Revenue and costs

What does this mean? TV money and sponsors are the foundation. Matchday revenue is low compared with the biggest clubs in Europe because Milan rent and share an old stadium. That is the main reason the club wants to build a new one.

Deloitte ranked Milan 15th in the world for 2024/25, down from 13th the year before.

Wages are the biggest cost. In 2024/25, all employees together cost €188.7m. Of this, around €160m went to players and coaches, according to Calcio e Finanza. By comparison, Inter spent €253m and Juventus €244m.

The second biggest item is amortisation. When Milan buy a player for €40m on a five-year contract, the full sum is not counted as a cost that year. Instead, the cost is spread out at €8m a year for five years. This is called amortisation. If the player becomes worth much less, the club may have to write down the value further. This is called a write-down.

Amortisation has risen sharply, from €71m in 2022/23 to €120m in 2024/25. This shows that Milan have bought many expensive players in recent years. Il Sole 24 Ore wrote that the club invested over €250m in players in 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Other big items in 2024/25 were services such as travel, advertising and consultancy (€91.4m), equipment and goods (€22.8m) and rent (€15.8m).

UEFA has two main rules. The first is the squad cost rule. It says a club cannot spend more than 70% of its revenue on player wages, coaching staff wages, amortisation of transfer fees and agents' fees. The limit was 90% in 2023/24, 80% in 2024/25 and 70% from 2025/26. Revenue from player sales counts.

The second is the football earnings rule. A club can have a combined loss of €5m over three years. If the owners cover the loss with new money, the limit can rise to €60m. Clubs in good financial health can get up to €90m.

If a club breaks the rules, UEFA can hand out fines, limit its squad in Europe or, in the worst case, ban the club. UEFA and the club often agree a settlement agreement, where the club promises to meet certain targets by a deadline.

In Italy there is also a separate rule from the Italian federation FIGC: the «costo del lavoro allargato». It compares wages and transfer costs with revenue. The limit was 0.8 and is being lowered to 0.7 from the 2026 summer window. If a club is over the limit, it cannot buy players until it has sold enough or the owners have put in money.

The 2025/26 loss is within UEFA's limits, because Milan made a profit in the years before. But another year of losses would leave less room to manoeuvre.