Jay-Z's Roc Nation Sports has signed what's been billed as a “strategic partnership” with Italy’s soccer league Serie A, Deadline reports.
Roc Nation Sports announced the deal on social media yesterday (July 10), and said the deal was stuck to enhance the Italian league's reach in North America. Roc Nation Sports and Serie A, who have had a partnership since 2019, will raise awareness by engaging fans through digital content, marketing activations, and events.
“We are super excited to help Serie A expand its brand throughout America while helping to develop meaningful commercial partnerships along with enhanced brand visibility that will lead to continued growth for one of the world’s premier football leagues," Michael Yormark, president of Roc Nation Sports, said in a statement.
In 2020, the agency inked a deal with leading Serie A side AC Milan to host an event to raise support for key workers. DJ Khaled hosted the event, which featured performances from Alicia Keys and Kelly Rowland, with all proceeds going to charity. Later, the pair announced a full partnership.
Per Deadline, Roc Nation also represents many leading European soccer players. Romelu Lukaku of Serie A’s Inter Milan, says Jay encouraged him to join Inter.
“We spent some time together in New York, and then he pushed me too to return to Inter,” Lukaku said. “He’s a person who follows football a lot, he always follows Inter. He’s truly a nice person.”
Roc Nation has also been vocal in criticizing the Italian league's racism against Black players, including when Lukaku was subjected to racist monkey chants from opposing fans.
“The Italian authorities must use this opportunity to tackle racism rather than punish the victim of the abuse. I am certain that the footballing world shares the same sentiment," Yormark said in a statement at the time.