AC Milan owner Gerry Cardinale has said that he is committed to the club as both an owner and as a custodian following the takeover by RedBird Capital Group.
Speaking during at a major fundraising conference in Australia (via La Gazzetta dello Sport), the head of RedBird discussed his new role as the owner of a massive club like AC Milan and what it means to him.
Cardinale was asked about his aims to bridge the gap between sport and entertainment, something that many professionals in the space have been trying to do for years.
He stressed that investments in sport is the most important thing for RedBird and pointed out how well their clubs have managed to get through the pandemic compared to others.
“We take the same approach in all the vertical sectors in which we operate, providing capital solutions or building companies. But we are best known for our investments in sports, a real buffer against technological disintermediation,” Cardinale explained.
“The way fans and users ‘consume’ sport is evolving, but that does not change the value of this content, which is more ubiquitous than ever”.
He said that the RedBird clubs were “were not necessarily in difficulty”, during the pandemic “but have independently withstood the pandemic, with the only setback being the monetisation of the live event”.
Cardinale also then discussed the dynamic of having a passionate fan base linked to your business interest and described it as a ‘public-private partnership’. He also said that he feels ‘committed as a custodian, as well as an owner in his own right.”
