AC Milan will face off against Atalanta in Bergamo tonight hoping for a big result to prove their resurgence, and it will be the battle of American ownerships.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) talks about a star-spangled battle between La Dea and the Rossoneri. Milan have been American-owned since 2018 (first Elliott Management, now RedBird Capital), while for Atalanta it was in 2022 that they passed into the hands of Stephen Pagliuca.
The economic trend for both clubs is positive: both have healthy accounts (€4m net profit for Milan in the 2023-24 season, €12m for Atalanta) and are growing. The revenues of the Diavolo have exceeded €400m, while Atalanta’s are €160m, double compared to the pre-Champions League era.
Both models therefore work, but there is one issue on which there is no match between the two teams: infrastructure. In recent years, Atalanta have modernised their stadium and are aiming to soon reach €25m in stadium revenue (this year they are expected to get around €18m).
With the old facility, the Bergamo team earned just €7m, and that rose to €12m last season. In this aspect, Milan are behind despite having been working on the project for a new stadium since 2019. At the moment there are two options for the Rossoneri: San Siro or San Donato.
