AC Milan and Inter unveil Generali Stadium plan and 20-year naming deal
AC Milan and city rivals Inter on Thursday revealed designs for a 71,500-seater stadium to replace the San Siro and said the venue will be called the Generali Stadium, with Generali paying about 650m euros (£542m) for naming rights through to 2052.
The clubs, owned by separate US-based investment firms, described the project as "a new home for generations of supporters, and a destination designed to contribute to the cultural, economic and urban development of the city" and said the arena is planned to be shared from 2031 onwards, with San Siro to be demolished once construction finishes; the new stadium is expected to cost about 1.2bn euros (£1bn).
AC Milan owner Gerry Cardinale called the agreement significant, saying: "This is the biggest stadium naming-rights deal in the history of global sports," and added: "That’s a significant achievement in its own right and especially in the context of having been done in Italy and what it means to bring Italy back to the world stage of football."
Cardinale framed the stadium as central to the clubs' economic model, warning against viewing the deal only as an annual payment: "But if you’re looking at this purely as an annual sponsorship payment, you’re missing the bigger picture. The stadium is what fundamentally transforms our economic model - matchday revenues, hospitality, premium experiences, entertainment and commercial opportunities. These are the things that allow us to compete with the biggest clubs in Europe."
The clubs plan to offset construction costs by selling just under 12,000 seats as premium or hospitality and by staging concerts and other sports at the venue, and the architects said the design is intended to bring fans as close to the pitch as possible.
The 20-year naming deal breaks down to about £27m per season – £13.5m per year, per club – and Sheffield Hallam University sport finance professor Dan Plumley said: "The 20-year deal is key - having that guaranteed long-term incomes gives the clubs security." He noted commercial comparisons, saying: "Spotify pay around 20m euros (£17m) to sponsor Barcelona's Camp Nou per season, so now the Milan clubs aren't too far off that figure."
Not all supporters accept the plans: some Inter fans protested outside the venue where the plans were announced, carrying a banner reading 'You will never extinguish the lights at San Siro' and chanting "Hands off San Siro"; AC Milan have played at San Siro for 100 years, Inter moved in 1947, and the two clubs paid 197m euros (£164m) to buy the stadium and surrounding land in 2025.
Plumley placed the Milan deal in a wider European context, saying: "It couldn't be done at San Siro because everybody would have just carried on calling it that. Getting in early makes the sponsor part of the new history and is a really smart play from a business point of view," and adding: "It's really difficult to do naming-rights deals in English football because of our history and culture." He also cautioned on timing: "As a club you don't want to just do a cheap deal and give the name away for a few million just because it's extra revenue," and argued clubs aim to sell naming rights when performance and commercial value are strongest.
AC Milan v Inter Milan is scheduled for Saturday, 31 October, live from 19:40 GMT on BBC Two, iPlayer and BBC Alba.
