LIVERPOOL FC wants to raise £100m in a deal that will see a corporate sponsor awarded naming rights to its new stadium, it emerged last night.
Chief executive Rick Parry confirmed the club’s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, were keen to secure a sponsorship package similar to the one Arsenal signed for its new Emirates stadium.
It comes after Liverpool yesterday submitted a planning application for a spectacular 60,000-seater stadium which it wants to build on Stanley Park over the next three years.
It is expected to cost around £300m and is planned to be open for the start of the 2010-11 season. The design also allows the club to increase the capacity to a potential 76,000.
In an exclusive interview from America with the Daily Post, billionaire Mr Hicks said he expected the finance to be fully in place by the end of the planning process this autumn.
He said the funding would involve a combination of equity and project finance, which was typical of this type of development.
He stressed the construction was not dependent on the naming rights being sold and that the “mortgage-style” debt on the stadium would be serviced by increased revenues over a period of 25-30 years.
“The new stadium is the single most important thing in helping Liverpool remain competitive with the Manchester Uniteds, Real Madrids and Barcelonas of the footballing world,” said Mr Hicks.
A major part of the new ground will be the 18,000-capacity Kop end, almost half as big again as the current Kop.
The dramatic glass and steel design allows views of the Kop from the outside to give a feel of the atmosphere inside on approach to the ground.
“We challenged the architects to do something that would be unique to Liverpool, something that would be world class, that would encompass the Kop and something that would be recognisable to the world as Liverpool’s,” said Mr Hicks.
A construction agent for the new stadium has not yet been announced. No-one from Laing O'Rourke, which was due to build the previous ground, and is being tipped by trade press as a front runner to take on the scheme, was available for comment yesterday.
Speaking in Hong Kong on the club’s tour of Asia, Liverpool’s chief executive Rick Parry said the new stadium would allow the club to compete with European heavyweights in financial terms.
Manchester United earn around £2m more per home game than Liverpool due to their larger stadium and greater corporate facilities. Liverpool hope to close that gap once they move to the new stadium.
Mr Parry said no decision had yet been taken on naming rights but said Tom Hicks and George Gillett were keen to explore the options for a deal.
“It’s something we will look to do or start on quickly, I would say within a matter of months,” he said. “It has to be somebody whose name and reputation match our own.
“It is certainly something that has to be complete before the stadium is finished.
“Arsenal got a very significant deal for the Emirates Stadium. And some of the figures coming out of the latest developments in America are very high.
“It’s certainly possible to have a total deal over a period of years that runs into tens of millions, if not more.”
Emirates Airlines are paying £100m to sponsor Arsenal’s new Ashburton Grove stadium over a 15-year period.
While Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium has grown to a 75,000-seater arena, the present Anfield has a capacity of only 45,000 and far fewer corporate boxes.
“When we started this process about five or six years ago, we sat down and one of our concerns is that we were earning £1m less than Manchester United every home game,” said Mr Parry.
“Since then, United have increased their capacity twice, so the gap is significantly greater now.’’
“Hopefully the new stadium will give us more money to spend ultimately because it will generate greater revenues and that’s the whole point with the extra capacity.”
Mr Parry said a final decision had not been taken on the number of corporate boxes, but it would be more than at present.
The revised plan has been produced by leading architects HKS based in Dallas, the home of Tom Hicks.
An eight metre hollow will be dug into the park near Arkles Lane and Priory Road to avoid causing controversy or breach planning rules.
It is envisaged there will be a car park below the stadium, and as exclusively revealed by the Daily Post last year, corporate bunker suites overlooking the pitch.
The new ground will also incorporate dedicated facilities for the Anfield Sport and Community Centre and Liverpool Hope University and external facilities will include tennis courts and new multi-use games area.
The north and east facades will overlook Priory Road and Utting Avenue respectively, looking across gardens.
The south side will have a more formal appearance at the northern edge to the new Anfield Plaza development which will replace the current ground.
The stadium will have a stonework base on the north, west and east sides with mainly glass facades above. The south side will be clad in metal and overlook the Plaza.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said he was “blown away” by the plans and manager Rafael Benitez said: “The plans for the new stadium are absolutely fantastic.
“It looks very different to other stadiums I have seen. There are a lot of windows and it really is ground-breaking in terms of stadium design.”
Steven Gerrard said: “It’s amazing and the best thing about it, I think, is that it’s so different to any other.
“We are Liverpool Football Club, We expect the best and this will be the best.
“ I’ve played in some special stadiums but this is something special and it’s so important that we are not seen to be copying off another club.
“The fact that a massive Kop stand will be incorporated into the new stadium is great.
“I just hope I’m still around when the day comes for us to play our first game in it.”
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