A billionaire cable TV empire owner does not own a yacht, private jet and mansion on a beach, instead he shelled out $170 million to buy an Italian pro soccer team. Rocco Commisso, 73, bought ACF Fiorentina in Florence three years ago. His wife told him that if he insisted on buying a team, it needed to be somewhere nice. The price tag was also a bargain for a European club.
The American owner is under relentless scrutiny by Fiorentina fans who demand that he pay whatever it costs to bring in stars and end their 50-year championship drought. Fiorentina, which is nicknamed “La Viola” — “the Purple” — has not won a league championship since 1969. Fans, known as the Tifosi, got sick of waiting and ran the previous owner out of town.
