ESPN FC caught up with him in Florence.

Q: So after Jim Pallotta (Roma), Zhang Jindong (Inter), Joey Saputo (Bologna) and the Singer family (Milan), Serie A has another overseas owner. Only the Premier League, where more than two-thirds of the clubs have foreign investors, has more outside investment. Is that because they're seeing a growth opportunity?

Commisso: First of all, I hope you distinguish me from everybody else. I'm Italian, I was born in Italy. I think it's the first time in the history of Italian soccer that an immigrant has returned to invest his money but it's true, whether it's the stadiums or the viewership. We're more than one step behind the Premier League and that's the standard we should shoot for from a business standpoint. But the potential is there and if we get the right people, we have the opportunity to reach that level. That's why I believe strongly the Italian game is on its way back.

Q: You had been trying to invest in the game for a long time.

A: Yeah, for about 20 years, though I'm glad I didn't do it 20 years ago or even 10 years ago. We had opportunities at Roma, at Juventus for a minority stake, at Fiorentina two years ago and then, last summer, we look at Milan and you know what happened there with Mr. Li [Li Yonghong refused Commisso's offer and became insolvent. The company was taken over by Elliott Management and the Singer family, his biggest creditors]. People also called me from England, Belgium, Switzerland, France... once my name got thrown around, plenty came. But Fiorentina felt right. And we ended up closing the deal in record time.

Q: FIFA president Gianni Infantino said last week that while there's money all over the world, especially in Asia and North America, investors are flocking to Europe. He said he hopes that gets rebalanced over time so the game can grow everywhere. In fairness, you did try to invest in North America first.

A: Yeah, three years ago I bought the Cosmos and I hoped it could help change American soccer. Instead, I got screwed over. I played my first game on April 1 and on Sept. 1, [the US Soccer Federation, or USSF] relegated the whole league [the North American Soccer League, or NASL] to Division IV. They didn't give me any time to get to work and that's why I followed up with lawsuits.