American investor offers €250 million for San Nicola and Della Vittoria stadiums ahead of Euro 2032

A €250 million proposal to regenerate the San Nicola and Della Vittoria stadiums has reached Palazzo di Città. According to the Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, it was presented by Stadio&Co Srl, a company linked to American entrepreneur Gregory Vaughn, an Italian-American citizen married to Paola Leone, originally from Valenzano. Behind the operation is also her brother, Massimo Leone, a Bari-based commercial accountant who reportedly gave decisive impetus to the project.

The project for the two facilities

The stated objective is to get Bari included among the five Italian cities that will host Euro 2032. For the San Nicola, designed by Renzo Piano, the proposal includes interventions to bring the stands closer to the pitch, upgrade technical systems and create new hospitality areas, making it compliant with Uefa Category 4 standards. In parallel, the restoration of the Della Vittoria would begin, which during the San Nicola works would host sporting activities and eventually become a civic and multi-sports facility.

According to reports, the proposal also includes a letter expressing an institutional investor's interest in undertaking assessments to evaluate possible support for financing the project. Vaughn and his wife, both associate professors affiliated with the University of Washington, moved to Bari in June 2026; he works in real estate development in Seattle.

Tight timeline

The Municipality has formally acquired the documentation and launched preliminary proceedings for the service conference. Time is tight: on September 30, the Italian Football Federation will send the bid dossier to Uefa on candidate stadiums, and the choice of the five Italian venues will come by the end of October. Construction feasibility for the San Nicola interventions should be guaranteed by March, with work completion no later than the first months of 2031.

Interest in Bari

According to the Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, the white-red club would not be the focus of the operation but would constitute an integral part of it, given the team's role as a driver for stadium-related business. There have already been some initial contacts with Filmauro, the De Laurentiis family company that owns Ssc Bari. A possible development could emerge on October 16, the date set for a meeting between the committee of guarantors appointed by Mayor Vito Leccese and Bari's general manager Pierpaolo Marino, to verify possible steps toward the club's sale, made necessary by the federal rule on the disposal of multi-ownership by June 30, 2028.