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Riccardo Silva (born 1970) is an Italian businessman. He is the owner of Silva International Investments, which has investments in a range of companies across media, sports, entertainment, art, and real estate. He is also a co-owner of AC Milan, president and co-owner of Miami FC, owner of the Silva family art collection, and was CEO of the Milan Channel.
Since its inception, the company have invested in Mast Capital, a Miami based real estate and development company and has made a number of acquisitions, including a majority stake in Globe Soccer Awards.
In August 2017, Silva International Investments acquired SportBusiness, who provide insight into businesses working in the sports industry throughout the world.
In October 2019, the company acquired the London modeling agency, Select Model Management, and announced a major global expansion driven through an integration with Silva International Investment's existing modelling agency network, MP Management.
Following MP Management's establishment in 2008 in Milan, the company acquired a second agency in Miami in 2014, quickly followed with the acquisition of a third agency, Major Paris, in 2015. Under the ownership of Silva International Investments, the group continued to grow, with the acquisition of Elite Stockholm in 2017, and in the same year, with the establishment of a strategic partnership with Modellink in Gothenburg. This was followed in 2018 with the acquisition of the Factor Chosen Group, which brought into the network agencies in Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta. With the acquisition of Select, the network expanded to London, with the group now spanning eight agencies over the U.S and Europe.
During their time competing in the NASL, Miami FC captured the 2017 spring NASL title with a 7-0 win over the San Francisco Deltas, and in October of that year, the club completed an historic double, becoming the first team in NASL history to win both the Spring and Autumn titles in the same season. In an interview with El Nuevo Herald Riccardo Silva stated that "The fact that we won the Spring and Autumn tournaments does not mean there are not more things that we have to fight for".
In June 2017, Miami FC played their first competitive fixture against an MLS club, beating Orlando City SC 3-1 in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with Stefano Pinho scoring a hat-trick. The Telegraph reported Riccardo Silva saying: “It was the biggest game in our short history so to win so convincingly against a fantastic club like Orlando City was a great result for us".
Miami FC 2 were crowned 2018 NPSL National Champions in August 2018, defeating FC Motown (Morristown, NJ) 3-1 at Drew University’s Ranger Stadium.
In July 2019, Miami FC won its sixth overall trophy, adding the NPSL Sunshine Conference to their list of honors, defeating Miami United FC 3-2 in the final. August 2019 saw Miami FC add more titles to their trophy cabinet, winning the 2019 National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) title by recording a 3-1 victory over New York Cosmos.
In September 2019, the team joined the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), where they won their ninth trophy by winning the NISA East Coast Championship.
On 11 December 2019, former USL Championship club Ottawa Fury FC announced that it had transferred its franchise rights to Miami FC ownership group, and the club would begin competition in the league in the 2020 season.
In 2018, Miami FC announced the launch of its new Youth Academy Program. Miami FC Youth Academy Program will be dedicated to increasing opportunities for youth soccer players in South Florida to develop their skills and knowledge of the game.
The plans to develop the ACL have been described as ‘a vehicle to help place the country at the forefront of game’, a goal which Silva believes can be achieved.
In 2016, Silva's company, Silva International Investments, commissioned a report by Deloitte, on promotion and relegation in United States professional soccer. The report, published in November 2016, found that promotion and relegation could assist US club soccer in capitalising on the potential for the sport in USA, but also stated it's still too early to consider such a system in the U.S. until some important questions are answered.
In August 2017, Miami FC joined forces with the National Premier Soccer League's Kingston Stockade FC in filing a request for arbitration at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
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