AC Milan reduce their annual loss and consider renewing their contract with the Emirates.
Recently acquired by investment firm RedBird Capital Partners in a 1.2 billion euro ($1.2 billion) deal, AC Milan cut its net loss by more than 30% to reach 66 million euros in the 12 months preceding June.
Total revenue increased by 14% to €298 million, driven by higher matchday revenue and commercial and sponsorship deals.
“We are in a period of rapid business growth,” CEO Ivan Gazidis said in an online briefing. “We have a long relationship with Emirates… and hopefully we will be able to make an announcement soon.”
The logo of the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates has been affixed to the jerseys worn by Rossoneri players since 2010.
Chairman Paolo Scaroni told reporters he was confident of further reducing the club’s losses to potentially break even in the next financial year. He said the expertise of RedBird — owner of the New York Yankees — in sports and media helps stretch overseas partnerships.
Once a dominant force in European football with seven European league titles, AC Milan returned to glory in May, winning the Italian Serie A title for the first time in 11 years.
“We have to feed our fans around the world with a good performance in the Champions League, otherwise we will only have 90-year-old supporters,” Scaroni told the club’s annual shareholders’ meeting on Wednesday.
Like other top Italian clubs, AC Milan are struggling to stay competitive against their European rivals. Its TV and commercial revenues are lower than those of clubs in the English Premier League, Europe’s richest domestic league.
AC Milan, one of 12 clubs that initially joined a tentative rate to create a breakaway European league, has reiterated that the club had abandoned the plan.
“But the issues that solved the attempt to create a Super League are still there… I hope those issues are not ignored,” Scaroni said.
($1 = 0.9988 euros)