We need to see ourselves as a media business – AC Milan’s endgame for content is an article published by Digiday on 25th February 2021 that Strive’s Managing Director, Malph Minns, contributed to. 

Football clubs are scrambling to get into the content business, and AC Milan is jumping on the trend.

The Italian football club has joined the likes of Chelsea, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich in owning its own production arm. Like those divisions, ‘The Studios: Milan Media House’ will develop, produce and distribute all the club’s audiovisual content, whether it’s a training montage for its social channels or a commercial video for a sponsor.

The new unit is led by AC Milan’s marketing and digital director Lamberto Siega, who will manage a team of 40 execs across production and creative from the club’s headquarters. Some of those roles are part-time, around 20% according to the club, giving Siega the flexibility to dial spending up or down depending on what projects are lined up. He oversees it all from one control room with seven workstations and a voice-over room for match commentary and podcast recordings. On occasion, the space will be rented out to commercial partners and other companies.

In other words, AC Milan is focused on turning all its digital content into cash generators. Doing so means publishing content on as many third-party channels as possible in the hope that doing so raises the chance of someone in one of those places consuming content from AC Milan and subsequently moving to one of its owned platforms to view more. Having a cadence of content and broad distribution should — at least in theory — grow a social media following and opportunities to capture first-party data. This helps bolster sponsorship value, said Siega.

Take the club’s Twitch channel. It has amassed over 41,000 followers since it launched in December. Over this period, AC Milan has produced around 40 videos for the channel. Posts mainly focus on interviews with special guests such as players, legends and VIPs. Soon, viewers will have the chance to interact live during the pre-match press conference with the first team coach.

It’s a similar plan for TikTok, where the club has had a profile since last January. Since then, it has racked up more than 20 million likes, which puts it ahead of other Italian football teams on the social network, said Siega. It goes some way to supporting the club’s plan to keep its output on TikTok focused on giving fans a more lighthearted take on the club, from footage of a player performing tricky skills to behind-the-scenes posts designed to capture the rapport among the team. That’s why in December, AC Milan launched an official TikTok challenge with sponsor Skrill, a digital wallet provider, that’s just passed one billion views.

Media business approach can support other revenue streams

Having a cadence of content and broad distribution should grow a social media following and opportunities to capture first-party data. This helps bolster sponsorship value, said Malph Minns, managing director of the agency Strive Sponsorship.

Siega expanded on the point: “It’s a way to get the fans into your ecosystem to get data from them as well as identify touchpoints that we can leverage so that we’re not only reliant on third parties.

It’s why his team is developing a membership program that will span all the club’s owned channels, from its e-commerce site to its TV channel, the ticketing platform to its app.

“Whilst for many clubs media rights payments, matchday revenue and sponsorship make up a large share of income, they recognise these traditional income streams each faces their own challenges,” said Minns. “So they are looking to both diversify revenue whilst also increasing the depth of assets they have available to sell to maintain value.”

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Frequently asked questions

What is the media business?

The media business, in the context of this article, means the production of AC Milan-focused audiovisual content. This may include broadcasting (including television and radio), cable television, online streaming, podcasts, programming production and distribution, print publications, written articles, and similar content.

What are examples of media businesses?

Traditional media businesses include Comcast, Fox Corporation, and The Walt Disney Company. In recent years companies have created their own content studios as part of their brand and marketing efforts, with Red Bull Media House becoming one of the most well-known. Sports teams like Chelsea, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich have followed suit.

What do media companies do?

Media companies usually produce audiovisual content which may include news programmes, written news articles, documentaries, and editorials. Films, books, podcasts and other digital content might also be produced.