LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – MAY 25: Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool, lifts the Premier League trophy, as Liverpool are crowned the Champions of the Premier League for the 2024/25 Season, following the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Crystal Palace FC at Anfield on May 25, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
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Liverpool Football Club, valued at about $5.4 billion in Forbes’ 2025 ranking of the world’s most valuable soccer teams, is the latest sports property to partner with PayPal.
In June 2025, the company struck multi-year deals with the Big Ten and Big 12 that route new revenue-sharing payments to student-athletes through PayPal and Venmo. Now, with Liverpool, the focus is different: embedding its new rewards product, PayPal+, directly into the fan experience.
As news of the Liverpool announcement made the rounds earlier today, one Reddit user “Afrikiwi” posed a quip: “What’s the true limit for various ‘Official X Partners’ do we reckon?” Official partners are everywhere, and so are rewards programs. So why this PayPal product, why Liverpool, and why now?
According to PayPal CMO Geoff Seeley, who I spoke with by phone for this story, the PayPal+ partnership is about much more: “A win, win, win, for us, for Liverpool, and especially for the fans, through rewards access that only we can provide.”
PayPal logo can be seen at its office in San Jose, California, United States on November 23, 2019. PayPal has agreed to acquire Honey Science Corporation, a rapidly-growing technology platform for shopping and rewards, for approximately $4 billion. (Photo by Yichuan Cao/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
“Day to day we deal with merchants and checkout flows,” Seeley said during our phone interview. He framed the Liverpool FC partnership as a chance to “embed infrastructure and facilitate experiences,” not just add another logo to the ad boards.
All of that explains why PayPal wants to be closer to the transaction. But it still leaves a harder question: what, exactly, does PayPal+ bring to the table?
The digital rewards space already spans thousands of products worldwide—from general-purpose cash-back apps and retailer, restaurant, and travel schemes to card-network and bank-run loyalty programs. PayPal is betting that wiring its own tiers and points directly into one of the world’s biggest fan bases can cut through that noise.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – MAY 25: (THE SUN OUT. THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool, lifts the Premier League trophy, as Liverpool are crowned the Champions of the Premier League for the 2024/25 Season, following the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Crystal Palace FC at Anfield on May 25, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool FC via Getty Images
“Payments are central to how a club runs and generates revenue,” said Seeley. “If we can embed our infrastructure there, we’re not just buying visibility — we’re helping power the experience.” The goal with Liverpool, he insists, is “not to just sit our badge on it, but to contribute.”
PayPal joins a wave of blue-chip brands deepening sports investments: in August 2025 McLaren named Mastercard its official naming partner from 2026—a title deal reported at roughly $100 million per season; and LA28, in a first for the Olympics, approved venue naming rights, debuting the Comcast Squash Center at Universal Studios and recognizing Honda Center as a named venue.
Meanwhile, according to July 2025 reportig by Alex Silverman of the Sports Business Journal, MLS and its commercial arm, SUM, reported double-digit sponsorship revenue growth in 2025, underscoring the broader momentum.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianroberts/2025/11/19/liverpools-new-paypal-deal-aims-to-own-the-fan-checkout/
