Andrea Sartori of professional service company KPMG says Ivan Gazidis is going to try and replicate what he did with Arsenal in Milan, but he has his work cut out for him.
Speaking to Sky Sport 24 (via MilanNews), Sartori talked about the financial results of Gazidis’ nine-year spell in North London.
“The new CEO was able to increase revenues by 95% in nine years, he will try to replicate these results in the Rossoneri. Commercial revenues, under the guidance of Gazidis, also reached peaks of 143 million per season compared to 62 of his first experiences in London.”
The financial expert then went on to talk about how Gazidis might achieve the same results, highlighting the Emirates Stadium as a major source of revenue.
“A method that could work in Milan is that of stadium revenues: Emirates Stadium earns safely over 100 million per season, even with a peak of 133 million, but San Siro currently earns about 35 euros per person at the stadium, with a 66% utilization rate and revenues for a seat of 15 euros compared to Arsenal’s 62.
“It is fundamental, as the data shows, to have a new and proprietary stadium.”
The thing is, Gazidis didn’t really have much to do with the move to the Emirates Stadium, joining three years after it happened. He did have to deal with the finances as Arsenal paid off their debts, but despite the rise in revenues Sartori mentions, there’s a sense that the former Gunners executive could have done more.
While Gazidis was in charge, Premier League football in general coincidentally happened to explode. The money from TV companies rose dramatically, and the amount of money teams spent on players followed suit. The advertisers weren’t far behind, as greater Premier League exposure in the media meant greater exposure for their brands.
Every club in England’s top division is making a lot more money than they were a decade ago, and Arsenal have actually fallen behind a couple of clubs in that regard. If Milan are hoping for some sort of financial miracle from Gazidis then they’re just going to end up disappointed.