AC Milan becomes profitable again after 17 years

AC Milan presented profits for the first time in 17 years during the 2022-2023 season, in which the Italian club reached the semifinals of the Champions League, the ‘Rossonero’ club announced this Monday.

The top-tier Italian soccer club once again reported profits for the first time since 2006, after revenue last year grew by more than €100 million ($106 million) to a record level.

The club, owned by the US-based investment fund, RedBird Capital Partnersposted profits of €6.1 million and revenues of more than €400 million in the financial year ended June, the company said Monday in a statement.

Results have been driven mainly by revenue growth in advertising and sponsorships, broadcast rights and an increase in season ticket sales. Player performance rights grew by €50.5 million, while the company foresees higher profits with the latest transfers.

The club, founded in 1899 and previously run by the late tycoon, Silvio Berlusconi, was sold by Elliott Management Corp. to RedBird last year for €1.2 billion. Gerry Cardinale’s fund initially invested €40 million as AC Milan look to build a new stadium.

Expected benefits

During the 2022-2023 financial year, closed on June 30, 2023, AC Milan presented a profit of 6.1 million euros (US$ 6.5 million), which represents a progression of 72.6 million euros in one year (losses of 66.5 million euros in 2021-22), he specified.

“This benefit was possible thanks to the increase in turnover, which jumped 36% compared to 2021-22 with 404.5 million euros,”a record in the history of the club“, specifies the statement.

Sports results partly explain this progression. By reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they lost to their great rival Inter, and by finishing Serie A in fourth place, AC Milan recorded an increase in its commercial and sponsorship income (+44.4 million euros), rights television (+41.8 million euros) and banknotes (+40.3 million euros).

The Lombard club also reduced its wage bill and transfer expenses, with a decrease of 50.5 million euros in one year.

RedBird Capital

On the other hand, the statement specifies, the club’s owner, the American investment fund RedBird Capital, invested 40 million euros (about US$ 42.6 million) in the new stadium project.

AC Milan and Inter want to abandon the mythical but obsolete San Siro, which they share, and each is working on a venue project for 60,000 to 70,000 seats on the horizon of 2027 or 2028.

These financial results “mark an important stage in the history of our club, which is heading towards a new important chapter in its development”said Paolo Scaroni, president of the club that was owned by Silvio Berlusconi from 1986 to 2017.

AC Milan, which faces PSG on Tuesday at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League, occupies second place in the Serie A table, one point behind the leader, Inter.

With information from AFP and Bloomberg