Football clubs used to have a fairly simple relationship with video games.

A game company would pay for the right to use a club's name, badge, stadium or players, supporters would play the game, and that was largely where the relationship ended.

That is changing.

Liverpool FC and EA SPORTS have renewed their long-running partnership, extending a relationship that will now last beyond a decade. EA SPORTS will continue as Liverpool's official football simulation game partner, but what makes the agreement interesting is everything happening around the game itself.

Liverpool and EA are using gaming to create content, reach supporters online, bring the club into virtual spaces and even create experiences at Anfield.

For a club with supporters spread all over the world, that makes a platform like EA SPORTS FC much more than a video game.

It becomes another place where Liverpool can meet its fans.

Liverpool and EA have been working together since 2019

Liverpool and EA SPORTS first became partners in 2019, and their relationship has gradually developed beyond simply having Liverpool represented inside EA's football games.

One of their most successful ideas has been Liverpool's annual player-ratings content.

If you've played FIFA or EA SPORTS FC, you'll probably know how much discussion surrounds player ratings every year.

Is a player too slow?

Should their shooting rating be higher?

Why has one player been given a better overall rating than another?

Liverpool turned those conversations into content featuring its own players.

According to the club, its ratings series with EA SPORTS has now generated more than 115 million views and 6.6 million engagements across Liverpool's social channels.

Those numbers help explain why this relationship has lasted so long.

This isn't simply EA putting its logo somewhere around Anfield.

The two organisations have found something supporters actually want to interact with.

Why would Liverpool care so much about gaming?

Because not every Liverpool supporter can go to Anfield.

Liverpool has fans across Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and virtually everywhere else football is watched.

Many of those people may never attend a Liverpool match in person.

But they can still play as Liverpool on EA SPORTS FC.

They can use Liverpool players in their teams.

They can play at a virtual Anfield.

They can watch Liverpool players taking part in EA content.

They can wear Liverpool items inside the game.

That gives the club another way of being part of a supporter's life.

And that becomes particularly important when trying to reach younger supporters.

For someone growing up today, their relationship with a football club doesn't have to begin with attending a match or even watching 90 minutes on television.

It might begin with a video game.

EA SPORTS FC is effectively another football platform

This is where the deal becomes particularly relevant to Pitchonomy.

We normally think about football platforms as broadcasters or social networks.

Sky Sports shows football.

YouTube hosts football content.

TikTok distributes football clips.

Instagram connects players and clubs with supporters.

But video games can perform a similar role.

Millions of people spend time inside football games interacting with clubs, players, leagues, shirts and stadiums.

That attention has value.

So Liverpool isn't simply thinking:

How do we get our club into a video game?

The bigger question becomes:

How can we use this enormous digital football platform to build a stronger relationship with supporters?

That is a very different commercial opportunity.

The partnership is becoming more connected to the real world

The renewed agreement coincides with the launch of EA SPORTS FC 27, and Liverpool will feature heavily in the game.

But some of the most interesting parts of the partnership will happen outside it.

Liverpool says supporters will be able to play EA SPORTS FC 27 in the Fan Zone at Anfield before selected men's and women's matches.

So the relationship works in both directions.

Someone can experience Liverpool through EA SPORTS FC at home.

Then someone attending an actual Liverpool match can interact with EA SPORTS FC at Anfield.

The digital football experience and the physical football experience start connecting.

That is increasingly what modern sports partnerships are trying to achieve.

A sponsor doesn't necessarily just want its logo on a board.

It wants something supporters can actually participate in.

Liverpool Women will also become a bigger part of the partnership

Another significant part of the renewed deal is an increased focus on Liverpool FC Women.

Liverpool says supporters should expect more EA SPORTS content featuring the women's team, including activity from the AXA Melwood Training Centre.

This matters commercially too.

Women's football is attracting more supporters, sponsors and investment, while football games provide another enormous distribution channel through which players can become recognisable.

A supporter doesn't necessarily need to discover a player through television.

They might discover her through EA SPORTS FC.

They might use her in the game.

Then they might follow her on social media.

Then they might start following Liverpool Women.

Digital platforms can therefore help football clubs turn individual players into gateways to the wider team.

Players themselves are becoming part of the marketing

Liverpool's Rio Ngumoha has been announced as a global EA SPORTS FC ambassador, alongside new signing Bradley Barcola.

That is another important part of the modern football economy.

EA isn't only partnering with Liverpool as an institution.

Individual players can become media and marketing assets themselves.

A young footballer can have an audience on Instagram, appear in EA SPORTS FC, feature in gaming content and become recognisable to supporters around the world.

That creates multiple layers of value:

EA SPORTS gets Liverpool.

EA SPORTS gets Liverpool's players.

Liverpool gets access to EA's gaming audience.

Players receive additional global exposure.

Supporters get content and experiences built around both.

Everyone is bringing an audience to the relationship.

The game itself is becoming more social

EA SPORTS FC 27 is also introducing a feature called The Grounds, which EA describes as a shared football space capable of bringing as many as 100 players together.

Liverpool supporters will also be able to unlock Liverpool and adidas virtual items inside the game.

That gives us another clue about where sports gaming is heading.

Games aren't necessarily just places where you play a match and leave.

Increasingly, developers want them to become places where people spend time.

They can meet other players.

Compete.

Customise their identity.

Collect items.

Represent the clubs they support.

The more social those environments become, the more interesting they potentially become to football clubs.

Because clubs ultimately want communities.

And gaming already has them.

This is why gaming partnerships are different from ordinary sponsorships

Imagine Liverpool signs a company as a traditional sponsor.

The company might receive advertising around Anfield, hospitality, social-media exposure and use of Liverpool's branding.

That can still be extremely valuable.

But gaming offers something slightly different.

Participation.

A supporter isn't merely seeing Liverpool alongside EA SPORTS FC.

They're actually using Liverpool inside an EA product.

They're controlling the players.

They're wearing the kits.

They're playing at the stadium.

They're discussing ratings.

They're collecting virtual items.

They're interacting with the club.

That is a much deeper relationship than simply seeing an advertisement.

Football clubs are competing for attention as much as trophies

There is a bigger reason partnerships like this matter.

Liverpool isn't only competing with Manchester City, Arsenal, Real Madrid or Barcelona for supporters' attention.

It is competing with virtually everything else someone could be doing.

Netflix.

TikTok.

YouTube.

Fortnite.

Roblox.

EA SPORTS FC.

Social media.

Streaming.

Gaming.

Football clubs therefore have to exist in more places than they did 20 years ago.

The match remains the centre of the business.

But the relationship with supporters increasingly exists between matches.

Gaming gives Liverpool another way to occupy some of that time.

Liverpool isn't just licensing its badge to EA

That is what makes the renewed partnership interesting.

At first glance, the announcement is straightforward:

Liverpool FC renews partnership with EA SPORTS FC.

But underneath it is a much larger change in how football clubs think about digital platforms.

EA SPORTS FC gives Liverpool access to an enormous global football audience.

Liverpool gives EA one of the world's most recognisable football brands, its players and its supporters.

Together they can create content, virtual items, gaming experiences and real-world activations that neither side could create as effectively alone.

And the fact that Liverpool says the relationship will now extend beyond a decade suggests both sides believe that exchange continues to have value.

The modern football club is no longer something supporters interact with only for 90 minutes on a Saturday.

It is becoming a media brand, an entertainment business and a digital identity that can follow supporters across different platforms.

For Liverpool, EA SPORTS FC is one of those platforms.

And that helps explain why gaming has become an increasingly important part of the new football economy.