Rocco Commisso, the outspoken owner of Italian soccer club Fiorentina and chairman of New York-based Mediacom Communications, has died. He was 76.
Both Fiorentina and Mediacom announced Commisso’s death early Saturday without providing a cause.
“After a prolonged period of medical treatment, our beloved president has left us, and today we all mourn his passing,” Fiorentina said. “His love for Fiorentina was the greatest gift he gave himself.”
After making Mediacom into one of the United States’ biggest cable television companies, Commisso purchased Fiorentina in 2019 and became known for speaking out against Italy’s bureaucracy and inability to build new stadiums.
Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso gestures to club fans from the field ahead of the Conference League Final soccer match between Olympiacos FC and ACF Fiorentina at OPAP Arena in Athens, Greece, on May 29, 2024. AP
Commisso was born in Calabria and immigrated to the United States at the age of 12.
He also owned the New York Cosmos, and played soccer at Columbia University, the Ivy League school that he continued to support philanthropically.
The university’s soccer stadium is named for him.
“Rocco fought for what is best for American soccer, believing in the growth of the game, the importance of community, and the power of clubs to inspire the next generation,” the Cosmos wrote on X on Friday night.
“The New York Cosmos extend their heartfelt condolences to his wife Catherine, his children Giuseppe and Marisa, his extended family, and all those whose lives were touched by Rocco.”
At Fiorentina, Commisso celebrated reaching the Conference League final in 2023 and 2024.
But the team has struggled this season and is currently in Serie A’s relegation zone.