Gerry Cardinale has publicly hinted at frustration regarding Lega Serie A’s unwillingness to take some of his ideas on board since he took over at AC Milan.
Cardinale officially took over Milan just over a year ago and brings with him a lot of experience in American sports, who are far ahead of Italian football when it comes to the media production side of things and generating multiple revenue streams.
Serie A as a league is well behind others in Europe too such as the Premier League which continues to dwarf its revenues, so there must be a systematic change and modernisation to address that gap.
As part of a wide-reaching interview with Corriere della Sera’s ‘7’ magazine (read in full here), Cardinale was asked what he has learned about Italian football since beginning his adventure and what the challenges are that must be faced.
“The thing that struck me most in this first year is seeing the distance with Chelsea in the two Champions League matches. Therefore I wanted a more physical, faster, more intense Milan, and I saw it in the first few games,” he said.
“I will do everything to have a winning club, but as a partner of Serie A we must hope for equal commitment to reduce the gap between the entire league and the Premier League. To achieve this we need to change.
“I believe I can contribute, I have 30 years of experience, I have worked with the best. The company partners in our portfolio are Apple, Amazon, Paramount, Disney, ESPN, Fox, I have found innovative ways to maximise the value of the product.
“I’m disappointed that Serie A didn’t take this into account. I was willing to share my experiences, but no one seems to consider them relevant.”
Welcome to Italy, where 70 year olds with 100 year old ideas run the joint.
Truest
The FIGC and so many league owners have destroyed Italian football over the last two decades, it’s insane that nobody has wrestled power from these moronic old men in spite of their years upon years of failure
Looks like jerk that is full of himself. All these companies are filled with corporate crap. Leave it on the other side of the ocean.
Looks like a modern and efficient businessman who can do wonders for the archaic structure of Lega Serie A and FIGC. Do you have any idea of how well the main American leagues are managed? The NFL, the NBA, etc., and their media partners are EXTREMELY sophisticated and Italy could certainly use an injection of modernity. There is a reason why what you call “corporate crap” is so successful, and the reason is not the prejudice you are displaying just because something is American. The United States have many defects but also many good things. If you didn’t generalize and didn’t conclude as a knee jerk that “American = BAD” maybe you’d learn a thing or two from people who are actually capable of efficient management.
My comment stands. The guy is unlikable character & will not get any of the respect either from me or the league.
As for you, put your American experiences up your arse.
Italian football need a jerk to revive itself.
CR after coming to serie A said it too : Serie A already almost dead. Well it is true , Serie A gap with EPL already too big . Young player just use serie A club for stepping stone moving to rich club in EPL or saudi club. CR are the last star player coming to serie A with age 36. Serie A need revolution like EPL in the past, thats why they need this jerk to revive serie A