Two of the biggest sporting entities in the world (New York Yankees and LeBron James as part of a private investment firm called RedBird Capital Partners) now own one of the biggest sporting entities in the world (AC Milan).
A statement issued on Wednesday by Yankee Global Enterprises (YGE), owner of the New York baseball team who will take a minority equity stake in the former European champions Milan as part of the deal to acquire the club from U.S. private equity group Elliott.
Gerry Cardinale, RedBird founder and managing partner, said: “Our vision for Milan is clear: we will support our talented players, coaches and staff to deliver success on the pitch and allow our fans to share in the extraordinary experiences of this historic club.
I don’t keep up with these sorts of things so I had no idea that an American private equity group owned AC Milan in the first place, let alone the Yankees and LeBron being in the running to acquire their stake. Good for them I guess but it’s another example of European soccer clubs becoming US financial playthings for people with lots of money and while that will make clubs and UEFA happy, what does it say for the smaller clubs who can barely survive?
Related: The dangers of the Premier League killing off lower league clubs in 1992
(via AS)