American Group Offers €2 Billion to Buy Napoli Football Club

An American investment consortium has made a substantial offer to purchase Napoli, a football club competing in Italy's Serie A.

The British outlet The Athletic reported that the group, Under Dog Global Partners (UGP), proposed a bid valued at two billion euros, approximately 2.17 billion US dollars, to acquire the southern Italian club.

Currently leading a coalition of investors, UGP intends to take ownership of Napoli and subsequently enhance its sporting projects and infrastructure while maintaining the legacy established by Aurelio De Laurentiis, the club's current owner.

De Laurentiis has declined the offer, affirming his decision not to sell the club at this time. Nevertheless, the American group has persisted for several months, working to finalize the deal and alleviate the current owner's reservations.

The group's long-term plan includes developing a multi-sport system encompassing football and basketball, alongside submitting a formal proposal to privatize and renovate the Diego Armando Maradona stadium.

The British website highlighted that, if completed, this transaction would rank among the largest financial deals in global sports history, noting that De Laurentiis purchased Napoli around twenty years ago, specifically in 2004, for an amount that represents less than 2% of the current American offer.

Under Dog Global Partners has refrained from making official comments to the media regarding the ongoing negotiations.

UGP is a major American company focusing on investments and operations in sports, real estate, and media sectors.

The group already owns Campobasso, a club competing in Italy's Serie C (third division), and acquired Napoli's basketball team, which plays in the Italian league, in May of the previous year.

Additionally, the company plans to apply for a franchise in the NBA Europa, the proposed European branch of the American basketball league, expected to launch in 2027, according to the Spanish newspaper AS.

AS also noted that Napoli remains one of the last football clubs in Italy and across Europe to uphold the tradition of family and commercial ownership.

Napoli has won the Italian league title four times, including two championships under De Laurentiis's ownership in the 2022-2023 and 2024-2025 seasons.