more than just the football season. However, of course, we respect the residents and local community and are thankful for their consultation and feedback throughout that process to allow us to bring concerts to Anfield.

“Hopefully with the big acts that we have got it proves beneficial for not only the fans of the artists but also the local community as well.”

The redevelopment of the Anfield Road stand lifted the capacity of the stadium up to 61,000, a figure 15,000 higher than the capacity when Fenway Sports Group acquired the club back in 2010. The 2016 Main Stand redevelopment significantly enhanced not only the capacity of the stadium but also the hospitality offering, helping to raise the venue up to world class standards, something that has been impactful in attracting globally renowned artists to the city as well as maximising the revenue generating potential that comes with staging such events.

“It will obviously increase matchday revenue and that is always an area that we have looked to try and improve,” said Latty. “This takes us up to the magical number of just over 60,000 that may or may not increase in the future. But from an ownership perspective, and I don’t want to speak on behalf of our owners, you can see the work that has been done at Fenway Park (in Boston) as well. One of the first things that they said when they came into this football club was that ‘we are staying at Anfield and we will develop Anfield’.”

A version of this piece was first published in November 2023