Inter chief executive Alessandro Antonello has put part of Inter’s record revenues recorded during the 2018/19 season down to the several sponsorship agreements arranged both with Italian and Asian businesses.
“This year’s growth was also due to the Chinese market where we we struck agreements with 16 new partners. The regional ones have also been important. Regional sponsors have had a 60% impact and Asian ones have had a 40% impact,” he remarked at the press conference following the annual shareholders meeting.
He then spoke on sponsors, namely Inter’s shirt manufacturer Nike and main shirt sponsor Pirelli.
“The new agreement with Nike starts from November 1st. We believe that this can open new frontiers for other markets. We are talking about one of the pillars for all European clubs. Our deal with Pirelli is due to expire in 2021 and to date we do not have any alternatives on the table.”
In conclusion he was asked what he has made of the reaction to the Inter and AC Milan’s plans to build a new stadium.
“We are neither surprised nor worried by the reaction, we started a clear path with the city council of Milan by depositing an idea for the redevelopment of a district.
“There is a path in place and it was planned, in line with the stadium law. We started a dialogue with citizens and supporters, gathering their indications. More than half of the citizens, according to Ipsos, see the project in a positive way.
“We are nonetheless available for dialogue. We are convinced of our project and we will listen to the institutions to see if the amended proposal still makes sense.”