Keith Wyness: Liverpool to land huge windfall as stunning news confirmed
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted Liverpool will earn more money from broadcasting rights after their viewing figures have been released.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – suggested the Merseysiders’ commercial team will be looking to use the statistic in meetings with potential sponsors.
Liverpool have announced on their website that independent data from Nielsen has revealed the club were the most-watched team across the 2023-24 campaign.
The American data company’s report showed a cumulative global audience of 471 million people watched the club during Jurgen Klopp’s last season at Anfield.
Liverpool global audience isn’t fair reflection
But Wyness believes the figures don’t represent a fair assessment due to how much Liverpool feature on TV compared to other Premier League clubs.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I was trying to dissect that number and understand where it all came from.
“My first thought was they probably will be the most-watched team because they are probably on certain TV channels more than other clubs.
“I know the Liverpool games internationally are at a certain time and are planned in some ways to be the key factor in terms of people watching.
“It may not be a fair assessment to say they are the most watched when you are trying to compare that with other clubs in the Premier League. If everybody had the same exposure at the same times equally, then it might be a fair measure to look at.
“Of course, it depends on the platforms they are counting. If it’s Liverpool TV, which is growing apparently, then they will make money out of that.
“For sponsors, the number of eyeballs that are seeing the sponsorships and the logos are very important.
“It will be something the Liverpool commercial team will be all over and saying to potential sponsors ‘Look, we are the most-watched team, get on board with us’, so they should make money out of it.
“They should make money in terms of the extra viewership in terms of the broadcasting rights. But it is a misleading headline in terms of actually a true comparison with other clubs and how they are watched.
“But if I was the Liverpool CEO, I would be making sure my commercial team had this front and centre, making sure everybody knew we are the hottest property in terms of viewership.”
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