Liverpool FC is one of the world’s most valuable and beloved football clubs, with 200 million active fans globally, and $1billion annual turnover.
The Challenge
Like all modern clubs, Liverpool FC faces pressures beyond matchday.
With broadcast revenues flattening, sponsorship increasingly performance-led, and global fans demanding richer experiences every season, even the most legendary clubs need fresh thinking and new revenue streams. But, in the high-stakes world of championship football, past wins can become a blocker to future success.
The Spark
It quickly became clear that, if Liverpool FC wanted outcomes beyond incremental gains, innovation couldn't be squeezed into existing structures.
It needed permission, protection, and a different set of rules. Breakthrough thinking required space away from day-to-day delivery, without compromising the standards that define the club on and off the pitch.
The Breakthrough
We created Horizons, a cross-department team with a clear mandate: pursue big ideas, not marginal improvements.
Using our Parallel Universe process, we pulled participants out of their day jobs and into a protected space for collaborative thinking, establishing a structured methodology for generating, pressure-testing, and prioritising ideas based on potential versus effort.
The Impact
Demand to take part spread across the club, and a single programme evolved into a repeatable engine that ran for three consecutive years - embedding innovation as a habit within the organisation.
This has contributed to significant diversified revenue growth in the subsequent years since Horizons was established. In 2024/25 season, LFC became the highest-earning English club for the first time.
