AC Milan’s Chief Revenue Officer Casper Stylsvig has lifted the lid on the thinking behind the Rossoneri’s latest commercial ventures.
A number of partnership agreements have been announced by Milan, the most recent being one with American entertainment company Roc Nation with the aim of forming a ‘unique and tangible partnership driven by innovation, community, integrity and inclusiveness’.
Milan first started its journey with Roc Nation during the pandemic when a concert was held to help the victims and those fighting against COVID-19.
Casper Stylsvig lifted the lid on how Milan are aiming to draw inspiration from Liverpool for the future, and he has also spoken to campaignlive.co.uk about the new partnership with Roc Nation.
“All of a sudden, it’s not about match day any more. It’s not about the build up. It’s not about the manager interviews on a Friday afternoon. It’s about delivering every single day,” he said.
“Football clubs of the scale of AC Milan are very often seen as untouchable or difficult to reach. But communicating and recognising that the true heroes have gone from being the footballers to those on the front line is absolutely fundamental.
“Adding new content of a certain magnitude on a week-by-week basis has been fundamental for us and shows that the club is innovative and thinking in the right direction. It’s not only about financially benefiting from this; it’s about giving back to our fans.
“The border between sport and entertainment is very fluid. We were talking to Roc Nation for a while, unrelated to COVID, and we quickly felt there was a need for a partnership — there was an incredible energy from both brands and we could see how we could mix the entertainment and music world with the sports world.
“We’re taking football to the next level. It’s probably quite normal in the States when you think about the Super Bowl and how it’s always mixed with music entertainment, but in Europe it’s a first of a kind. We’re very proud of this partnership — there’s a lot in store. There will be multiple events which will involve music, entertainment but also other brands.
“Milan is the fashion capital of the world and Roc Nation is working in that world too, so there are multiple opportunities.
“How do you approach new brands post-pandemic when you can’t travel to meet face-to-face? That’s something we’re looking a lot at: How do we wow brands? How do we sell them our vision and make brands want to be a part of our journey and story? We’ve worked very hard on that. Being much more creative is forcing us to think much more outside the box.
“I do hope we’ll soon have positive news in terms of a new potential stadium. It will hopefully be one of the most impressive stadiums in the world, and that provides further opportunities for the club to grow but also establish the brand as we are — a very premium brand — on a global scale.
“Milan having an impressive stadium is so fundamental, not only for the economy and the fans, but also for the whole country. It will lift the club to the next level, and that will make us more competitive in attracting the best talent both on and off the pitch.”
