Mayor hails impact of FSG and US trade on Liverpool City Region

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has hailed the game-changing role FSG can play in boosting the Liverpool City Region economy after meeting chairman Tom Werner and top executives at Fenway Park.

The Mayor is leading a high-level trade mission to the United States to promote the Liverpool City Region as an innovation powerhouse primed for investment and as a must-visit cultural, sports and events destination, visited by more than 60 million people each year.

FSG have transformed the fortunes of Liverpool Football Club since taking over in 2010 and in June added tens of millions of pounds to the city region’s economy by hosting three sold-out Taylor Swift concerts at the club’s Anfield stadium, attracting more than 160,000 fans.

At Fenway Park, they explored how FSG could promote the Liverpool City Region in the US and use their influence and network to help open doors for companies seeking to do business within the city region’s largest trading partner.

Speaking about the visit, Mayor Rotheram said:

“LFC continue to have a hugely positive impact on the city region’s economy. This mission is about strengthening trade and driving investment in the US and we’ve discussed with Fenway Sports Group 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.

“Our two great cities already share deep-rooted historical and cultural links and we now have two of the world’s great sporting institutions in common, in the Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club. 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 the Liverpool City Region. We are keen to build on those links by boosting tourism, trade and investment, and can promise a warm city region welcome to any Bostonians who care to cross the pond and visit us.”

Mayor Rotheram was greeted at Fenway Park by Tom Werner, Chairman of Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club, and other senior Fenway Sports Group executives, and enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion about opportunities for sports tourism, major events, women’s football and the development of a new, indoor golf competition, Tomorrow’s Golf League.

Liverpool FC fan Mayor Rotheram then took a tour of the stadium to learn more about how it is used to stage major events – ranging from concerts and festivals to movie nights and high school football matches – in addition to the demands of the packed Red Sox fixture list.

The Fenway Sports Group (FSG) meeting was a high point of a high-level trade mission to Boston this week, aiming to strengthen economic, cultural, and innovation ties between the two iconic cities.

Accompanying Mayor Rotheram on the visit were Claire Briegal, Chair of Sport Liverpool and World Netball, and Kerry Villa, Chief Operating Officer of ACC LIverpool, the city’s premier events and conference facility.

Beyond sports, the delegation has focused on Liverpool City Region’s rapidly expanding 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.

The Liverpool City Region Life Sciences Innovation Zone builds on the area’s century-old world-leading strengths in medical research and its status as one of Europe’s largest pharma clusters. The delegation will meet senior figures at the Massachusetts Life Sciences Centre and Boston University, where delegates from the University of Liverpool will discuss leveraging Big Data and AI to tackle societal health challenges.

As the birthplace of The Beatles and a UNESCO City of Music, Liverpool is already one of the UK’s top tourist destinations and was recently named the world’s seventh best city by Time Out. US tourists account for the second-highest international spend in the region, drawn by its cultural heritage, vibrant nightlife, and sports offerings, including two Open Championship golf courses.

The delegation’s visit to Boston’s Tourism Office and the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre will foster knowledge exchange and explore how Liverpool and Boston can collaborate on sustainable tourism and global events.

With existing US investments in the Liverpool City Region totalling £2.1bn ($2.7 billion), the United States is already the area’s largest source of inward investment. However, this mission aims to build on that success, highlighting the benefits of Liverpool’s Freeport status and its Innovation Zone to attract further US investment.

From Boston, the delegation will travel to New York for further business and cultural meetings. As a lifelong Liverpool Football Club and Beatles fan, Mayor Rotheram will take time out from his busy schedule to lay flowers at New York’s Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon.