Milan have recorded their first loss under Gerry Cardinale, but the club’s 2025-26 accounts also underline the financial base RedBird believes can support another push for sporting relevance. A season without European competition removed a major source of income, yet the Rossoneri limited the damage and remain positioned for further investment.
The financial year closed with a €24 million loss after three consecutive profitable campaigns: €6 million in 2022-23, €4 million in 2023-24 and €3 million in 2024-25. The accounts, approved by the board chaired by Paolo Scaroni, will be presented to shareholders in October.
Quick facts
- Milan posted a €24 million loss for 2025-26.
- Gross revenue reached €465 million, down 6% year on year.
- Sponsorship income passed €100 million for the first time.
- Average home attendance exceeded 72,000, the highest figure in Serie A.
- Net financial debt rose from €92 million to €145 million.
- Equity stood at €176 million on 30 June 2026.
Missing out on Europe in the previous season created an estimated €70 million to €80 million shortfall. Milan nevertheless kept gross revenue at €465 million, helped by player trading, while preserving growth in core commercial income.
Sponsorship revenue crossed €100 million for the first time in the club’s history. Matchday takings also increased, with Milan drawing an average of more than 72,000 spectators at home, the strongest attendance record in the Italian championship.
The loss is covered by the club’s equity position, strengthened in earlier years through capital injections from Elliott and, to a lesser extent, RedBird. Equity was valued at €176 million at the end of June 2026.
Net debt, however, climbed to €145 million from €92 million a year earlier. The increase reflected greater use of credit facilities to finance investment, growth plans and wider strategic projects.
RedBird’s period in charge has brought a sharp increase in turnover, from €298 million in 2021-22 to €465 million in 2025-26. Milan’s brand was valued at €514 million in 2026, a 28% rise over the previous year and the strongest global growth trend since 2021.
The club framed Massimo Calvelli’s appointment as chief executive during the financial year as part of the next phase. Calvelli will remain an operating partner at RedBird while taking up the Milan role, with the ownership model intended to combine long-term funding and operational expertise.
Cardinale has also kept the sporting project at the centre of the plan. Milan have missed Champions League qualification for a second successive year, but that did not lead to a reduced summer market. Instead, the ownership sought to restore competitiveness through the arrivals of Gonçalo Ramos, Diego Moreira and Mario Gila.
The summer business produced an estimated negative balance of around €70 million between purchases and sales. Cardinale had set out his own role in May in direct terms: he cannot coach, score or defend, he said, but he can provide the financial resources, assemble a winning team and create urgency around a culture of victory.
For Milan, the larger economic horizon remains San Siro. Last November, Milan and Inter acquired the Meazza and the surrounding land, a significant step in a stadium process that both clubs see as central to their future independence and capacity to invest.
Foster+Partners and Manica have been appointed for the new stadium project, which carries an overall investment of €1.5 billion across the San Siro district. The current timetable foresees construction beginning in 2027 and completion in 2031, in time for the 2032 European Championship in Italy and Turkey.
The annual loss therefore sits within a wider chapter for Milan: reduced by the absence of UEFA income, but not defined by it. The challenge for Cardinale, the board and the football department is to turn commercial resilience, transfer spending and the stadium project into the results that return Milan to Europe’s leading table.
