Liverpool are going to enjoy a commercially successful summer – that much is for sure…
Today the club confirmed a pre-season trip to America before heading back to Europe for an incredibly exciting clash with the world’s best side Barcelona.
We’re taking place in the International Champions Cup, along with a host of European giants.
First up we fly to California to play Premier League rivals Chelsea on July 27 at the Pasadena Rose Bowl – the venue of the World Cup 1994 final between Brazil and Italy. It holds 94,000 and will be quite an occasion.
Three days later we face AC Milan at the Levi’s Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers, although both matches will be difficult for English audiences to enjoy as they kick-off at 4:30am BST and 3:00am BST respectively!
The Barcelona clash will take place on August 6, and unconfirmed rumours suggest it could take place in Dublin.
Billy Hogan, chief commercial officer at Liverpool FC, said: “It will be great to compete in a tournament with some of the best teams in the world. We’re delighted to have been asked to take part and very excited to see as many of our American fans as possible while we’re in the country. Opportunities like this not only help the team prepare for the coming season, but give our fans the chance to watch the team play, no matter how far from Anfield they might be.”
From the point of view of a glitzy occasion, these fixtures will be great, but we’re worried the air miles racked up won’t be the best preparation for players ahead of the new season.
We’re sure Jurgen Klopp would rather have weeks and weeks at Melwood with a full squad at his disposal after the Euros, playing games domestically to fine tune before the 2016/17 campaign.
Nowadays though that kind of pre-season would leave us playing commercial catchup while our rivals tap into far away fanbases and therefore global revenue streams.