Liverpool’s new sponsorship deal with Axa shows how football is beginning to follow other sports by letting outsiders inside the ropes.
Look a little closer next time Liverpool take to the Anfield pitch before a match and you might notice something a little different.
As part of a five-year sponsorship renewal with insurance multinational Axa, the club’s training partner will receive access to pitchside for the pre-game warm-up.
Axa says it plans to use the innovative rights acquisition to entertain staff and clients initially, before later opening it up to fans.
The perk will allow Axa’s guests to “really feel the atmosphere and watch closely the players”, said Virginie Bercot, the France-based company’s global brand director.
“We’re going to be a little bit selfish to start with. We’re going to test it first with us, with our clients, with our employees, because this is a huge privilege I think when you love football to enjoy this right to to be on the pitch next to the coach, next to the players.
“But at some point we will also start to offer some of our rights to fans so that they can enjoy rights that not only big brands or big companies can afford.”
Pitchside access is part of an expanded inventory which also includes naming rights for Liverpool’s men’s and women’s training grounds and training kit, and is believed to be costing Axa more than £20m a year until 2029.
But other clubs are finding ways to leverage “inside the ropes” experiences as football looks to wider sport – and in particular the US – for new commercial avenues.
Earlier this month AC Milan launched its Club 1899 Front Row Experience, which offers premium seating in between the two dugouts at the San Siro Stadium.
Billed as unique in European football, Milan called it an offering “akin to NBA courtside seating” and “for those seeking a ‘front row’ lifestyle”.
For now, the seven-time European champions are reserving the 14 seats for guests and VIPs – Noel Gallagher took up the offer at a recent game – but may sell them in future.
Liverpool have signed a five-year extension to their partnership with Axa
Fulham, meanwhile, are understood to be considering offering the chance to hear from coaches in person as part of various hospitality options at their new Riverside Stand.
The “best seats” approach is nothing new but some sports such as football have been slower to embrace it, says Neil Hopkins, global head of strategy at M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment.
“Getting fans closer to the action is one of sports marketing’s more well-worn mantras. The closer to the action they are, the better their experience, with the pay-off for rights holders being that they will ultimately pay a considerable premium for the experience,” he added.
“For years, Jack Nicholson and Spike Lee were a near-permanent courtside presence for the Lakers and Knicks respectively and golf has been offering the chance to play alongside a genuine professional since Bing Crosby started the first pro-am in California in the 1930s.”
Rugby has experimented with the Samsung Slider, a set of seats mounted on a rail at Twickenham, and football has tried Hilton hotel beds in the stands at Stamford Bridge – but while the round-ball game has largely kept fans at arm’s length, that looks to be changing.
“AC Milan’s move is clearly less gimmicky and is very much designed to generate revenue by creating a superior experience with extreme adjacency to the action – and, indeed, the dugout,” Hopkins added.
“It is based on the same principle behind the Tunnel Club at Manchester City, namely that super-affluent fans will pay a substantial premium to have the best seats in the house.
“It’s a rule that has supported sport and entertainment pricing for decades but it seems likely that it is going to be tested ever more rigorously by commercial departments in the future.”