Good points Jacques. TV revenue is definetely an issue for a mid market teams like Sampdoria, Torino, Napoli, Parma, Bologna et al. I know people often uses the misnomer "market forces" without fully understanding how it works, and without going into unnecessary details, TV rights for the soccer game is best sold as a bundle. Of course, the size of the pie sold in bundles doesnt necessarily compensate the loss of revenue for the big team and hence we see the sort of system in Serie A right now.
However, on the point of selling the rights to the other nations, I believe it is actually easier to sell your league rights when sold in pieces because foreigners want to see the big matches and not Catania vs Empoli. It enables teams to tailor suite the TV schedule that fits into local demands, and for this reason, I believe Serie A is actually viewed more than say EPL. Nonetheless, the loss of competitiveness is just too large to outweight the positive effects of selling rights individually.
But I agree with your main point that the lack of investment is primarily due to the fact that major innovation requires that of federation actually making some changes. Italian FA's so badly run its just untrue. Pity that they cant go bankrupt like Fiorentina, Napoli, and Torino did. I always hear people saying EPL is quick, fast, furious, exciting blah blah but the truth is, which I realized in recent weeks, majority of games borders on being a rugby match. Teams like West Ham, Newcastle, Everton, Blackburn to lesser extent Bolton are unbearable to watch (Blackburn vs Spurs was a classic) and certainly no lesser than say Catania, Messina, Empoli etc. I am sick of Italian FA's inability to market its league when craps like Serie A is all defending floats around when in actual fact it scored more goal than "furious, exciting, full of goals" EPL last year. Chelski vs ManUre were putting in defensive performances that would have made 90s Serie A proud whilst Inter and Milan decided another adventure of goal feast in Milano. But perception is that Inter vs Milan is bound to finish 0-0!
I also believe another big issue yet to be settled is an ownership of Stadia. Part of reason why Italian Stadia is so run down is the fact they are owned by councils and leased to the teams. The incentive structure is such that they are no incentive for councils to make it more fan friendly exciting atmosphere drawing more gates because councils cannot fully capture the gain through investments. And politicians is quick to see FC as a way to cover their mistakes by asking them to cover the costs. These days teams are more than just FCs. They have a very complex business models with diverse revenues streaming from Stadia, TV, Gates, Merchandises etc. I have been to San Siro before and the contrast could not be starker than say Yomiuri Giants' Dome Stadium. I feel only way to solve is for the teams to buy the stadium (which they tried but could not meet the cost). Given the renovation required I feel teams cannot effectively meet the cost (not for Euro anyway), and probably more complex financing structure is needed, but the truth it council leasing it to the teams aint gonna work.
But inspite of all this, Italian teams do make good investment opportunity IMO. There are so many rooms for improvement. Buy the stadium, rennovate it, big teams with history and fanbase around the world. No disrespect to WestHam but Napoli is far bigger team with more earning potential than WestHam can ever be.
However, on the point of selling the rights to the other nations, I believe it is actually easier to sell your league rights when sold in pieces because foreigners want to see the big matches and not Catania vs Empoli. It enables teams to tailor suite the TV schedule that fits into local demands, and for this reason, I believe Serie A is actually viewed more than say EPL. Nonetheless, the loss of competitiveness is just too large to outweight the positive effects of selling rights individually.
But I agree with your main point that the lack of investment is primarily due to the fact that major innovation requires that of federation actually making some changes. Italian FA's so badly run its just untrue. Pity that they cant go bankrupt like Fiorentina, Napoli, and Torino did. I always hear people saying EPL is quick, fast, furious, exciting blah blah but the truth is, which I realized in recent weeks, majority of games borders on being a rugby match. Teams like West Ham, Newcastle, Everton, Blackburn to lesser extent Bolton are unbearable to watch (Blackburn vs Spurs was a classic) and certainly no lesser than say Catania, Messina, Empoli etc. I am sick of Italian FA's inability to market its league when craps like Serie A is all defending floats around when in actual fact it scored more goal than "furious, exciting, full of goals" EPL last year. Chelski vs ManUre were putting in defensive performances that would have made 90s Serie A proud whilst Inter and Milan decided another adventure of goal feast in Milano. But perception is that Inter vs Milan is bound to finish 0-0!
I also believe another big issue yet to be settled is an ownership of Stadia. Part of reason why Italian Stadia is so run down is the fact they are owned by councils and leased to the teams. The incentive structure is such that they are no incentive for councils to make it more fan friendly exciting atmosphere drawing more gates because councils cannot fully capture the gain through investments. And politicians is quick to see FC as a way to cover their mistakes by asking them to cover the costs. These days teams are more than just FCs. They have a very complex business models with diverse revenues streaming from Stadia, TV, Gates, Merchandises etc. I have been to San Siro before and the contrast could not be starker than say Yomiuri Giants' Dome Stadium. I feel only way to solve is for the teams to buy the stadium (which they tried but could not meet the cost). Given the renovation required I feel teams cannot effectively meet the cost (not for Euro anyway), and probably more complex financing structure is needed, but the truth it council leasing it to the teams aint gonna work.
But inspite of all this, Italian teams do make good investment opportunity IMO. There are so many rooms for improvement. Buy the stadium, rennovate it, big teams with history and fanbase around the world. No disrespect to WestHam but Napoli is far bigger team with more earning potential than WestHam can ever be.
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