During the sixth edition of the Sport Talk Industry, AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni also took the stage. The Rossoneri executive discussed both the club's trajectory in terms of ownership and the ongoing topic of the stadium, providing further updates on the progress of the project. Scaroni also shared his thoughts on broader issues such as piracy and betting, which are currently hot topics in Italian football.
Here are his words, as relayed via Milannews.it:
On his experience at Milan, Scaroni said:
"The world of Italian football is challenging. I am a novice, unlike [Giuseppe] Marotta and [Antonio] Percassi. I’ve dealt with two different ownerships. One inherited Milan after making a loan to a colorful character like Yonghong Li. Elliott managed Milan like a hedge fund; they appointed a CEO from Arsenal (Ivan Gazidis) who was familiar with football, and they brought me in to support him as someone who knows Italian football. RedBird, on the other hand, actively sought out Milan, incorporating it into a broader strategy of investing in the sports world. They bring us expertise we didn’t have, operating within a framework that envisions European football evolving toward an American model. I’m not sure if it will evolve in that direction—for example, like basketball, where there are no relegations and there’s a salary cap."
On piracy:
"Piracy is an enormous problem for Italian football. Today’s massive seizure demonstrates the effectiveness of the excellent law we have. Finally, a major enforcement action has been carried out, targeting 25 million users. This is a colossal phenomenon. We estimate that piracy costs between €500 million and €1 billion in Italy alone. These are losses for broadcasters like DAZN and Sky, which air the matches, but they ultimately translate into costs for us as clubs as well."
On the stadium:
"Here’s a quick update on the stadium situation. We are currently reassessing the 2018 plan: building a new stadium next to the Meazza in San Siro. Once this new stadium is built, we could repurpose the Meazza for various sports and commercial activities—such as a hotel, shopping center, and the headquarters and museums of Milan and Inter—thus creating what would necessarily become the most beautiful stadium in Europe.
If Milan and Inter build a stadium by 2030, it has to be the most beautiful in the world. It’s not San Siro itself that’s iconic; it’s Milan and Inter that made it iconic. We’re happy to remain at San Siro—it’s well-connected and it’s our home. However, we are keeping the door open to San Donato as well. The San Siro process is always complicated, but I remain optimistic."
On betting, Scaroni commented:
"We absolutely need to change the law that prevents us from benefiting from betting. It makes no sense for us to miss out on this opportunity. Betting on Serie A generates €35 billion, and it’s absurd that no Italian club benefits from it. Across Europe, it’s allowed; in Italy, it isn’t. If something is allowed throughout Europe but not in Italy, it means we’re making foolish decisions."
Scaroni concluded:
"This choice was made by the Five Star Movement government (Movimento 5 Stelle), and it’s time to change it. All of Italian football relies on Serie A. There has been a long process within the FIGC [Italian Football Federation] where we haven’t achieved everything we wanted, but we’ve made progress. The constant disputes between Serie A and the FIGC never bring any benefits to Italian football."
