In a historic move, Serie A attempted to export competitive domestic football to international markets by hosting a league fixture between AC Milan and Como in Australia. The fixture was slated for February 2026 at the new Optus Stadium in Perth and was designed to capitalise on AC Milan’s global popularity and the growing interest in Italian football in the Asia-Pacific region.
The move was necessitated by the unavailability of San Siro during the Winter Olympics period – which Milan are co-hosting in February – forcing the clubs to look for alternative venues. There was initial optimism from Lega Serie A and the clubs involved. In an interview, AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni had said, “One of the ideas we pursued was to go to Australia to promote Italian football, not to make a financial deal that doesn’t exist. I haven’t given up on this issue yet, but there are so many authorisations to obtain that I’m starting to get worried. If it falls through, it would be a missed opportunity for Serie A, because our goal is to make Serie A attractive around the world.
“Serie A earns €200 million a year from international TV rights, the Premier League €2.2 billion, and La Liga €700-€800 million, which is explained by the fact that in recent years they’ve had two great players in Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The gap with the Premier League needs to be filled, but obviously there are many things to do, including new stadiums, because having beautiful, fully-filled stadiums is the foundation for achieving a certain level of television impact. I’m convinced that after San Siro, many other stadiums will be built in Italy.”
