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Financial challenges for Serie A

The influx of foreign club owners in Italy is a new phenomenon, particularly compared with the Premier League.  Of the 20 Serie A clubs, eight now have non-Italian owners.  Six of these were acquired by American individuals or financial groups in the last three years alone

Among the recent deals were hedge fund Elliott Management's takeover of AC Milan in 2018; billionaire Dan Friedkin's €591m acquisition of AS Roma and the 777 Partners sports investment fund purchase of Genoa last year.

This reflections an imbalance of supply and demand with more wealthy individuals seeking to buy top clubs than are available across Europe.

Infrastructure is a big problem.  As a legacy of the 1990 World Cup, many teams have to play in crumbling, government-owned stadiums.  Grounds are rarely full, partly because 'ultras' put off families from attending.   New owners seeking rebuilds of stadiums in cities such as Milan and Rome have been delayed by local political wrangling.

Covid-19 has hit many of Italy's heavily indebted clubs such as Inter Milan and Sampdoria, which had previously spent heavily on players.  These clubs are among those forced into emergency fund raisings, a fire sale of their best players, or a process of finding new owners.

Meanwhile, the value of Serie A's broadcast rights has fallen.   The €2.5bn deal for domestic rights for 2021-24 led by DAZN is smaller than the previous deal worth about €1bn a season.

A significant drop is expected in the future value of international TV contracts which in any case are well below those in the Premier League.   Qatar-based beIN Sports accounted for about half of the rights package, but has declined to renew the contract, complaining that Serie A had not done enough to tackle piracy.

A €1.6bn to sell 10 per cent of Serie A's broadcasting and commercial rights to a consortium involving private equity groups appears to have been abandoned.   There was a lack of support among rival club owners who did not want to give up control of the league's operations.

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