If the U.S. makes a big breakthrough at the next World Cup, or even this summer's Copa America, Italy could deserve some of the credit.
A record 10 Americans have played in Italy since 2022. Six of those players were on the 23-man roster for last week's CONCACAF Nations League finals. Five of the 20 teams in Italy's top league, Serie A, have American owners.
For league chief executive Luigi De Siervo, it's a win-win.
“That's no coincidence,” he said. “Italian clubs are closely following developments in U.S. soccer.”
For Italians, it was an economic boon. De Siervo said Serie A has seen “exponential” growth in its U.S. fan base since it followed Germany's Bundesliga and Spain's La Liga in opening an office in New York two years ago. He said he believed that his growth was due to the presence of so many American fans. Italian players.
Luigi De Siervo, CEO of Serie A, the Italian soccer league.
(Serie A)
For the United States, on the other hand, having players who play important roles in what UEFA calls the strongest league in Europe makes the national team even better. USMNT captain Christian Pulisic has scored a career-high 12 goals in 40 games for second-place AC Milan, while Weston McKennie leads third-place Juventus with nine assists.
“Pulisic literally changed the way AC Milan played,” Luca Bianchin, a sportswriter for Milan's La Gazzetta dello Sport, wrote in an email interview. “Without a doubt, he is one of the best rookies in the league. But at the same time, McKennie has established himself as a starter at Juventus. Yunus Moussa [AC Milan] and timothy ware [Juventus] Also useful as a role player. ”
The growing synergy between U.S. and Italian soccer extends beyond the stadium and into the executive suite. A quarter of Serie A teams (Atalanta, Fiorentina, Genoa, AC Milan, Roma) have American owners, and they have not only the money but the experience that has changed the match-day experience inside and outside the stadium. is also highly rated. Something special.
Furthermore, Bologna has a Canadian owner, while Serie B's Parma and Venice both have American owners and are likely to be promoted to the top flight next season, increasing North American influence.
“The biggest attraction for American owners is first and foremost the sport,” De Siervo said. “At the end of the day, we are at the top of European football. [But] Buying an Italian club also means becoming custodians of the great passion of our fans, a passion that represents the character of our country and therefore the excellence that 'Made in Italy' stands for. It represents. ”
A generation ago, Serie A, now the English Premier League, was the richest and most popular league in the world. In the 1980s and his 90s, it was home to players such as Diego Maradona, Roberto Baggio, Zinedine Zidane, Marco van Basten and Lothar Matthäus. With the most funding and the most challenging competition, between 1985 and 1996, the team won five times and finished runners-up four times in Europe's top club competition.
Every other league was close. And the national team also benefited. Of the seven World Cup finals from 1982 to 2006, Italy appeared in three, won two and lost the other on penalties.
But we couldn't maintain the spending levels that made that possible. In the summer of 2002, Fiorentina went into administration due to huge debts that the owners were unable to repay, and six months later, Lazio's major shareholder, the Cirio Group, defaulted on a loan. A year later, Parma's main backer Parmalato collapsed and Napoli was declared bankrupt in 2004.
The final blow came two years later, when executives from five teams were accused of contacting refereeing authorities and assigning certain referees to their respective games.
Serie A is almost over.
And last spring, as Italy prepared to send teams to the finals of Europe's three biggest club competitions, the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, Serie A began a new campaign.Calcio “is Back” is based on the Italian word for soccer.
“From a sporting perspective, we can legitimately say that our slogan is even more meaningful today,” De Siervo said.
Now, the league is looking to continue that momentum.
Juventus' Weston McKennie is challenged by Genoa's Alberto Guzmundoso in a Serie A match on March 17th.
(Daniele Badolato/Juventus FC, via Getty Images)
“We need improvements in terms of stadium infrastructure,” he said. “Modern stadiums not only guarantee increased match-day revenue, but also more attractive television coverage. Sports is entertainment in every sense of the word, and this is precisely why the investment from American owners and the modern Their experience in building stadiums is what will help us.”
Thirteen of the league's 20 teams play in stadiums that opened before 1967. Seven of them date back to before World War II. That makes this season's average attendance (last weekend's attendance was 30,757, the highest league-wide since the halcyon days of 1998-99) even more remarkable.
Bringing Serie A's infrastructure into the 21st century could also increase broadcasting revenue. In October, the league agreed a domestic television deal with DAZN and Sky worth $4.8 billion over the next five seasons, about half the revenue from the Premier League's latest domestic broadcast deal, which lasted just four seasons. do. The Bundesliga and La Liga also outstrip Serie A, earning more than $1 billion per season for the rights to broadcast matches.
“The influence is growing,” Milan journalist Bianchin said of American ownership. “However, we have to take into account that it is very difficult to reform Serie A and change footballing habits due to legal, political and cultural habits.
“I'm interested to see what changes in the next five years. Data usage is a good example. Some American owners are data-heavy users, and this will make at least some Italian owners I am confident that they will be persuaded to hire analysts and change their vision for sabermetrics.”
However, not all recent news is good. Last fall, Italian football was shaken up after more than 40 players, including some in Serie A, were implicated in an illegal gambling scandal that led to fines and months-long bans, and brought back memories of the league's fall from grace. It was also embroiled in controversy.
That's true Calcio Are you really back? Is Italy ready to lead the football world again?
Bianchin is not holding his breath.
“I don’t see the league going back to what it was,” he wrote. “The level of football we experienced in the 80s and 90s was too good to repeat.”
However, he admitted that this level is not bad.
⚽ I read the latest episode of Kevin Baxter's On Soccer. Our weekly column takes you behind the scenes and spotlights unique stories. Hear Baxter's story on this week's episode. Galaxy's Corner Podcast.
