In the wake of renewed discussion about a European Super League, Adam Summerton has asked fans of Calcio what internal improvements could be made to Italian football in the order to make Serie A more successful, both from a sporting and financial perspective.
“If the people living there don’t want to watch it, why would I?”
Someone said this to me many years ago and it’s always stuck with me. They were referring to seeing a half-empty Serie A stadium on their TV. As a big advocate of the league, I naturally replied with many reasons why they still should watch Italian football, but that person had a point, and they’d hit on a big issue that remains very prevalent in Italy.
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That conversation came back to my mind recently as I observed the renewed discussion about a European Super League. I listened to the concerns that the Premier League is just too wealthy and powerful to compete with, and my first thought was that Italian football would be better served looking inwardly and making serious changes that – in the long term – would make Serie A and its clubs more profitable, sustainable, and competitive. Is that a quick fix? Undeniably not. But if Italian football is to maximise its potential and sell itself better, there are so many things that could be done inwardly.
The remit here is wide-ranging, and a big part of it is appealing to a worldwide audience, something the Premier League has done better than any other league in the world. But I would argue that if you want increased global appeal, you must convince and look after your local fans first & foremost. As that person said to me all those years ago, why should they, as casual international observers watch a product that local people don’t seem totally invested in?
According to Soccerway.com – not one Serie A club has sold more than 90% of their available home tickets this season – Milan & Inter are both at that figure – the lowest are Verona at 45%. So, while no Serie A club has sold more than 90% of their home tickets – only one Premier League club has sold below 90% of their home tickets, and that’s the smallest club in the division, Bournemouth (86%).
When you see a Premier League stadium on your television it is almost always packed to the rafters, and this makes such a difference to the product’s marketability. Whilst Serie A can’t currently boast the same strength in depth in terms of player talent as the Premier League, the quality of the entertainment, the excitement, the goals-per-game are all comparable to England’s top-flight – in short, it’s a great league to watch, with some fantastic individual talents, and likely to have a 4th different winner in as many seasons – so if the product on the pitch is not the problem, what is?
I had my own thoughts, many of which were confirmed by people on social media when I asked what followers of Calcio would improve about it. Here are a selection of those relating to the fan experience
@tbf_updates
Stadiums and clubs owning them. Most are in major need of investment and look shabby at best on TV. Removing some of the ugly barriers would be a start.
@colinkeose
I know it’s done for fan safety and managing ultra culture, but getting tickets can sometimes be tricky. Passport in hand.
@johnhud7
Stadium ownership top priority. For visiting fans, getting tickets is often a shambles. Maybe it’s just in recent years, but bottom 3/4 clubs are way off the rest, not advocating smaller league but an issue for overall competitiveness
@ivan__silva10
Italy needs a huge infrastructure improvement and also sanctioning inadequate behaviour. Ultras who destroy stadiums and have racist/homophobic attitudes should be banned from entering the stadium and for that law enforcement is needed. Also better broadcasting deals tbh
@StephenCole1984
Making dates and times more stable so you can plan in advance for weekends of watching games. Tickets are sometimes difficult if you are not going to a big team or fluent Italian speaker
@Brennan_Media97
I’m just back from my first time at a Serie A match in the flesh as it were – at the Allianz last night for Juventus/Torino. All in all, amazing, but IMO the transport available away from the stadium after was REALLY poor. Don’t get me wrong but, on the whole LOVED last night
@HenryBellCalcio
A coordinated, community-driven approach by every professional club to tackle racism through education programmes. From primary schools through to sports clubs for the elderly. Subsidised by the Government too for maximum investmet
@SalForzaNapoli
Must tackle racism head on, these fines are a joke, stadiums are in need of serious improvements/replacement/club owne, youth squads must be taken seriously, reserve leagues and with that investments in the lower leagues, Marketing & Public relations & change in management
@ZepsterLagioia
Updated stadiums – generate money all year round, and be more pleasant for fan experience..much like UK, which would mean the clubs actually need to own their own stadia.. but mustn’t take away the passion like in the new shiny stadiums in PL which can sometimes be boring
@ma_macer
Clubs need to start owning their own stadiums firstly so then income improves straight away also as a fan who goes in the away sectors some times over an hour locked in after the game and sectors toilets etc are appalling to say the least and the view can be pretty far from the pitch
@alekssmaback
Every team getting new, privately owned stadiums should be the first step. That would improve the financials for all the clubs, which then can be used to upgrade personal facilities. But I guess it will be a long way til that happens
@masta_ash
Inside Italy focus should be around the stadium experience, Italy is already a football loving nation so no worries about having people watch the games but rather it’s about how to attract more people to the stadiums and focus on the game experience as a whole
@gianlulamarca
To have city councils award teams the freedom to build their own stadiums. Instead they choose to prefer their pockets being filled and have the league deteriorate by each passing year…
@tommyuda
I grew up in Italy watching and following Italian football and I think they need to make football matches more family friendly. The general consensus in Italy is that a football match is not somewhere you can take children/family and this is reducing the number of fans attending
@UpTheHills
Fan experience is at an all time low in Italy. The mayor of each city can effectively decide if away fans are allowed on a very short notice. Just an example for the last two away games for Atalanta: 24 hours before the Milan match they opened the free sale of away tickets.
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As you’ll have noticed, one issue gets mentioned more than any other – stadium ownership. It’s a massive problem that has been holding Italian football back for a very long time. While ever only a handful of Italian clubs own their own stadiums, significant revenue streams are being missed out on, and the quality of the facilities and fan experience suffers.
All these things are interconnected and it’s imperative for the future of Italian football that the bureaucratic barriers that help to hold up stadium developments are removed. Some will scoff at that and say ‘that’s how it’s always been, nothing will change’ – keep expecting the same results then, and don’t lament the Premier League’s financial dominance.
Whilst building new, club-owned stadiums is a fundamental issue off the pitch, on it there surely needs to be better promotion of young Italian talent. Last season Serie A ranked 38th out of 40 leagues in terms of the percentage of minutes played by club-trained players, averaging 7.1 per cent. Serie A was the only league with three sides who didn’t use a single club-trained player last season – Bologna, Udinese and Venezia. In a climate where Serie A clubs are competing against the financial might of the Premier League, it is surely even more important than ever to produce your own, and I refuse to believe in a football-rich country like Italy that the talent isn’t there, it’s just not being given enough of a chance.
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@ma_macer
No reserve football is a big problem imo after the U19 primavera there is only the first team, only Juve have a B/U23 side, I understand more clubs can apply for it but it’s more likely too costly
@CCalcistica
The mass movement of under 16 players. Atalanta, Juve, Sassuolo, etc bring young boys hundreds of miles (often from the south), which I’ve never thought can be healthy. Nothing new (& not unique to Italy) but might they develop better (as players & people) closer to home?
@italiananglopod
Huge investment in the lower leagues, improve facilities and stability of clubs, so many players must get lost in the lower leagues and will give better options for youngsters to go out on loan to develop, also can’t think of a country with more Phoenix clubs so regulation there?
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Youth development feels like one of the so many issues where Italian football could benefit hugely from greater collaboration, cooperation and communication – there isn’t enough joined-up thinking, and I’d say merchandising is an example of that. Italian football is iconic for its kits and fashion, yet I rarely see anyone in the UK wearing the merchandise of Serie A clubs. How it would be done organisationally and financially would be for Serie A and the clubs to determine, but look at how successful the NFL, for example, is at this – a European online store where you can buy a full range of products from every franchise – I see so many people in the UK wearing the bobble hats of NFL clubs. The UK has an entire generation of football fans who grew up with Calcio on Channel 4 in the 90s, 00s – a well-priced, official range of classic Calcio shirts, promoted by legends like Batistuta, Maldini and Baggio, sold from a central hub, would do really well over here. Just an idea.
@TheRealPanicFC
Set up overseas merchandise programs – making actual merchandise available from a central location for all clubs in Serie A/B. Smaller clubs to travel to US for pre-season training/friendlies – but not the usual places, avoid big cities, MLS cities. Visit underserved areas
@masta_ash
Better presence of the brand outside Italy, and am not talking about just playing super cup overseas, there should be more presence in the sense of promoting Serie A maybe having merchandise store, events and competitions offering opportunities to watch big games
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Be it merchandising, promotion of Italian talent or fan experience, it feels to me like there is a gold mine of untapped potential – the future could be so bright, yet I wonder how much scandals of the past and negative headlines of the present continue to hinder Italian football going forward. Perception is everything, particularly when you’re competing with such a polished product as the Premier League. Audiences, both domestic and global, need to believe in the product and there’s still work to do to shrug off the reputational damage of scandals like Calciopoli – communication is key here, and in a similar vein, more work could be done promoting changes we’ve seen on the pitch. I’m always amazed how many people in the UK still refer to Italian football as ‘boring and defensive’. Nothing could be further from the truth – yet this dates back to the days of Catenaccio and there’s work to do to open more eyes to the wonderful excitement we so often see in the modern-day Serie A.
Napoli are the best example of this right now. They are, in my opinion, playing the most attractive football in Europe and they are an absolute gift to Italian football’s marketeers, which must be absolutely maximised in the coming months. One of Italian football’s biggest marketing opportunities is its iconic players and teams of the past, and Napoli cater brilliantly both for the past and the modern present. The stadium where a statue of Maradona stands is witnessing the most entertaining brand of modern football and will almost certainly be home to the Serie A trophy come May, perhaps even the Champions League.
Their success is proof that with clever recruitment and excellent coaching, Serie A is still more than capable of competing with Premier League clubs on the pitch. March began with seven Italian sides still in Europe, three of those with 1st leg leads in the Champions League Round of 16 – let’s also not forget that Roma are holders of one of the three European honours.
Italian football is in good health, Serie A has an absolute wealth of selling points, both modern and historic – it’s home to some fantastic footballers and iconic brands – a lot of good work is already being done to sell and promote all this, but I – and all the people that responded to me on social media, can see that there is still so much untapped potential.
Italian football needn’t depend on the fresh revenue streams of a hypothetic European Super League to compete financially – the opportunities for self-generated and sustainable revenue streams are there waiting to tap into if some fundamental, long-standing issues are addressed. The most important revenue stream of all undoubtedly comes from broadcasting and the ceiling for growth here is sizeable in my opinion – but it is so dependent on improving the fundamentals – you can’t have one without the other and to grow the global audience you need to please your domestic one first and foremost.