Steve Rotheram meets with Liverpool FC owners FSG in Boston during US trade mission and urges them to promote more transatlantic investment into the city region. Tony McDonough reports
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has urged Liverpool FC owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) to use their influence to help Liverpool city region attract more investment from across the Atlantic.
Mr Rotheram is leading a city region trade mission to the US, taking multiple meetings in Boston and New York. While in Boston he sat down with Liverpool FC and Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner and other senior FSG executives.
FSG is the owner of both Liverpool FC and the Red Sox, one of the most iconic names in US baseball. FSG acquired LFC in 2010 for £300m, rescuing the club as teetered on the edge of administration.
Since then the company, led by billionaire John W Henry has transformed the club’s fortunes. At Anfield it has rebuilt both the main stand and the Anfield Road stand, taking capacity above 60,000. It has also invested in a new training complex at Kirkby.
In what is now seen as a masterstroke, FSG appointed Jürgen Klopp as first team manager in 2015. When the German left the club this summer he had already established himself as one of the greatest managers in the club’s illustrious history.
He led the Reds to three Champions League finals, winning one against Spurs, and bright the league title back to Anfield for the first time in 30 years.
Anfield is now regularly utilised for events beyond just football. In June 160,000 people attended three sell-out Taylor Swift concerts, generating tens of millions of pounds for the city region economy. Legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen will perform there in 2025.
Liverpool city region’s visitor economy is already worth more than £6bn a year and Mr Rotheram says he discussed with FSG how the company could do even more to promote Merseyside as both a visitor and inward investment destination.
“LFC continues to have a hugely positive impact on the city region’s economy,” said the Metro Mayor. “This mission is about strengthening trade and driving investment in the US.
“We’ve discussed with FSG about how they can help us achieve this in Boston and the wider area. We’ve already seen the huge impact of sports tourism and how hosting major events can generate tens of millions of dollars for our local economy.
“It was fascinating to visit Fenway Park to hear about how things are done here and see if there are areas we can learn from.
“I’m grateful for the chance to meet influential stakeholders like FSG who have been instrumental in opening doors for us to showcase the tremendous opportunities of collaboration with businesses in Liverpool city region.
With existing US investments in the Liverpool city region totalling £2.1bn, the US is already the area’s largest source of inward investment. This mission aims to build on that success, highlighting the benefits of Liverpool’s Freeport status and its Innovation Zone.
Other notable figures on the US trade mission include Mersey Maritime chief executive Ruth Wood, director of Culture Liverpool Claire McColgan and Kerry Villa, chief operating officer of ACC Liverpool.
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This delegation has focused on Liverpool city region’s health and life sciences sector, boosted by a recently created Innovation Zone that offers lucrative financial incentives to companies relocating to the area.
Mayor Rotheram has met with leading biotech firms and researchers in Boston, exploring investment opportunities and collaborative ventures in health innovation and biotechnology.
From Boston, the delegation will travel to New York for further business and cultural meetings. Mayor Rotheram has taken time out from his schedule to lay flowers at New York’s Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon.