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Liverpool’s move to their new training ground in Kirkby was one for all ages.
After 70 years in a place that has since become iconic, the Reds got better and officially left their Melwood base last week.
The move to the £ 50m complex represents what Liverpool Managing Director Andy Hughes called “a significant long-term investment in the future of the club” as the English champions continue to do their best. both in and out of tune.
And while the move itself was indicative of a club not prepared to be held back by the charm of tradition, the renaming of the venue itself provided a more subtle hint of the same sentiment.
For some time, as construction progressed, there was speculation about what the training base would be christened.
That was until last month when it was announced that Liverpool’s long-awaited future home would be known as the AXA Training Center.
The insurance firm replaced Bet Victor in 2019, signing a three-year contract to become the Reds’ coaching partners.
Liverpool initially struck a four-year agreement with AXA in 2018, making them the club’s first global insurance partner.
The bond was so successful that the French company took the opportunity to strengthen its bond with the club.
And on October 27, it was revealed that AXA would have its name on the new, state-of-the-art Kirkby campus.
“AXA could not be more proud,” the managing director of the company’s British and Irish division, Claudio Genial, said on Tuesday.
“It is fantastic to be the official training partner and to see all the achievements of the club in recent years, which have been fantastic.
“More importantly, we share the same values and visions about how we run and how we see ourselves.
“It’s a great partnership because we line up a lot. It’s a fantastic moment and I couldn’t be more proud.
“I can’t wait to see all the good things that come out of this.”
Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan said the name makes “perfect sense” as the club explores new avenues to increase revenue.
Hogan said last month: “Expanding the AXA partnership to include the naming rights for the club’s new Training Center makes perfect sense.
“We have already seen their emphasis on boosting health, wellness, confidence and self-confidence and thus deepening their relationship in the field of training makes this partnership a perfect fit.”
The financial details of those naming rights have not been disclosed, but Liverpool’s decision to basically put some advertising on its training ground represents a shift in focus for many.
Moving away from the heritage and prestige that Melwood was involved in, the call to create a new training base just a few miles away with naming rights sold to the highest bidder is a very modern trend.
Traditionalists may resist the idea, but naming rights have been part of a larger discussion within the halls of Anfield for some time.
In 2016, as then the Reds’ commercial director, Hogan flew to China to discuss the imminent opening of the Main Stand.
“We wouldn’t consider selling the naming rights to the stadium as a whole, but in terms of the name of the main grandstand, that’s something we’ll look at,” Hogan told ECHO at the time.
“We will be looking to bring in several new partners. A name partnership for the booth would make sense.”
The figures ranged from £ 7 million to £ 9 million a year for the next decade, which could bring in as much as £ 90 million, but those plans never materialized.
Instead, the club was convinced that they could make up the shortfall by sponsoring individual halls for the grand opening in September of that year.
Plans to expand Anfield Road have been delayed 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, meaning that construction will begin, at the earliest, in December 2021.
Liverpool was not against naming rights for the position increase and continued to explore its options earlier this year.
Given the developments at the AXA Training Center since then, it is unlikely that the idea has been shelved indefinitely.
Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, of course, have never been keen to sell the naming rights to Anfield.
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Giving one of the sport’s most famous stadiums a new nickname similar to that of the Emirates or Etihad would not go well with the club’s local or international fan base.
However, with the next stage of the Anfield remodel, perhaps the next on FSG’s agenda, naming rights at the new booth is an avenue that Americans could consider in their continued quest for growth.
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