Italian Soccer Rivals Buy Famed Stadium for $226M

A century-old soccer stadium will soon be relegated to the dustbin of history after two historic rivals teamed up to purchase the property.

Italian soccer clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan completed their $226 million purchase of San Siro and the surrounding area on Wednesday, ESPN reported. The city of Milan sold the 99-year-old stadium to its two primary tenants.

The timing of the transaction closing was no accident. The second tier of the stadium was days away from reaching 70 years of completion. Once a building exceeds that age, it is deemed historically significant, which would make any demolition nearly impossible.

Instead, the clubs will be able to move forward with plans for a 71,500-seat arena, as well as an “urban regeneration project for the San Siro district [that] represents a new chapter for the city of Milan and both clubs,” according to a statement from the teams.

AC Milan and Inter Milan — owned by RedBird Capital Partners and Oaktree Capital Management, respectively — previously announced deals with Foster + Partners and Manica to design the 3-million-square-foot arena.

Previous attempts to overhaul or replace San Siro, which hasn’t been renovated since 1990, have fallen short, despite concerns about how the arena stacks up with those of other soccer powers in Europe.

In 2021, the clubs picked a proposal by American architecture firm Populous for a 60,000-seat stadium with a glass envelope and a series of steel legs. There was local opposition to the demolition of a historic landmark, but it’s unclear why the project never came to fruition.

It’s not yet known when San Siro will face a wrecking ball, though its replacement is expected to be open for the 2030-31 soccer season, as well as the 2032 European Championship, an impetus for the redevelopment.

There’s also an open question about the fate of an investigation into potential bid-rigging, according to a local newspaper.

San Siro is months away from hosting the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

— Holden Walter-Warner