Famous rapper, Drake has reportedly saved Serie A club Venezia were from bankruptcy.
Venezia, who was promoted back into Italy’s top flight in June, racked up significant debts after spending over $21million on players, counting from the 2021-22 campaign.
With this, the club was in a huge mess last season until the Chief brand officer of Drake, Matte Babel initiated a save with Venezia co-owner Brad Katsuyama.
According to Babel, Katsuyama explained to him that the club needed to raise a total of €40 million to avoid bankruptcy.
This resulted to cash drops from the Grammy-award winning rapper and other investors, boosting the club financially and helping them win the second division’s playoff into Serie A.
“I spoke to Drake, then Brad and I discussed the details of how we could help. Within two weeks we had a deal, raised the money needed to pay the salaries and avoid bankruptcy.” Babel said.
Drake is a well noted sports fan, a global ambassador for the Toronto Raptors and with this, the Italian club has signed a deal for his Nike imprint NOCTA to produce the club’s kits.
“The value of Drake to any football club is undeniable given his global superstardom and brand reach – this intersection of culture and sport is exactly where we want to be and as a sports organization the ability to tap a brand like NOCTA that also teeters the same line is incredibly valuable.” Babel added.
Venezia is professional Italian football club based in Venice. It’s greatest milestone ever, was winning the Coppa Italia in the 1940–41 season.
