Serie A: The Heyday, The Fall, and The Way Forward
UEFA club competitions have not been kind to Italian clubs recently as victims were made of Lazio and Milan, ousted in style by Ludogorets and Atlético Madrid.
European exits are never taken lightly in Italian football, newspapers typically lambaste coach and club choices and fans urge the club president to multiply spending in the transfer market.
As of late, however, these premature exits offer opportunities and challenges for the Italian football movement (CONI, FIGC, Lega di Serie A) to reflect on its course.
Italian football is on a downward trajectory.
Once the Mecca of club football, Serie A was the envy of the footballing world. To play in Serie A alongside Riva, Rivera, Antognoni, Platini, Socrates, Maradona, Van Basten, or Baggio was the dream of any child kicking a ragball in a dusty street. Italy boasted an astronomical UEFA Club Coefficient with an advantage of hundreds of points over chasers Spain and England.
Despite the rise in aggregate financial debt, Serie A teams have won only 2 European cups in the last 10 years. The Italian football movement is experiencing a downward spiraling UEFA coefficient, the inability to retain superstars and attract new ones, a shrinking merchandising share vis-à-vis other European clubs, and declining stadium attendance: these are all clear symptoms of decay.
How can the Italian football movement reverse this troubling trend?
THE HEYDAY
In order to identify what can be done to "right the ship", let's consider why it was so successful in the 1980s and 1990s.
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| Ruud Gullit and Diego Armando Maradona in a classic Napoli-Milan in 1988 |
First and foremost the answer is investment. Money. Italian club presidents poured billions of Lira, breaking one transfer record after another. Socrates, Zico, Maradona weren't signed by Fiorentina, Udinese and Napoli because of club prestige. It was more a case of "show me the money".
Perfect segue for the second factor. Money begets victories, which begets prestige, which begets fans, and children's dreams. Some of these grow into superstars who want to play in the biggest most prestigious (and well compensated) league.
The third factor is what I'll call strategic, "natural" advantage. These are exogenous factors such as favourable weather, proximity to leisure attractions (art and culture, beautiful beaches, great skiing), and other personal preferences have bent many a player's choice in Italy's favour. Michel Platini once intimated that he chose to ply his trade in Serie A over the English League because the two-week winter break gave him the chance to return to France for the holidays, which he couldn't do had he played across the English Channel.
In short, money buys great players, who make great club teams, who win major national and int'l trophies, which contribute to a healthy coefficient, stadium attendance, and sales.
THE FALL
So why did this all stop? Because everyone else started spending too. After the five-year ban imposed on English clubs following the Heysel Stadium tragedy of 1985, the English Football Association undertook the project that culminated in the foundation of the English Premier League (EPL). EPL clubs began acquiring - you guessed it - players from Serie A. Ruud Gullit, Pierluigi Casiraghi, Gianluca Vialli, Paolo Di Canio and Gianfranco Zola were the artifaces of English football's rise from the ashes of the Heysel. Then came the Eastern oligarchs and oil gods.
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| Gianluca Vialli joins Ruud Gullit at Chelsea in 1996 |
In Spain, Real Madrid's spending skyrocketed into galactic proportions courtesy of its members deep pockets, which pushed Barcelona to respond with their own big names and their cantera (youth system).
Germany took England's structural approach to another level and reinvented the Bundesliga, laying down a new blueprint for TV right distribution, stadium ownership, merchandising, and financial controls.
Meanwhile, technological advances expanded the media market, and the competition in particular the EPL took full advantage by leveraging its already storied product to all English speaking countries.
While traditional chasers beefed up investments and started buying everything in sight, Italian football clubs remained stuck in their old spend-to-acquire-the-best paradigm, with the exception that the money that would see them compete has dried up, revenue base is limited to TV rights, and expenses and debt have increased. To make matters worse even if money to invest was available, clubs have to adhere to Financial Fair Play rules that limit annual deficits. The old state of simply buying one’s way to victory is dead.
THE WAY FORWARD
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| Ad for the jersey that the Italian national team will sport at World Cup 2014 |
Increase Revenue From Traditionally Less Fruitful Sources
In order to ensure revenue against uncertainty, it's important to increase revenue from sources other than TV rights. Increasing the share of revenue that comes from merchandise and sponsorships should be the primary target of any club. These initiatives are left up to the individual clubs, thereby weakening the purchasing power of the league as a whole. Technical sponsorships with Adidas, Nike, or heck an Italian company like Kappa or Diadora could be negotiated by a Lega di Serie A united front to provide technical wear (jerseys, shorts, track suits, etc.) for the entire league, just like TV rights are negotiated.
Sales of team merchandise are threatened by counterfeit goods. A better monitoring and enforcement of these at least near Italian stadia on game day can go some way to fend off this threat.
Serie A could also market itself better by organizing preseason tours for its clubs. Yes, the big ones already do it, but a coordinated effort could get middle- and lower-ranked teams out there to promote the league and its emerging stars. Italian immigrant communities around the world would surely welcome clubs that hail from near their home towns, for example. In similar fashion, former stars of Serie A can become ambassadors for the league and make appearances in league-organized events abroad.
Increase Revenue From Traditionally Fruitful Sources
At the turn of this decade Serie A recognized the importance of revenue from TV rights and decided to negotiate them collectively. For a few individual clubs at the top this meant some short term loss, but in the long run it enriches Serie A clubs no matter where they traditionally fall in the standings. A richer middle-of-the-pack club will fair better now than before in UEFA competitions as they have more money to invest in players and payroll. Serie A can improve revenues by bargaining for better deals with TV conglomerates, as it has recently done with Juventus president Andrea Agnelli and Lazio president Claudio Lotito negotiating a whopping €5.9 billion deal from 2015 through to 2021, which is €240 million more per year than what was offered.
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| Andrea Agnelli urges for reforms in Italian football |
The biggest opportunity, however is to increase revenues from ticket sales. Italian stadia are showing their age, most of them had their last facelift since Italy hosted the World Cup in 1990. The Italian government doesn’t have the money to invest in building anew, and has a disincentive to improve them since they get revenue from football matches as well as other events (concerts, athletic meets, etc.) just the same. Revenue from stadium receipts can only be improved through private ownership of the grounds: tailoring the stadium to football improves fan experience in the stadium and at home, safety, and offers the fan a more complete service (pre-game entertainment, restaurants, and other services).
Only in the case of Juventus and Udinese have city governments been able to sell (or lease) the existing stadium and nearby grounds for redevelopment. Juventus, thus far the only one to have completed part of the project, has built a new stadium, a museum, and an adjacent mall. This phase of the project has seen revenues from ticket receipts and stadium activity skyrocket over the last few years, hand in hand with consecutive scudetto victories. The second part of its project includes the development of the area adjacent to the Juventus Stadium, where a cinema complex, residences, a club training centre and club headquarters will be built. What the league has been asking for is an omnibus law that facilitates the construction of new stadia, and provides some financial support (cash or land). An amendment to the existing law on stadia by Minister Melandri was presented in December 2013. It died with the last legislature. A deal needs to be worked out whereby stadia and grounds are sold or leased for 99 years to clubs for development (new stadium, and peripheral area to stimulate commercial redevelopment).
Minor Measures
Serie A should also consider establishing quotas to encourage teams to field more young players. For example, a rule could be introduced to ensure that each team could have 3 under 22 year olds play a determined number of minutes over the course of the season. Such a rule might attract young superstars to Serie A, as the league builds the reputation that it is a place where youngsters leap from. Players like Eintract Frankfurt’s 19 year-old Oliver Kempf may not be as tentative to move to Juventus because he fears that he will not get any playing time.
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| Lorenzo Insigne and Manolo Gabbiadini: two promising Italian youngsters |
Reducing the number of participating Serie A teams would increase the quality of football and decrease the number of matches per season. This would allow for players to be more rested and perform better, for club as well as country. Italy like England and Germany draws heavily from its domestic league. Playing fewer games a year will help preserve players for major international tournaments such as the World Cup and the Euro.
Finally, Serie A should also consider moving its winter break until after the Epiphany, as families will have additional time to go to the stadium and to attract foreigners who can visit stadium and city. Football is entertainment after all isn't it?
CONCLUSION
The time to stop dithering is now. Even big clubs are realizing the importance of collective action and sweeping reforms. Andrea Agnelli president of Juventus, the team that already owns its own stadium, is espousing this concept, even though new stadia for other clubs may run counter to his team's short-run interests. It's time that others follow suit.
For too long the traditional sides have held a myopic view, preferring playing one off against the other thanks to coalitions with minnow clubs they have influence over, fighting for the lion's share of a small pie. It's time to expand that pie and become dominant again in Europe while Serie A continues to hold tradition and lure in the footballing world.
Special thanks to Ashraf Hossain and Marco D'Onofrio for their invaluable peer reviews.
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