Playing Matches Behind Closed Doors Could Cost Italian Soccer Clubs ‘$34 Million’


The latest weekend of Italian soccer was probably the most surreal of the last decade, as the entire matchday of Serie A – Italy’s top soccer league – was played behind closed doors due to concerns related to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak.

The unusual and desolating pictures of empty stadiums made it to the front page of many sports outlets around the world, causing surprise and concern.

Italy’s Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora ordered all the Serie A games to be played behind closed doors for 30 days, until April 3.

The measure was decided on March 4 with an emergency decree issued by the government, in an attempt to delay the spread of COVID-19 throughout the country.

The vast majority of the teams was against playing behind closed doors, fearing the economical consequences that come from the loss of ticket revenues.

A study conducted by ‘Calcio e Finanza’, an Italian website specialized in soccer finance, estimates that playing behind closed doors would result in a loss in the region of $34 million.

The sum was calculated “assuming that the clubs will fully refund normal and season tickets and that the fixtures postponed so far would be rescheduled by April 3”.

According to the study, a total of 29 domestic games will be played without fans resulting in a loss of $23,5 million, given 750.000 tickets potentially sold.

The analysis also took into account continental competitions, namely Champions League and Europa League, where three italian sides are still involved.

The games to be affected by the measure are Juventus-Lyon (second leg of the Champions League round of 16), AS Roma-Seville and FC Inter-Getafe (both first legs of the Europa League round of 16), with a total loss of around $9 million.

“Should the situation continue, the economical survival of several Serie A sides would be at serious risk” says Andrea Di Biase, senior partner at ‘Calcio e Finanza’, responsible for the study.

According to the report’s estimates, Juventus will be the most affected club, suffering a potential revenue loss of $14 million – 43% of the total tickets earnings of the whole league – followed by AC Milan (-$3,4 million) and FC Inter (-$3,1 million).

“While biggest teams would compensate the loss with capital injections provided by wealthy ownerships, small sides will struggle enormously”, said Di Biase.

“Teams whose budget is already burdened by considerable debts rely heavily on ticket sales, and should the situation continue, they could not endure an additional month of games with empty stadiums”, warns Di Biase.

“Ticket revenues for Serie A teams amounted to $222 million, which represented 6% of the $4,35 billion of total revenues in 2017/2018 season alone”.

Andrea Di Biase, Football Analyst

“Ticket revenues for Serie A teams amounted to $222 million, which represented 6% of the $4,35 billion of total revenues in 2017/2018 season alone”.

“Take the impact on a small team like US Lecce” continues Di Biase: “playing the match against AC Milan behind closed doors would mean a loss of around $1 million on a budget that amounts to $33 million”.

Despite the fact that playing behind closed doors would severely damage Italian soccer, the government was left with little choice.

According to World Health Organization – as of March 9 – the number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 in Italy rose to 7.375, with 366 confirmed casualties.

Last Sunday, Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte signed a quarantine decree, restricting the movements of one-quarter of the country’s population for one month.

The situation might urge the government to take further measures and suspend the Serie A, a scenario that will be discussed during the emergency meeting with Serie A scheduled for Tuesday, March 10.

Speak Your Mind

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Get in Touch

350FansLike
100FollowersFollow
281FollowersFollow
150FollowersFollow

Recommend for You

Oh hi there 👋
It’s nice to meet you.

Subscribe and receive our weekly newsletter packed with awesome articles that really matters to you!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

You might also like

Make This Simple Change to Improve Your Long-Term Memory

How to fight boredom and fatigue and help your brain store information, according to...

English Premier League signs TV deal with China’s Tencent...

Chelsea take on Brighton in their first Premier League game of the 2020/21 season.GettyLONDON...

These are the most promising French startups according to...

The French government and the government-backed initiative La French Tech unveiled the new indexes...

Complete Coronavirus Travel Guide—The Latest Countries Restricting Travel

It is important to note that with rapid developments this list will continuously change...