By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
RedBird Capital Partners founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer Gerry Cardinale has detailed his expansion strategy for Northern Italy after establishing Milan Sports & Entertainment, a new holding company designed to group the fund’s regional assets.
“I think the NBA is negotiating with Euroleague, but one way or another, if they fail to reach an agreement, NBA Europe will start anyway,” he stressed during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday, referencing plans established plans to launch a new European league at the top of the 2027–28 season, backed by the NBA and FIBA.
“Perhaps at the end of the year or in the early months of 2027 the first group of new franchises for Europe will be announced. We’ll see when it happens.”
“In San Donato we own the land, and if I am granted the franchise for Milan, I will be able to start work fairly quickly because we already have planning permission for a 20,000-seat arena,” added the 59-year-old businessman about an area around 50 klm away from Milano.
Outgoing Big 12 commissioner and former Brooklyn Nets executive Brett Yormark will take charge of the company. Under his leadership, the entity will manage AC Milan, infrastructure builds, and commercial operations, while pursuing a franchise in the league, widely referred to as NBA Europe.
Meanwhile, RedBird maintains a stake in Openjobmetis Varese, an Italian club situated 60 kilometers away from Milan and ran by chief executive officer Luis Scola. Under the current blueprint, the club would keep playing domestic fixtures at home, possibly add Milan or North Italy to its name, while moving to the new arena for NBA Europe games. Previous info by Eurohoops sources, located the arena near the Malpensa area and the international Milan airport, which is also located around the same distance away from the Milan metropolitan center.
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