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Gerry Cardinale, the chief investment officer of Redbird Capital Partners LLC, the entity that owns Serie A giants AC Milan opened up about the requirement of elevation in competition and due financial reward as the American-Italian businessman eyes a resurgence of the Italian top-flight. The once heralded Italian league has fallen behind, particularly to the Premier League, following years of oversight and a swathe of scandals that have rocked the sport in the peninsular nation. Cardinale opined that the PL poses the biggest threat to the ambitions of a side like AC Milan, rather than the other sides competing in Italy. “We’re building our own stadium, with Tim Romani one of the best in the business. Once it’s completed, I want to share the model with other Serie A clubs, because they’re not my real competition,” Cardinale said. “The real competition isn’t the other 19 Serie A teams: it’s the Premier League,” the 58-year-old continued. “They have almost four times the TV revenue of other European leagues — and that’s a problem,” he added. He reflected on the competitive quality of the Serie A opining that any Italian side could beat the top-digs on any given day, but also touched up on the production and dividend value, or lack there of, in the league. “Yet, in Serie A, the last team can beat the first on any given day. It’s the most competitive league, but we don’t get paid for it,” the American-born Italian said. He recounted the fancies of distributors who pony up to pay top-dollar for the rights to stream the very best footballing action and the lack of ample reward for competition. “We can’t get significant deals for international rights. Why? Because distributors only want ‘the best,’ hence the Super League phenomenon, no one wants to see Cagliari versus Lecce, and that’s a problem,” he opened up. “Competition is the essence of sport, but it’s not rewarded financially,” Cardinale added.
