Since RedBird became the owners of AC Milan, there have been several changes on and off the pitch, and the Chief Commercial Officer of the club has spoken about things.
With results on the pitch stagnating in recent years, Milan have often been a difficult team to analyse. The Rossoneri, on paper, have a very strong project and it is still in its infancy, so we cannot be too harsh in our judgements – to a degree of course.
Success on the pitch aids success of it, and although the club has been growing significantly from a commercial perspective, there is a lack of progress being made on the pitch which has frustrated fans, with many believing that accounts are being prioritised over things like trophies.
Yesterday, Gerry Cardinale revealed as much, explaining that things operate with expectations ‘lower’ than the ambitions of the fans. Today, as part of the Harvard Business School document, the words of Maikel Oettle have been published by Milan News, and he delved into how the club has changed.
American investment in football…
“The mentality of traditional European football is very different from that of American sports. It is often seen that American owners enter European football with the ambition of changing things in a way that makes sense in the world of modern sport, building new stadiums, sorting out the TV rights situation and developing other commercial activities.
“But in many cases bureaucracy and governance structures at league level complicate those efforts. This makes the need for innovators like Gerry even more obvious.”
On revenues…
“We have three main revenue streams that we can control that are not directly linked to sporting results: first, sponsorships and partnerships; second, retail, merchandising and licensing; and third, monetisation of our facilities, mainly the stadium.
“Under RedBird, the atmosphere has changed rapidly from ‘we have to survive’, which was the mantra under Elliott, to ‘we are a big club and we have to live up to that’.”
On the new seats on the sidelines…
“It’s inspired by what NBA teams do. We are selling seats next to the players’ benches at a premium price. The seats include passes to access the field during pregame warm-ups, something more common in the NFL. When I showed the idea to Zlatan, he said, ‘Give those people access to the field. I want them to be able to high-five the players’.”
High-five the players? I wonder what Zlatan the player would have done if after a bad game someone from the stands tried to high-five him lol.
It is before the game
This guy is a joke. Milan went from a big club under Elliot to one that fights for survival under Redbird, sportingwise that is…and that is all that counts.
Milan owner and management make massive PR campaigns to bury curva protest “sell the club clowndinale”. Now, nobody hear about the protest again.
All about making $$ FOR INVESTORS and charging the fans more and more $$$
It’s one thing to do that if we are wining TITLES and siding world class players like Madrid. It’s another thing to do that at the expense of the fans only to finish 8th and sign garbage LOL
As I said when Redbird took over – they want to turn us into Atalanta – (save for last season Europa upset) they have never won anything BUT are always profitable each year for the owners. Great for the owners/investors – trash for the fans. Last I checked – They don’t give out trophies for profitability
Sad
If this is truly a long-term project, then there is nothing wrong with putting the accounts ahead of trophies. But is this REALLY what is happening here?
First of all, trophies don’t seem to be anywhere in the priorities list. We won’t win the Champions League, and swinging between 7th-8th places doesn’t put us anywhere near competing for the Scudetto. So trophies are out of the question.
Secondly, you can still prioritize the accounts, but also be efficient with using limited resources.
Going into the season without a defensive midfielder (and knowing Bennacer’s history with injuries) was just reckless. Emerson Royal is the first Brazilian full back I have ever seen in my life who cannot cross the ball. It was clear that he has no qualities in neither phase of the game, yet we kept chasing him for 2 years. And don’t even get me started with the choice of Fonseca as a coach.
I can go on and on.. but the bottom line is this..
This isn’t “accounts over trophies”. This is more like “accounts over football”. Period.
And too much compromise on the football aspect of things, will also send the accounts spiraling down.. quick. That was PRECISELY Berlusconi’s mistake.
Honestly I have no idea why they changed coaches and appointed this idiot and to make matters worse sacked Maldini & massara. Elliot can foreclose if cardinal can’t replay the loan he has and take the club back or sell to a Saudi group. Whatever just get this idiot and his team including ibra out. Ibrahim spends 6 years in milan total over 2 spells and you consider him more loyal than Maldini who’s father was milan capitan and spent his entire career at milan.