AC Milan owner Gerry Cardinale has commented as part of an analysis by the Financial Times on the growing US investment in European football.
Given the chaos that Milan are currently in, Cardinale may not be best placed to speak about what it takes to achieve success across the pond. He has however made his vision very clear: to grow the Rossoneri brand, turning it into a media company more than just a football club.
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European football continues to represent one of the most interesting frontiers for major international investors, whether fans like it or not. The Financial Times have published a report that looks into why there is such a craze to send money over the Atlantic.
According to an analysis by the prestigious British economic and financial newspaper, as many as 117 European clubs are currently controlled by American investors. The likes of Arsenal, Inter, Atlético Madrid and Milan are among them.
Cardinale’s brief comment is as follows: “Investors are looking at European football and saying, ‘This is a great opportunity to enter global entertainment.’ The economic opportunity is enormous.”
Once again, it shows that the RedBird Capital founder got involved with Milan and with football in Europe to try and change the ecosystem, rather than to necessarily to prioritise winning with a prestigious club.
Yeah, how many titles did those 117 clubs win? US owned clubs are ridiculously bad compared to anyone else.
Arsenal is owned by the husband of a Walmart heiress, Stan Kroenke (who then went on to build his own real estate and sports team empire).
The finally won the English Premiere League title after six years of management under Arteta, and the owners were quite patient about letting Arteta build the team according to his strict vision, with Arteta freezing out Mesut Ozil in his first year, and missing out on Champions League in his first three seasons, placing in 8th, 8th, and 5th.
Imagine anybody in Serie A having such patience with a Big Club!
Liverpool are owned by Fenway Sports Group, a huge sports conglomerate (with the Boston Red Sox the original centerpiece, hence the name) owned by John Henry, who originally made his money trading futures.
They largely introduced the “Moneyball” statistics driven analyses of how to scout and select players, which originated in American baseball, to football.
They won the EPL titles in 2019-20, and 2024-25, and won the CL in 2019, beating Pochettino’s Tottenham in the final.
Aston Villa and Bournemouth have also climbed into the top six of the EPL under American ownership.
Chelsea, of course, turned into a clown car under mostly American ownership.
So yeah, American ownership is like every other nationality owning a football club, some great, some bad, a lot mostly middling
Provided you don’t sink the club first…the entertainment on the field of play is seriously lacking…
No wonder he is best buddy with Ibra…… both are arrogant and incompetent as hell
Cardinale: “i see economic opportunity in ac milan. Have a lot of fan. Stadium always full. I see money. That’s why i invest.”
Cardinale: “my vision to make ac milan becoming global entertainment brand. Where people get enternain and profit soal.”
Cardinale: “i see economic opportunity in ac milan. Have a lot of fan. Stadium always full. I see money. That’s why i invest.”
Cardinale: “my vision to make ac milan becoming global entertainment brand. Where people get enternain and profit soar.”
The problem with US ownership is the attitude. Most of these owners come into the club with a “move aside you backwards cave people, let me show you how it is done” attitude, completely ignoring the history and the culture of the clubs and cities they are coming into. One of the biggest reasons behind Milan’s success before the 2000s was the culture and family atmosphere built within the club.
When you come in with your cowboy attitude and fire the symbol of this club that is Maldini, whose family has been there longer than you have been alive, you are doomed to lose. With all due respect to Americans here, this attitude completely ignores the fact that Europe has a much more established culture and history than America. This top down approach might work in American sports, but football in Europe is not like that.
You can go on and hate on my opinion.
So Berlusconi did not have attitude?
I think when you speak about attitude, a good start is to go to the mirror, then get a billion dollars together, let’s see your attitude after that.
he clearly said “Milan’s success before the 2000s was the culture and family atmosphere built within the club”, do u think who the owner of Milan in those time?
try to read again dude
He didn’t say the problem is “attitude” he said it’s “THE attitude”.
Of course Burlusconi had “AN attitude” but it was very different from “THE attitude” of Cardinale, and frankly all American owners.
Which is pretty obvious given the the cultural differences between the US and Europe (less so the UK), and the wildly different models of capitalism in the two places.
*Berlusconi, obs
@milanellonur excellent comment
Couldn’t agree more
There are other US owners around Europe who’ve checked their egos at the door .. they’re the ones that have been successful