Drake has come to the rescue of Italian side Venezia after he helped raised €40m to bail the club from debt and bankruptcy.
Venezia spent the 2021-22 season in Serie A, their first ever appearance in the Italian topflight. Their efforts to stay up led them into debts having spent €20m on transfer fees at the beginning of that campaign.
But Venezia were relegated back to Serie B by the spring of 2022, where they remained for a further two seasons before gaining promotion back to the top division through the play-offs back at the start of June.
Matte Babel, who is Drake’s chief brand officer, explained to GQ Italia how the surprise partnership came about.
Babel’s acquaintance Brad Katsuyama, a fellow Canadian and investor in Venezia, certainly came in handy.
“I got a call from Brad, co-owner of Venezia and a good friend of mine,” Babel told GQ Italia.
“He explained the problem to me in a simple way: Venezia has to raise €10m in a couple of weeks, and then at least €30m in a few months, or the club will go bankrupt.
“Venezia is an incredible city, and Venezia has always been a special club. I spoke to Drake, then Brad and I discussed the details of how we could help. Within two weeks, we had a deal, and raised the money needed to pay salaries and avoid bankruptcy.” With Football Italia reports
