Industry News

2022 in review – June

Featured image credit: RedBird

The quandary surrounding AC Milan’s stadium project was one of the main items on the agenda for RedBird Capital Partners as the US private investment firm completed a takeover deal of the Serie A football club in June.

RedBird’s deal with US investment management group Elliott Management valued the defending Serie A champion at €1.2bn (£1.05bn/$1.27bn). The takeover was agreed at a time of great uncertainty over Milan’s new stadium project with city rival Inter.

Elsewhere, the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada were announced.

The cities that made the cut were Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), Boston (Gillette Stadium), Dallas (AT&T Stadium), Houston (NRG Stadium), Kansas City (Arrowhead Stadium), Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium), Miami (Hard Rock Stadium), New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium), Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field), San Francisco Bay Area (Levi’s Stadium), Seattle (Lumen Field), Guadalajara (Estadio Akron), Mexico City (Estadio Azteca), Monterrey (Estadio BBVA Bancomer), Toronto (BMO Field), and Vancouver (BC Place).

In other news, the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games announced that the cost of hosting the events is set to total JPY 1.423.8tn (£8.52bn/€9.9bn/$10.46bn) – almost double what organisers had originally planned on spending.

Organisers said that a total of JPY 864.9bn was spent on venue-related expenditures such as permanent venues, temporary infrastructure and technology.

June was also a busy month for Oak View Group as the company launched a new Canadian division, and hired Marc Badain and Randy Morton to lead its planned retail and entertainment district in Las Vegas, which will be anchored by a $1bn arena.

OVG Canada will offer strategic services in the areas of venue development and management, booking and content development, sponsorship brand consulting, and third-party partnership sales.

Badain, the former president of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, was named president of OVG’s Las Vegas sports and entertainment venues, while Morton, a seasoned casino and resort executive, will be president of OVG’s Las Vegas hotel and casino.