Incorporated in Amsterdam, Gamma Waves Partners targets minority stakes in sports IP and growth-stage tech companies across basketball, hockey, cricket, rugby and tennis. Football — the sport Agnelli ran for 12 years — goes unmentioned.
Andrea Agnelli, former Chairman of Juventus, has founded a sports investment firm with former Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini and entrepreneur Rocco Benetton, heir to the Italian fashion dynasty and former CEO of Benetton’s Formula One team. Incorporated in Amsterdam, the company is called Gamma Waves Partners and was revealed to the world on April 24.
Gamma is structured as a permanent capital vehicle (with no fixed term). It is focused, it says, on two things: sports IP (minority stakes in competitions, clubs, teams and athletes in what the firm calls “globally captivating sectors”) and sports tech (growth-stage companies focused on data analytics, AI-automated content production and fan engagement). The sectors named are basketball, hockey, cricket, tennis, baseball and rugby, the rest relegated to an “etc.”
In other words, football – by far the most popular sport in the Netherlands, in the founders’ home country of Italy, in the world – goes unmentioned. Agnelli spent 12 years at football’s sunny summit before descending under a cloud, so the omission is no doubt intentional.
And yet the press release reads: “A simple game became a global product; today it is becoming digital, immersive and personalised, driven by new generations, new formats, and a world in which athletes, creators and communities shape attention every day.” Name a simple game gone global….
According to the Financial Times (FT), Gamma has secured €55 million in commitments against a €100 million target. Agnelli has declined to say how much he himself has invested but tells the FT that everybody involved “has significant capital at risk.” Chief Investment Officer Kyang Yung seeks a gross internal rate of return of 25 percent. Due diligence is underway on investment into a first, unnamed asset.
Agnelli chaired Juventus from 2010 to 2022, overseeing nine consecutive Serie A titles and two appearances in the Champions League final. He resigned over an accounting scandal related to player trading and salary payments. In September 2025, having been charged with related crimes, he received a 20-month suspended sentence under a plea bargain, without admitting guilt. Agnelli was also Vice-Chairman of the European Super League, which fell through in 2021.
The Agnelli family retains a majority stake in Juventus. Chiellini holds a stake in Mercury13, the women’s football ownership group.
