Owner Gerry Cardinale has explained why he believes that AC Milan’s competition is not domestic but rather comes from England.
It is well known that the revenues that the Premier League and its clubs draws in dwarfs that of Serie A and other European leagues. Cardinale has always been vocal about what he perceives to be an obligation to try and restore the balance of power a bit.
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Through increasing TV rights deals, securing sponsorships plus building and owning a stadium – among other ventures – RedBird Capital’s ownership model is geared around financial sustainability through growth in revenues.
Cardinale spoke at length on The Varsity podcast about being Milan’s owner, which he called the hardest thing that he has ever done. He also shed light on the stadium project and was asked what he considered the competition to be within football.
“The real competition isn’t the other 19 Serie A teams, it’s the Premier League. That’s an economic black hole that drains wealth from the continent. They have almost four times the TV revenue of other European leagues – and that’s a problem.
“Yet, in Serie A, the last team can beat the first on any given day. It’s the most competitive league, but we don’t get paid for it. We can’t get significant deals for international rights. Why? Because distributors only want ‘the best’, hence the Super League phenomenon.
“In the United States, no one wants to see Cagliari versus Lecce, and that’s a problem. Competition is the essence of sport, but it’s not rewarded financially.”
Why would an Italian club compete with the EPL as a whole? He is not the president of Lega Calcio, is he? Why would we compare a fish in the Pacific Ocean to a fish in the Atlantic Ocean? If he is after fair financial rewards he is more than welcome to F off away from this club. Really, just GTFO.
I’m sure he is after financial reward but he nevertheless still has a point as EPL teams can attract the best players also from Serie A and pay them far better than we can do. The fact that teams that either get demoted from EPL or gets promoted to the league earns more than the top teams in Italy clearly paints a picture how distorted the leagues are.
Even in the event of a Super league there would still be a status quo as the rich would still get richer. European teams from the 4 bottom leagues of top 5 leagues should demand some changes in either FFP or how the advertisement deals should only be allowed reaching a max amount. Same for salaries and transfer fees.
EPL will just keep adding more and more money into the league while we the other leagues will just keep staying 2 steps behind and even building a new stadium wont plug that distance.
Because unless the gap is bridged, Serie A (and by extension Milan) will continue to be just a feeder to the EPL. Similar to what happened in the Netherlands. When was the last time Ajax won something? — that’s the intent. It’s not impossible, but it’s very hard to win in Europe if you dont have the financial muscle.
Big caveats are petro dollar PSG, Uber rich Bayern, Madrid and Barcelona. The only real example would be bayern. in La liga TV Rights arent collective.
He has a point, but obviously, his real intent is to generate more money. (for him or the club is up for debate)
He’s 100% correct. Quit crying.
“Yet, in Serie A, the last team can beat the first on any given day. It’s the most competitive league, but we don’t get paid for it. ”
Grasshopper is learning. That’s good 👍
“The real competition isn’t the other 19 Serie A teams, it’s the Premier League.”
So why did they panic then when Milan finished 8th last season and went to sell off half of the squad to patch a financial hole he and his team of hotshot managers created with their amateur and arrogant handling of the club’s sporting area for the last 2 seasons?