AC Milan to team up with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation agency for major event hosted by DJ Khaled planned later this month in Serie A side’s bid to reclaim spot among football’s commercial elite
- AC Milan have leapt to the top of Serie A and remain unbeaten so far this season
- But the club want to help build their brand by linking sport and entertainment
- Milan’s profile has suffered after seven years out of the Champions League
- Milan have worked with Roc Nation for months to build a better global reach
AC Milan’s push for global audiences to help regain their position among football’s global commercial elite will see them join forces work with Jay-Z’s entertainment agency Roc Nation for a major event hosted by Grammy-award winning DJ Khaled later this month.
Milan have leapt to the top of Serie A in the early weeks of the season and remain unbeaten. But the club, led by former Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis, want to link sport and entertainment to help build the club’s brand and extend their profile, which have suffered after seven years out of the Champions League spotlight.
The club have been working with Roc Nation for months to build a better global reach. The partnership, which saw the club stage a live virtual fundraising concert headlined by Alicia Keys during lockdown, will now bring a 90-minute show, ‘From Milan with Love: Next Gen’, to be broadcast on the evening of November 20.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and AC Milan will join forces with entertainment agency Roc Nation later this month
They will team up for an event hosted by Grammy-award winning DJ Khaled on November 20
The DJ Khaled show will featuring live performances from Axos, Anna, Daniella Mason, RezCoast Grizz, VENVZ, Alita, Cocoa Sarai, Larruso, Bibi and Harlor.
The club believe this can captures the attention of the next generation of football fans – who are not necessarily wedded to one club from their own country.
Milan believe that their European pedigree gives them a profile to build on in the new partnership.
‘We’re working very hard to get back to where we should be, and from that perspective, it does help open doors when you have won seven Champions Leagues,’ Milan chief revenue officer Casper Stylsvig told The Associated Press recently. ‘Playing European football is top of the agenda. It is our natural habitat and somewhere we should be.’
Milan have joined up with Jay-Z’s agency to help regain their position among football’s global commercial elite
Former Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis wants to link sport and entertainment to help build the club’s brand and extend their profile
Only Real Madrid have lifted the European Cup more often than Milan. But that seventh title was won 13 years ago, by beating Liverpool.
The new show with Roc Nation aims to capture the values the club wants to present to would-be fans. These include inclusivity. There is a 50/50 line up of male and female talent, reflecting the strength of the AC Milan women’s team.
Five continents are represented within the line-up, reflecting the breadth of 15 nationalities make up the AC Milan senior squad.
The event also champions young talent. AC Milan have the youngest squad in Serie A, with an average player age of 25.
Stefano Pioli’s side have leapt to the top of Serie A in the early weeks of the season and remain unbeaten so far this season
The show is also seen as a way of the club connecting with their fan base and fulfilling commercial deals during lockdown. ‘It’s been incredibly challenging,’ Stylsvig said.
‘You basically have to rethink the model. So one of the first things we did was focusing much more on a digital space, creating content and trying to be engaging and trying to talk to our partners.’
Further down the line is moving into a new stadium, with plans to rebuild the San Siro it shares with Inter Milan.