More details continue to emerge regarding the stadium naming rights deal between AC Milan, Inter and Generali.

La Gazzetta dello Sport write that even before it’s even been built, the new home of Milan and Inter is already the place to be. It’s no coincidence that Generali – the insurance giant – has decided to put its stamp on the façades, as was revealed last month at the presentation of the stadium.

A day-one partner

The collaboration kicks off immediately. Generali are now the Official Insurance Partner of the two clubs. The stadium naming rights contract will last for 25 years and includes the payment of €50m until the stadium opens in 2031.

This includes €10m annually for each of the next five seasons, including the current one, to be split equally between Inter and Milan. Once the stadium is inaugurated, the sum will increase to €30m annually (€15m each) for the following 20 years. The total commitment amounts to €650m.

Generali wanted to associate its name with the stadium from the very beginning of this long journey, in order to establish itself in the collective imagination: it will only be the Generali Stadium, with no temporary or secondary names to muddy the waters.

Branding a stadium from day one – or rather, even before it opens – is particularly strategic in terms of marketing. For this reason, Generali have agreed to pay €10m a year for something that, for five years, will be on models and then on construction sites, but not yet in the experience of fans.

Moreover, the naming rights market still has ample room for development in Europe. A Kroll study of the 36 major European clubs highlighted this already in 2024: only 12 had sold the naming rights to their stadiums, for a total estimated potential value of €303m, equivalent to an average of €8.4m per season.

Italy and England were the leagues least inclined to this form of commercialisation, also held back by the historical connection between the stadiums and their names. In this scenario, the new Inter and Milan stadium represents a different opportunity: a stadium to be built around a commercial identity,.

It’s not just a sports sponsorship: it’s a key support for a project crucial to the next stage of development of the city, the beating heart of the country’s economy and finances. This explains the significant investment.

How the negotiation went

It was the first time Inter and Milan worked together on the same side of the table, to secure a commercial deal. Under the watchful eye of Oaktree and RedBird Capital, the two clubs’ Chief Revenue Officers – Giorgio Ricci and Maikel Oettle – took the lead in finalising the sale of the naming rights.

These will be transferred through Stadio San Siro, a company controlled by NSM Holding, equally owned by Milan and Inter. The Rossoneri and Nerazzurri had initially selected a small group of potential partners, focusing on major Italian companies.

This type of right is particularly attractive to companies with a strong interest in the local area. After an initial round of meetings, Generali was the company that immediately showed the most enthusiasm.

Inter and AC Milan thus decided to further discuss the deal with the insurance giant, finalising the contract within a few months, the largest ever signed by Generali in the sports sector. In addition to the price offered, a key factor was the partner’s status.

Who better than the insurance giant – with €4.3bn in net profit and €900bn in assets under management – can offer guarantees of solidity and solvency, especially in a long-term commitment?

The €650m is written in stone and represents a significant portion of the financial coverage for the entire real estate transaction. Moreover, thanks to the €50m ‘bridge’ payment, the clubs have the opportunity to cash in immediately.

The richest contract in football

A comparison with other major international stadiums further illustrates the scale of the operation. Once fully operational, with €30m annually, the Generali Stadium will rank at the top of the global naming rights market, becoming one of the most lucrative deals ever signed for a stadium.

In Europe, the benchmark is Spotify’s Camp Nou, which guarantees Barcelona €20m per season, while Bayern Munich earn around €13m annually from Allianz for the Munich Arena. London’s Emirates Stadium is currently worth an estimated €10-15m to Arsenal.

Atletico Madrid’s Riyadh Air Metropolitano is at a similar level to that of the Gunners. In Germany, Borussia Dortmund get around €11m for Signal Iduna Park. Juventus, with the Allianz Stadium, earns around €8-10m.

To find higher figures, one must look primarily to the United States, where the stadium sponsorship market is of a different size and characteristics. The Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles is worth approximately €31m annually, but the $700m twenty-year contract also includes other commercial activities of the AEG group and partnerships with the Lakers and Kings.

The same is true for SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, whose twenty-year, $625m agreement equates to approximately €28m annually, but includes additional commercial components. Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, on the other hand, has signed a thirty-year agreement worth approximately $750m, equivalent to approximately €22m per season.

These transactions should be interpreted with caution, as the consideration does not always refer solely to the naming of the stadium. The Milan figure, however, is significant precisely because of the size of the naming rights component.

There is also another aspect to consider. The €30m guaranteed by Generali could represent only the first step in a much broader commercial strategy. An ecosystem of partnerships will develop around the new stadium, from technology services to beverage supplies, and other product categories that can be accommodated in the facility.

The goal is to raise an additional €20-25 millionm through agreements with secondary sponsors, bringing the overall value of the stadium’s commercial partnerships to even higher levels. Meanwhile, the market is also starting to move in Italy, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Atalanta earn approximately €2.5m annually from its partnership with New Balance for the naming of the New Balance Arena, while Udinese earns approximately €1m Bluenergy for the Bluenergy Stadium.

In short, the Milan deal risks rewriting the industry benchmarks, pushing up the valuations of other European venues and confirming how the name of a stadium, when associated with an international project, is a valuable asset.could become a top-level commercial asset.