Footballco Acquires Major Italian Soccer Media Site

Private equity isn’t just making its way into sports teams and leagues — it’s pushing into sports media.

TPG Capital-backed Footballco is buying Italian soccer media site CalcioMercato.com, bringing another media property under one of the largest media conglomerates in European soccer. Footballco is owned by TPG-subsidiary Integrated Media Company.

The deal is reportedly for more than $10 million.

• Footballco bought a majority stake in Goal.com, along with German and Dutch sports sites Spox and VoetbalZone, from DAZN in a $125 million deal in September 2020.
• Footballco’s various sites collectively have 400 million monthly users, led by Goal.com. 
• CalcioMercato.com adds another 12 million monthly visitors. 

Footballco CEO Juan Delgado told SportBusiness that the company intends to acquire more soccer media brands.

“Being backed by one of the biggest private equity shops on the planet gives us that luxury,” he said, mentioning Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East as potential target markets.

The company is targeting annual revenue of $100 million. 

TPG’s media investments include Univision, Spotify, and Creative Artists Agency. The firm has $96 billion in assets under management.