Italian Media: Inter Milan Reach Sleeve Sponsorship Deal with BBVA Worth Around €8.5 Million per Season

According to Italian media outlet Football and Finance, Inter Milan have officially introduced their partnership agreement with Spanish bank BBVA. The cooperation will not only involve shirt sponsorship but also cover digital business, youth development, women's football and various activities for fans and customers. The agreement is reportedly worth around €8.5 million per season.

The report said the partnership was first announced on July 28. Under the agreement, BBVA becomes the official sleeve sponsor of Inter Milan's men's first team, women's team, U23 side, U20 side and Inter Legends team. Meanwhile, for men's and women's youth teams at U18 level and below, BBVA will become the main shirt sponsor, with the cooperation extending from the first team throughout the youth system.

Although Inter Milan have not officially announced the specific sponsorship amount, reports suggest the agreement is worth around €8.5 million per season. Inter Milan chief revenue officer Giorgio Ricci said: "The value of this agreement reflects the scale of the partnership itself. Both companies are very important in terms of market positioning and development ambitions."

He stressed that the partnership was not simply determined by referencing Inter Milan's previous sponsorship agreements or the market prices of other clubs. "We are not focusing on what we did in the past, nor on what others around us are doing."

Inter Milan president Giuseppe Marotta said: "This is a very important combination between two companies that share a pursuit of excellence. I am very proud of it, and I believe we can go a long way together. Dreams do not require a cost, and hopefully we can ultimately achieve some wonderful results."

Inter Milan believe one of the most important features of the partnership is that both sides hope to move beyond the traditional shirt sponsorship model.

Ricci explained: "Football and banking have one thing in common: they interact with their fans and customers every day. So our initial thought was, why can't we combine two fields that belong to the same relationship category?"

Digital business will become a key focus of the future cooperation. Ricci said Inter Milan want to continue innovating and therefore seek partners with similar innovative ideas. Even when working with a financial institution, the club hopes to establish a more strategically meaningful partnership.

According to plans announced by both sides, exclusive content, special events and new projects targeting Inter fans will be launched in the future. BBVA is also studying exclusive matchday experiences for its customers, including a lottery that would allow winning customers to receive tickets in premium areas of San Siro.

Ricci said the ultimate goal is for BBVA to gradually build a closer connection with Inter Milan fans, extending from the stadium and shirt sponsorship to digital experiences.

He said: "Our direction is to bring elements of passion into things that happen every day, allowing every transaction to connect with fans' enthusiasm and emotions through certain elements."

Expanding the cooperation to Inter Milan's entire youth development system is also part of this strategy. For teams at U18 level and below, BBVA will even upgrade from sleeve sponsor to main shirt sponsor. Ricci said: "This is a vision for the future, because we are growing together with young players."

In addition, BBVA places particular importance on its cooperation with Inter Milan's women's team and considers women's football "a very important part of the future development of Italian football."

Walter Ricci, head of BBVA's digital banking business in Italy, said an important goal of the cooperation with Inter Milan is to increase BBVA's brand recognition in the Italian market.

BBVA has been in the Italian market for five years, and its local customer base is now close to one million. Ricci said: "BBVA is a very well-known group, but it has not yet truly entered the hearts and awareness of Italians in the way we hope."

"We want to find a partner that reflects the innovation we bring to the Italian market through products and services, while also having tradition, knowing how to do things well, how to better serve customers, and how to provide quality service every day."

After evaluating multiple potential partners, BBVA ultimately chose Inter Milan. Ricci said: "Inter Milan is the perfect partner. It has a tradition that continues to renew itself, whether in sporting performance, club management or commercial ability. For us, it is an ideal partner to help BBVA truly enter the hearts and minds of more Italians."

BBVA's goal is not only to increase customers in the short term. Ricci said: "We hope that five or ten years from now, people will see us as a bank that has truly left a mark."

For Inter Milan, bringing in an international financial group is also part of the club's commercial internationalization strategy. Ricci revealed that after the new owners took over, Inter Milan's management has become more standardized and rigorous, which has also influenced the club's off-field commercial positioning.

He said: "This is a club with many international elements. This positioning is helping us attract global companies. They not only believe Inter Milan has important value in the Italian domestic market, but also see us as a platform capable of building partnerships internationally."

Meanwhile, after the end of the BPER partnership, Inter Milan have not yet identified a new naming rights partner for the Appiano Gentile training centre. Ricci said the club is currently "not particularly focused" on finding a naming sponsor.

However, Inter Milan are carrying out a major renovation of the training centre and will continue to develop it as an important commercial asset in the future. Ricci said: "The future training centre will no longer be the same training centre as before; it will become a new asset that did not previously exist. If a satisfactory agreement emerges in the future, it will naturally become part of our commercial development opportunities."

As BBVA continues to expand its business in the Italian market, both sides also plan to launch more commercial projects. Inter Milan hope to eventually transform the sponsorship relationship, currently mainly represented on the shirt, into a long-term partnership covering digital services, matchday experiences and fans' daily lives.