Paris Saint-Germain show Liverpool and Adidas the way to unlock huge fortune

Paris Saint-Germain show Liverpool and Adidas the way to unlock huge fortune

Champions League winners PSG have been enjoying a major boost in sales and interest post success

PSG chairman, Nasser Al-Khelaifi (Image: 2023 Christian Liewig - Corbis via Getty Images )

Having spent a season in the Europa League in 2023/24, Liverpool returned to Champions League action last season. Even with a last-16 exit, the Reds still banked some £90m from the competition when factoring in all prize money and additional matchday revenue.

For that reason, Liverpool will likely see a return to profitability for the 2024/25 financial year, a period which came to an end for the club on May 31, with the Reds expected to push past the £700m mark in total revenue, seeing key revenue pillars such as matchday income, commercial and broadcast rights all see healthy rises.

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The Champions League has long been a vital part of the business for a ‘big six’ Premier League club, with the revenues on offer being transformational when it comes to what can be done in the transfer market and on increasing payroll.

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Winning the competition, when all revenue streams are considered, can bring in north of £120m. But there is also an unseen boost that such success brings, as is currently being enjoyed by last season’s winners, and Liverpool’s conquerors in the last 16, Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG finally got their hands on European club football’s highest honour with a 5-0 rout of Internazionale in the final last month. This week they kicked off their campaign in the FIFA Club World Cup, another competition that now yields huge revenues, with participation bringing some £50m to some clubs, and winning it outright worth up to £100m. It’s a worthwhile endeavour for clubs financially, even if the additional player workload may be questionable.

But the Champions League win, and subsequent appearance at the Club World Cup, has already been shown to be impactful for PSG, a club that has been focused on building a brand as well as a football team. Take a stroll down New York’s Fifth Avenue and the presence of a standalone PSG store on the world’s most famous shopping street should tell you all you need to know about the Parisien’s plans.

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Last week saw PSG launch their new kit with partner Nike, the US sporting giant who will part company with Liverpool after pre-season, with the Reds making the switch to Adidas.

According to sports apparel platform Fanatics, PSG have improved on their previous best selling shirt sales of 2021/22, when the trio of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar Jnr and Lionel Messi all played for the club, by 37%.

The surge was driven by more than 80 different ‘Champions League Winners’ products that customers could purchase within just 45 seconds of the final whistle on May 31.

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The success has also seen PSG enjoy a surge in demand for merchandise across the United States, where the Club World Cup is currently taking place, following their opening game at the competition.

Fanatics confirmed to FCBusiness that on the day of their opening game against Atletico Madrid at the weekend, US revenue on the online PSG store spiked 744% compared to the previous seven days sales.

“The demand we’ve seen for PSG products since their Champions League victory has been unprecedented,” said, Stephen Dowling, President, International at Fanatics.

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“The club has effectively transformed its sporting success into a global commercial and cultural phenomenon, driven in part by the rapid launch of exclusive merchandise and the strength of its brand worldwide.”

For Liverpool, the PSG success in terms of leveraging success immediately should be instructive, especially given that the club are targeting Champions League glory next season through heavy first-team investment, and that they have a new kit partner in Adidas, a partnership that the club are excited about developing. The Reds also now have the most standalone stores of any sports team in the world.

Liverpool’s merchandising aim is to be a version of PSG, where there is a strong brand identity that has crossover and can transcend from just ardent Reds fans to just football fans, or fans of fashion and the three stripes brand.

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Making the most of opportunities, such as a Premier League title win, is a key part of the marketing strategy for clubs, and with the value, size and scope of the Adidas deal, not to mention the major distribution channels the German brand has, following the PSG path to making a mark with merchandise on the back of major success will be important. It’s already part of the Reds' plan.

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