Liverpool will take their first steps into embracing new technologies to bring their worldwide legions of fans closer to the action with a special event taking in place in New York later this month.
In a bid to engage their global fan base and offer them new, immersive experiences that can help aid revenue streams for the club in the future, the Reds will attempt to bring a slice of Anfield to the Big Apple by harnessing the power of digital mapping, emulating what it is like to be a part of the Anfield atmosphere thousands of miles away.
Over the weekend of March 19-20, through the use of dynamic 360-degree light mapping, innovative multi-room digital staging, immersive video technology and programmable lighting, the Reds will attempt to recreate the journey as it would be on matchday as part of 'The Anfield Experience'.
Fans will also get the chance to see what's happening around Liverpool city centre, travel to Anfield and take in some of the sights and sounds around the ground; or walk around the exterior of the stadium and visit statues of the club's greats. There will also be the chance to discover what it feels like to walk down the players' tunnel and touch the legendary 'This is Anfield' sign.
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Fans will finish off their journey with an 'awe-inspiring view from the famous Kop', where they will join in the singing and chanting alongside 54,000 fans on the screen.
Liverpool are likely to use their global standing to eventually make the move into the metaverse in a bid to raise revenues by tapping into their enormous popularity. Using Anfield's positioning as one of football's most iconic grounds, the Reds are likely to travel down a path that Manchester City have already started along.
City are working with virtual reality experts at Sony to create a virtual Etihad in the metaverse that would allow fans to watch games through virtual reality.
It is the latest move from City to add to their commercial portfolio and create new avenues to bring money into the club in a bid to try and create greater distance between themselves and the rest when it comes to financial power, leveraging their position as English football's team to beat.
Making use of new technologies to create such a revenue stream could be enormously lucrative for Liverpool, with the industry set to be worth billions in the coming years as more and more clubs adopt new technology.
Liverpool have hundreds of millions of fans around the globe. The challenge for a long time has been how to turn that into revenue streams away from just selling club merchandise.
For many of the Reds' global fan base, getting to physically experience Anfield might not be achievable, and in getting into a space that can generate revenues in the future by delivering an immersive experience virtually could well be the answer to the question that they have been asking for some time.
The event in New York later this month, which is free and runs at Lightbox, 248 West 37th Street, could be the pre-cursor to the Reds finding new ways to generate revenues through the creation of new experiences in the coming seasons. It is something that they will likely seek to lead from the front on, and having the likes of LeBron James and Maverick Carter's SpringHill Entertainment firm, who seek to lead the market in the art of digital storytelling, could play a part in that.
