Drake Aids in Raising $40 Million to Rescue Italian Soccer Club from Bankruptcy

Canadian singer Drake has helped save an Italian soccer team called Venezia FC from going bankrupt, according to a report from GQ Italia. The team was struggling with money problems and needed urgent help to stay afloat.

Before the soccer season of 2023-24 began, Venezia FC was deep in debt due to high costs and some decisions that didn’t help reduce their financial troubles. Although they were doing well in their games, the club’s money issues were getting worse. They even had to sell some of their players’ contracts to find more money from new investors.

Everything changed with a crucial phone call. Matte Babel, who works closely with Drake as his Chief Brand Officer, got a call from Brad Katsuyama, who co-owns the soccer team. Brad explained that Venezia needed to quickly raise ten million euros, and then another thirty million euros soon after, or they would have to declare bankruptcy.

“I got a call from Brad (Brad Katsuyama, star of Michael Lewis’ Flash Boys, ed.), co-owner of Venezia and a good friend of mine. He explained the problem to me in a simple way: Venezia must raise ten million euros in a couple of weeks and then at least thirty million euros in a few months, or the club will go bankrupt.

Venice is an incredible city, and Venezia has always been a special club. I talked to Drake, then Brad and I discussed the details of how we could help. Within two weeks we found an agreement, collected the money necessary to pay salaries and avoid bankruptcy.”

Drake was moved by the team’s situation and the city of Venice. He quickly agreed to help, and within two weeks, he and his team had gathered enough money to pay the team’s bills and prevent bankruptcy.

This financial help from Drake led to more than just saving the club. Venezia FC went on to win a crucial game against Cremonese in the playoffs. With Drake’s help, they were able to attract over $40 million from investors in North America. These investors have now formed a group to help manage the team and aim to make Venezia a top soccer club in the world.