The leading sports advisory and capital solutions firm.

The leading sports advisory and capital solutions firm.

An integrated advisory and investment firm

Leveraging deep sector expertise and a global network, Tifosy offers bespoke advisory services and innovative capital solutions that are specific to the challenges of the sports industry

A differentiated and holistic approach

  • Advisory
  • Capital solutions

Advisory

Strategic Advisory

Tifosy clients include a broad range of private equity firms, alternative asset managers, family offices, high net-worth investors and team owners and management. We help meet their strategic objectives through fast-tracked, better-informed decisions across the whole sports investment life cycle, from initial strategy through exit.

Capital solutions

Sports lending fund

Tifosy co-manages the Sports Lending Fund, the first receivables fund focused exclusively on professional sports. Managed in partnership with Fasanara Capital, our fund provides sports franchises with innovative lending products specifically designed for the sector.

Select Experience

Meet the team

Our high-calibre team, strategic focus, expertise and global network make us the partner of choice within the sports industry.

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Fausto Zanetton

Founder & CEO

Fausto Zanetton is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tifosy, which he founded after seeing an unprecedented need for professional advisory services and financing solutions in sports. Fausto directs the firm’s strategy and is responsible for managing the business as well as being actively involved advising clients on large M&A and financing transactions.

Based in London, Fausto is a sought-after and trusted advisor in the sports industry with over 20 years’ experience advising global media, sports, entertainment and technology companies. He is the former Head of Sports and Entertainment at Morgan Stanley having previously held positions at Goldman Sachs (TMT London) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (Brussels and Boston).

Fausto recently advised on the takeover of Olympique Lyonnais by Eagle Football on behalf of Iconic Sports, Oaktree’s investment into Inter Milan, the sale of Melbourne Victory to 777 Partners, Ares investment into Inter Miami CF and various other transactions and financings in the sector. He co-chairs the Investment Committee for the Tifosy-Fasanara Sports Lending Fund and is the Chief Executive Officer of Iconic Sports.

Fausto holds an MBA from London Business School, is a qualified chartered accountant (US CPA) and is fluent in several European languages.

Tommy Aylmer

Managing Director / Chief Legal Officer

Tommy is a Managing Director and the Chief Legal Officer at Tifosy. Tommy joined the firm in 2017 and is an advisor on M&A and financing transactions, deal strategy, transaction documentation and sports regulation. He has a leadership role across the firm’s advisory and capital solutions business lines.

Tommy recently advised on the takeover of Olympique Lyonnais following the Iconic Sports investment into Eagle Football, Oaktree’s financing of Inter Milan, Ares investment into Inter Miami, Melbourne Victory’s investment from 777 Partners, the takeover of Pisa Sporting Club and numerous financings in the sector. He sits on the investment committee for the Tifosy-Fasanara Sports Lending Fund and is an Executive-Vice President of Iconic Sports Acquisition Corp. having led the company’s $345m initial public offering on the NYSE.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Tommy was a senior corporate lawyer at a leading European law firm specialising in M&A. He has a wide range of advisory experience across public and private transactions, private equity, high-yield bond issuances, IPOs, finance structures and corporate governance.

Tommy holds a bachelor’s degree in business and law from University College Dublin and professional solicitor qualifications from the Law Societies of Ireland and England & Wales.

Marco Re

Managing Director

Marco Re is a Managing Director at Tifosy, where he also holds the position of CEO and General Director of Tifosy Italia SIM. Marco joined Tifosy in 2020 and as well as having responsibility for the Italian market, also leads the firm’s strategic client coverage as an adviser to top tier clubs and clients across Europe. Marco has an in-depth knowledge of the sports industry and is valued by clients for his holistic view on the sports financing market.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Marco served as Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the Board at Juventus FC where he held responsibility for all financial and non-sporting operations. During his twenty years at Juventus, Marco led various capital market transactions including leading the club through its IPO, €300m rights issue, stadium construction financing, J Village financing (real estate fund structure) and €175m high yield bond issuance. As an experienced CFO, Marco has a detailed understanding of not only industry specific financing arrangements, such as factoring of broadcasting and player receivables, but also related developments having assumed senior leadership roles in the J Medical and J Hotel projects.

Marco holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Turin and has been enrolled in the Italian Register of Chartered Accountants and in Register of Auditors since 2003.

Maxime Budin

Executive Director

Maxime Budin is an Executive Director at Tifosy and a core member of our client coverage team. Maxime is actively involved in the structuring and execution of M&A and financing transactions.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Maxime was an Investment Banking Associate at Goldman Sachs where he acted as advisor to financial institutions (FIG), building extensive experience working on various M&A transactions, IPOs and debt financings. He also worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank.

Maxime holds a master’s degree in Management from ESCP Europe / Cass Business School and is fluent in French, English and Spanish.

Simone Bonfiglio

Executive Director

Simone Bonfiglio is an Executive Director at Tifosy and a core member of the client coverage team. Simone is actively involved in the structuring and execution of M&A and financing transactions.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Simone was an Investment Banking Associate at Credit Suisse, where he advised in the media, sports and telecom sectors on financing solutions, growth strategies and capital structure optimisation. He also worked as a Sales Associate on the Financial Analytics team at Bloomberg.

Simone holds a master’s degree in Finance from Esade and in International Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Bocconi and is fluent in Italian, English and Spanish.

Pavel Montero

Executive Director

Pavel Montero is an Executive Director at Tifosy. Pavel joined the firm in 2023 and is a core member of the client coverage team working on the execution of M&A and financing transactions.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Pavel was an Investment Banking Vice President at Credit Suisse, where he advised on various M&A, ECM and DCM transactions. During his eight-year tenure at Credit Suisse, Pavel worked in the Madrid, London and New York offices.

Previously to Credit Suisse, Pavel worked in the M&A department at BBVA and as an auditor at Deloitte.

Pavel holds an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is fluent in Spanish, Galician and English, and conversant in Portuguese.

Nicola Verdun

Head of Business Development

Nicola Verdun is the Head of Business Development at Tifosy. Nicola is responsible for the firm’s business development strategy and various senior relationships within the sports industry across Europe.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Nicola was Head of Global Partnerships and International Development at Juventus FC where his responsibilities included developing the club’s brand and commercial footprint on a global basis as well as securing sponsorship contracts with major international brands. He also worked at Nielsen Sport (formerly Repucom) where, as European Business Development Director, he provided full-service sponsorship, marketing analysis and evaluation to rights holders and brands seeking to maximise their assets and return on investment within sports and entertainment.

Previously Nicola was Account Director at MEC Access, a sports marketing agency specialising in research, negotiation, strategy, activation and evaluation for international clients such as Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Pirelli, Xerox, Visa and Sony Ericsson.

Nicola holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Turin.

Sara Pedrotti

Legal & Compliance Officer

Sara is a Legal & Compliance Officer at Tifosy. Sara joined the firm in 2021 and oversees and manages legal and compliance matters for Tifosy in Italy as well as assisting with legal and transactional matters in the Tifosy group as a whole.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Sara was an associate at DLA Piper Milan advising primarily on leveraged and acquisition finance, project finance, distressed lending and debt restructuring transactions. Sara has a broad experience in finance and debt capital markets and before joining DLA Piper trained with Latham and Watkins in Milan and worked as an associate in the banking department. During her career Sara has also completed banking secondments at Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit and advised on specialist transactions in the sports sector including the financing of the AS Roma stadium and the structuring of the €300 million senior secured bonds issued by Inter Milan.

Sara holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Trento and a professional qualification from the Italian Bar Association.

Mrinal Sinh Smith

Chief Digital & Marketing Officer

Mrinal Sinh Smith is Chief Digital & Marketing Officer at Tifosy. Mrinal has overall responsibility for the product strategy and development of the Tifosy Investment Platform as well as leading platform innovation, operations and overseeing certain tech-enabled regulatory functions.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Mrinal was Head of International Publishing at the Guardian News & Media. As part of the senior management team that led the Guardian to becoming the most-read newspaper in the world, he held responsibility for core newspaper business representing 65% of revenue and consumer revenue products, including launching the Guardian's apps and digital subscription products. Mrinal also worked at global advertising agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and McCann, leading digital, data and membership strategies for brands including Visa, Costa Coffee and Philips.

Mrinal holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Geoff Tidey

Chief Technology Officer

Geoff Tidey is the Chief Technology Officer at Tifosy. Geoff leads the team responsible for the technical development and maintenance of the Tifosy Investment Platform and integrated company website.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Geoff had over 20 years of professional development experience in multiple programming languages, development processes & environments. He worked at SiS (Satellite Information Services), Kelkoo and Lovefresh building bespoke and complex systems for real-time gambling & live television, online retail & fintech.

Geoff holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of De Montfort.

Daryl Watson

Lead Developer

Daryl Watson is a Lead Developer at Tifosy. Daryl is responsible for the development and implementation of new platform features as well as overall site upgrades and maintenance.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Daryl began his career in the luxury hospitality industry before retraining as a coder at the prestigious Makers Academy in London where he went on to coach other students. Daryl is now a full-stack developer with experience using Ruby on Rails, Javascript with Backbone and ES6, and PostgreSQL.

Alex Kossmann

Finance Director

Alexander Kossmann is Finance Director at Tifosy. Alex is responsible for the firm’s finance, corporate affairs and investor relations. He also oversees data analytics for the Tifosy Investment Platform.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Alex was a Client Associate at Julius Baer and before that at Merrill Lynch, trading and delivering portfolio analysis and research in the equity, fixed income and currency markets. He also worked as a financial analyst at Tenaris, a large multinational in the oil drilling industry.

Alex holds a master’s degree in finance from the London Business School and a bachelor’s degree in banking and finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Montevideo and is fluent in Spanish, German and English.

Javier Vela

Associate

Javier Vela is an Associate at Tifosy. Javier joined the firm in 2022 and is a core member of the client coverage team working on the execution of M&A and financing transactions.

Prior to joining Tifosy, Javier was an Investment Banking Associate at Credit Suisse, where he advised on various M&A, ECM and DCM transactions in Spain and Portugal. Previous experience includes an internship at City Football Group.

Javier holds a Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) from ESADE Business School and completed an exchange programme with the City University of London. He is fluent in Catalan, Spanish, English and French.

Davide Fazio

Analyst

Davide Fazio is an Analyst at Tifosy. Davide joined the firm in 2023 and is responsible for market research, due diligence, and modelling as part of M&A and financing transactions.

Davide possesses a deep understanding of the professional sports industry and experience developing insightful data-based analysis.

Davide holds a BSc from University of Studies of Turin (Italy), a Double Master’s in Management from ESCP Business School (France and Spain), and is fluent in Italian, English and Spanish

Brian Lindley

Senior Advisor

Brian Lindley is a Managing Director and Head of Carlyle's Global Capital Markets group, managing teams based in New York and London.

Carlyle's syndicated loan and bond offerings through portfolio companies are typically ~$30–40 billion per year, representing one of the pre-eminent private equity debt issuers globally. The Global Capital Markets group comprises a team of seasoned professionals who join deal teams. Their responsibility is to execute financings and capital raises to maximize the "Carlyle Edge" from the firms' scale and importance to banks, credit funds and public equity investors in the global capital markets.

Prior to establishing the Global Capital Markets group, Mr. Lindley was a Partner in Carlyle's Europe Buyout group and the founding member and leader of Carlyle's European financing team for six years.

Mr. Lindley was previously a Managing Director at sovereign wealth fund Dubai International Capital, where he was a private equity investment professional responsible for managing a work-out portfolio of large, European headquartered buyouts throughout the global recession.

Prior to this, Mr. Lindley spent almost a decade in Leveraged Finance with RBS, located in New York and London.

Mr. Lindley is a board member of Dealogic. He has previously served on the boards of Travelodge, Alliance Medical and Almatis. Mr. Lindley holds a first class degree in economics and industry from University of Leeds.

Didier Quillot

Senior Advisor

Didier Quillot is a French businessman and notably the former Chief Executive Officer of the French Football League (Ligue de Football Professionnel – LFP) and Orange France (a France Télécom company).

Didier’s career at Orange France began in 1994 as Managing Director of FTMS, Mobile Services Provider and culminated in a six-year leadership of the company between 2000 and 2006 where, as Chief Executive Officer, he oversaw group revenues of €10 billion, EBITDA of €3.8 billion and 7,000 employees. In his 12 years at Orange France, Didier is noted for leading the marketing, industrial and management transformation of a state-owned Telco (France Télécom) into a European leader in mobile market (Orange) and for maintaining its leadership position both commercially and financially.

Didier also served as Chief Executive Officer of Lagardere Active (2006 – 2011) and Coyote System (2012 – 2015) before being appointed as Chief Executive Officer of LFP in 2016 with a mission to close the gap to the other major football leagues (EPL, LaLiga, Bundesliga) and to increase the value and global awareness of French professional football. In his 4 years leading LFP, broadcasting revenues increased +60% and commercial revenues increased +150% as part of which LFP secured the first sports sponsorship deal globally with UberEats. Awareness was significantly increased through new offices opened in China, roadshows in Asia and USA and the organisation of the first French football tournament in Washington. A new digital strategy was also implemented that secured over 15 million followers across social networks including 1.5 million on TikTok. Overall, during his time at LFP, the French football league realised a strong and successful turnaround and is now perceived as a real challenger within the top leagues in Europe as evidenced by the recent €1.5 billion private equity investment in the LFP itself.

Tim Williams

Senior Advisor

Tim Williams is CEO of Oxford United, having previously served as Managing Director at Tifosy where he was responsible for the strategy and development of the business in the UK, focusing on strategic and capital solutions to a wide range of clubs across multiple leagues. Tim is a finance professional with more than 25 years' experience including 15 years in sport, media, advertising and entertainment.

Prior to his time at Tifosy, Tim served as Chief Financial Officer and member of the San Siro stadium management company board at Inter Milan, where he held responsibility for financial, strategic and management reporting and the Group's financing and capital structure since 2015. While at Inter, Tim led the issue of structured bond and RCF facilities totalling €425m as well as securing short-term lending on numerous occasions. Tim also has extensive experience of the UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations after leading Inter Milan to the successful conclusion of a four-year FFP Settlement Agreement.

Before joining Inter Milan, he trained with KPMG and held senior finance roles for advertising agency McCann Erickson and Manchester United FC. Tim holds a bachelor's degree in finance from Manchester Metropolitan University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

Gianluca Vialli

Co-founder

Gianluca Vialli co-founded Tifosy and served as a non-executive director on the Board, helping shape the business into the leading sports advisory and capital solutions firm that it is today.

As one of the most iconic and successful professional footballers of the modern era; Gianluca enjoyed an incredible career as a player and manager in Italy and England and earning countless trophies including the Scudetto, Coppa Italia, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, FA Cup, League Cup and, most recently, the 2020 Euros as head of the Italian national football team delegation.

Having forged a hugely successful professional playing and coaching career, Gianluca spent many years at Sky Sports Italia and became a highly respected commentator and media personality, before later focusing on the business of sport.

Gianluca was seen as a trusted advisor and mentor who was acutely aware of the importance of team culture. Through Tifosy, Gianluca sought to bring financial investment and professionalisation to the sports sector for the benefit of all stakeholders, and in particular, the fans to whom he remained indebted to after his playing career. Ever present in the evolution of the firm, Gianluca played a pivotal role in several important transactions, including the $345 million initial public offering of Iconic Sports Acquisition Corp. in 2021.