AC Milan’s new owner Gerry Cardinale has given some insight into what his plans are for the club moving forward and how he plans to build on the work of Elliott Management.
Speaking during the ‘Invest in Sports’ event in New York, Cardinale spoke of the new strategies he will use in managing the Rossoneri moving forward, with his comments relayed by our colleagues at SempreMilan.it.
“You can’t just buy a club and stay put. The challenge is to shake it a little. You can’t go with guns drawn, we have to figure out how to do it but we can certainly make a good contribution,” he said.
One of the big objectives for the previous owners Elliott was to get a new stadium project approved and it seems to be a priority for RedBird too based on previous comments and also their modus operandi, something Cardinale confirmed.
“On a macro level, the parameters between leagues are the same, but each league has its own nuances to keep in mind. In Italy, for example, there have been no new stadiums since 2011, it is significant.”
One area where there is a big gap is in TV rights deals, as clubs in the Premier League and even LaLiga earn far more from broadcasters that clubs in Italy, given the money is then distributed to the teams as revenues to reinvest so the product suffers.
“There is disparity in this sense. The value of TV rights in the Premier League is three times higher than in Italy and in LaLiga the ratio is two to one,” Cardinale said.
RedBird have experience in the world of football given they own a part of the Fenway Sports Group which in turn own Liverpool FC, while they also own Toulouse who were promoted back to Ligue 1 last season.
“Investing in Milan is a hybrid of the experiences I have had with Liverpool and Toulouse. The clubs are now entertainment companies. What I learned with the Yankees and the Red Sox is that you can’t always win. This is also the beauty of sport. Milan have won a Scudetto and the expectations are to do it again, but in the Champions League now we see that there is a big difference with the Premier League.”
On the idea of synergies with other clubs, he added: “An ownership group with several clubs in different sports is interesting, I believe that this can have strategic benefits. Through synergies you can grow. It’s all very theoretical but there is a logic in my opinion.
“Elliott in Milan did a great job and I chose continuity. The duration of my commitment? I’m not worried about the exit strategy. I don’t invest to think about when I will leave.”
Mr Man Renew leo and beneccia then we will know how serious u guys are in times of moving the team forward
What guns? Typical Americans. LOL. We want you to draw your wallet.