Liverpool Football Club confirms debut Indonesia visit in July | Sector data
(Insider Stories) – Liverpool F.C. has confirmed it will visit Indonesia to play a first-team match on July 20 against an Indonesian XI, making the storied Barclays Premier League side the latest to tap Indonesia’s football mania and rising middle-class purchasing power as Premier League sides seek to broaden their appeal in Asia.
The visit will be Liverpool’s first to Indonesia, and “we know we have millions of Indonesian fans that follow us every season so it’s very exciting that we’ll be able to play a match on their home soil and show the supporters just how much they are valued by myself and the players,” Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says on Liverpoolfc.com.
The visit will be supported by Liverpool main sponsor Standard Chartered PLC on the bank’s 150th anniversary. Liverpool says it will sell match tickets via Myticket.co.id but hasn’t announced a local partner.
London-based Arsenal F.C. are set to play a first-team match on July 14 in Jakarta and have signed a deal with PT Telkomsel, Indonesia’s biggest cellular operator and a unit of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia or Telkom (TLKM), while Manchester City F.C. has signed a deal with PT Kalbe Farma (KLBF) unit Bintang Toedjoe for several players to star in a TV ad for Extra Joss energy drink, with the company also gaining permission to use Manchester City image and promotion rights.
Indonesia’s 240 million people are obsessed with football and the Barclays Premier League is the most watched domestic league here and in Asia, having overtaken the Italian Serie A teams that were more popular during the 1990s after the introduction of the Premier League in 1992 swelled the coffers of English teams.
Liverpool has more Indonesian fans on social media like its @OfficialLFC_ID Twitter account than from any other country as rising incomes and a growing tech market in Indonesia drive a fascination with social media. Arsenal has more Facebook fans from Indonesia than anywhere else.
Liverpool is one of the most popular English teams globally, and previously held the record for most English league victories with 18 titles, but was overtaken by rival Manchester United F.C. Liverpool has the most wins of any English club in European football, with 11 titles on the continent.
