Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis believes that football on TV should be made available for free for all supporters to watch and enjoy, and that the sport should take notes from Formula 1 in terms of how events are shown.
The Partenopei President was a guest speaker at the Business of Football Summit held in London by the Financial Times on Thursday, where he explained that, in his opinion, football should be made available to the masses.
The Napoli chief also said that stadiums across the board in Italy are ‘dilapidated’ and could all do with upgrades in the near future.
Explaining his views on the current TV deals in football, De Laurentiis said: “It should be free for everyone. If you want to retain an audience, you have to live on free TV.
“And, as an entrepreneur, you have to know how to curate big publicity,” ADL said in his session alongside journalist James Fontanella-Khan, reported via TMW.
He continued: “It also matters how you show football. Not just in the stadiums, which are dilapidated and not comfortable for spectators in Italy, I’m also talking about on TV.”
De Laurentiis drew comparisons from other sports and how they are broadcasted, specifically Formula 1 and the immersive experience that new technology has been able to provide.
“How can it be that in Formula 1, the images make you feel as if you are in the cockpit with the drivers, but you don’t ever get that with football.
“I would like to choose my own way, and I always say that the best example of how to broadcast a match is the World Cup final between Argentina and France.
“But football has aged as a sport, we should sit down at the table and reflect, but our table is a big circus where you can’t stop to think too much, otherwise you’re labelled as a rebel.”