Liverpool commercial director Olly Dale has said the club is in no rush to sell naming rights to the newly-developed Main Stand at the English Premier League football club’s Anfield stadium.
The expansion of the stand increased Anfield’s capacity from about 45,000 to 54,000. The work was completed during the 2016-17 season.
The Liverpool Echo newspaper reports that Liverpool had been seeking a sponsor for the stand, but the search has been put on hold for the time being after a partner was not found.
Speaking to the Echo, Dale said: “That’s not something that is top of our to do list at the moment in terms of the commercial programme.
“We find ourselves in a great position with Anfield with the new Main Stand which has been a terrific success. That (naming rights) is not an immediate priority for us.”
Dale also ruled out the possibility of a stadium-wide sponsorship deal, with the iconic Anfield name considered sacrosanct.
“Just to be clear, it’s not something we would welcome relating to Anfield specifically,” he added. “We are not an organisation which is in the market place for a stadium naming rights deal. That’s not of interest to us.”
Dale did suggest that Liverpool would be seeking a sponsor for the club’s new training complex, which is expected to be ready by 2019.
He said: “Yeah, that’s something potentially to follow at some stage in the future. We have always tried to be on the front foot and pioneering in the area of commercial partnerships.
“Our partners provided a critical stream of income that enables us to be competitive and give Jurgen (Klopp) and the football team the resources they need to be successful too. It’s about having high quality partners that enables the club to keep moving forward.”
Earlier this year, Liverpool’s cross-city rival Everton secured a lucrative naming-rights partnership for its training ground, Finch Farm. USM Holdings, the holding company for the business interests of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, took the rights through a five-year deal that will run until January 2022.
Image: Ruaraidh Gillies
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