Up until now, Milan and Inter have been historic renters, paying rent on a city building that is famous but out of date. After buying San Siro, they have power over the land, the concrete, and most importantly, the good things that will happen next.
The city council decision lists an initial payment of about €73m and the rest of the money to be paid in installments backed by a bank guarantee of just over €124m. This shows that the building is meant to last for a long time, not just be sold quickly.
There’s also a bigger market view. Milan and Inter look different on TV when they play in a modern stadium that is always full and has better cameras, lights, and sound. That’s important now that people around the world watch a lot of different games, and live odds and in-play specials change with every attack (https://readwritemalaysia.com/betting-sites/).
That time frame includes redeveloping the whole area for €1.3bn. Foster + Partners and MANICA will build a new stadium with 71,500 seats and a 280,000-m² area around it with shops, restaurants, a hotel, offices, and green spaces.
Some of the current Meazza’s second ring will be kept as a heritage piece, but most of the building will be torn down to make room for a modern bowl that meets UEFA Category 4 and FIFA Category 1 standards and is being pushed as a venue for Euro 2032.
It makes sense from a business point of view. In 2023–24, 51 Milan and Inter games and 24 concerts were held at San Siro, bringing in a record €36.2m from stadium operations. This included about €6.3m from museum and tour visits and €2.5m from bars.
These are impressive numbers for a building that is almost 100 years old, but they are still a long way from the matchday revenues of clubs like Bayern Munich and Tottenham, who already make over €100m a year thanks to their new arenas.
According to club and city sources, studies show that the new San Siro complex could bring in about 11.6 million people per year and make the economy grow by about €4.6bn over its lifetime.
Based on Football Benchmark’s calculations, the cost of building a stadium could be “exceeding €1bn,” and both teams could make a lot of money from it, especially if they keep using it. Each club could make three times as much money from matchdays alone once premium hospitality, naming rights, and non-matchday business are fully developed.
At this point, the Meazza will still be used for the Derby della Madonnina, Serie A nights, and the opening event of the 2026 Winter Olympics. But now that the land is owned by the Rossoneri and Nerazzurri, San Siro is no longer a political issue but a business project now that the deed is signed.
The next task is to put the plans into action and turn the €196 million worth of concrete and history into the engine that keeps Milan competitive in football and money for the next generation.
