© EuroFootball.com
Italian Football Federation President Ottorino Barassi predicted in 1960: "Football may be in danger due to the wonderful invention of humanity - television." Indeed, he was not wrong - the body and spirit of Italian football has been sold to television. The value of Italian television companies now stands at 6 billion euros.
From the 2008-2009 season, the number of sold season tickets for Italy's "Serie A" dropped by 20.4% (from 354,659 to 282,233), while the price of football broadcasts rose by 69%.
The FIFA World Cup held in Italy in 1990 left football stadiums now ending their days crumbling, which forces people to choose television over the stadium.
The attendance at Italian stadiums is the lowest in Europe. They are on average filled to 61%, while in France it's 69%, in Spain 73%, in Germany 88%, and in England the most - 92%.
People go to the stadium hoping to feel comfortable and see their favorite teams up close. What can the Italian concrete monsters, counting 69 years, provide, most of whom have running tracks?
It's no wonder that the number of sold season tickets is decreasing, while prices for broadcasts are increasing. For example, "Sky" recently exceeded the 5 million customers mark. One thing is clear - if an ordinary team supporter has to choose between a ticket to the stadium or a television broadcast, they will most likely choose the latter option.
Recently, "Sky" and "Mediaset Premium" broke the broadcast record. In the last round of the "Serie A" in Italy, 10 million football fans watched the matches on TV. Of these, 3 million tuned in to watch the match between "Inter" and "Napoli," while over four million watched the match between "Milan" and "Juventus."
"Serie A" President Marco Brunelli tried to explain the emptying of Italian stadiums: "The truth is that stadium attendance in Italy is not changing. For quite a while now, an average of 23,000 spectators gather for a "Serie A" match."
"Television now offers: high-quality images, 3D, interviews, cameras in the locker rooms, etc. In other words, watching a match on television can make you feel like you're at the stadium."
"Look at what happened with 'Juventus.' They built a new stadium, which now operates like a magnet. People buy tickets without hesitation and go to their games. We hope that other clubs will follow the example of 'Juventus'," Brunelli said.
Only a few Italian clubs can even think about building a new stadium, but it's high time for the Italians to find a way out of the deepening stadium crisis. Recently, Italy's television companies signed new contracts with the state that will bring in 2.5 billion euros in profit from 2012 to 2015.
This season, "Juventus" saw the highest increase in season ticket sales. Last season, the Turin team sold 14,290 season tickets, while this year they have already sold 24,137. Ticket revenue also increased by 125%. Meanwhile, "Milan" sold almost 1,000 fewer season tickets this season (30,398), while "Inter" sold 6,000 fewer (34,732).
The sale of season tickets for "Napoli" increased by 31%, this year's "Serie A" debutants "Novara" tripled their sales. "Cesena" reached a record of 12,114 season tickets sold. "Udinese" is also celebrating selling 2,000 more season tickets.
