Serie A - Fix stadiums and attendances will rise!!!

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Article by e-Football Serie A Correspondent Daniel Pisani (Aus)

It is fair to say that once this league used to be the best in the world but over the past decade it has slowly gone down the pecking order behind the EPL, La Liga and Bundesliga.

Money is backing the French Ligue 1 and if the Italian federation aren't careful enough they could lose that spot too.

Just how good are stadiums such as Old Trafford, Emirates, Upton Park, Stamford Bridge, Amsterdam Arena, Allianz Arena and my favourite the Veltins Arena home of FC Schalke 04? They are that good that fans continue to flock to pack the stadium enough that their annual percentage is over 90% for each season. This is due to the fact the atmosphere in the stadium is that good and contagious that buying a seat is a must.

This isn't the case anymore in Italy and it's a real real shame.

Fans used to flock to the stadiums to watch their favourite Serie A teams and heroes run around but as I said lately that isn't the case. I believe it may have something to do with televised coverage on, for example Sky Sports, is so good that sitting on your lounge room couch becomes the best option. Doesn't this though take away the passion and of course the atmosphere? It sure does!

I've been to a couple of Serie A games and I know first hand that Italians are religiously mad for their football and I hope that associations are taking note of the success clubs in England and Germany are having so a new wave of support and rejuvenated interest can make the Serie A the best league again.

The San Siro, home of Inter Milan and AC Milan has a capacity of just over 80,000 which was a purpose built stadium for the 1990 World Cup.

Inter Milan averaged 48,000 spectators whilst AC Milan averaged 43,000 which totals to a percentage of just over 50% for all home matches in the Serie A last season. The derby on the other hand got attendances of 81,533 for the "Inter" home game and for the "AC Milan" home game the figure was 77,023.

Lets take a look at the newest stadium in Italy and the figures they pulled from the 2012/13 season.

The Juventus Stadium was built on the same piece of land that once stood the famous Stadio Delle Alpi which held over 80,000 spectators and again a stadium built for the World Cup. Juve used to share the site with cross town rivals Torino FC but now privately own the new Juventus Stadium.

The purpose of this was to make the Juventus experience more like an EPL one with no athletic track, the seats sit on top of the pitch just like Old Trafford or Anfield. The capacity of the Juventus Stadium is only 41,000 but here are the figures for the home season. They averaged an attendance of 39,000 with sold out matches occurring 12 times throughout the season. A percentage success rate of 93.8% over the season regular home games.

This translated to Europe and finally other Serie A teams took notice.

AS Roma will be the next to build a new stadium and construction will commence in Tor di Valle soon so the opening can occur within the 2016 season. The new stadium is set to hold 60,000 spectators which is a 12,000 decrease in seats that they play in front of now at the Stadio Olimpico. AS Roma averaged 39,000 spectators this year with the highest home ground figure being 52,000 for the derby against Lazio which coincidentally wasn't their home game. Their overall percentage was 47%.

Now the fans in Italy are there, don't get me wrong, but it's a real shame that only one Serie A outfit managed to get above 70% for overall attendances for the year.

Top 4 percentages:

Juventus F.C = 93.8% (capacity 41,000)
Pescara = 61.9% (capacity 23,000)
Siena Calcio = 61.8% (capacity 15,000)
Torino FC = 61.6% (capacity 27,000)

Now those are figures based on the size of the stadium but as far as top 4 goes 2 of those clubs in the top 4 are now relegated and Torino have to rival Juventus in the same city.

Based on memberships Lazio, Inter Milan and AC Milan should be up there but are not.

Does it also coincide with the teams performance? Of course; but again Juve are the perfect example, whilst their stadium was being built they had a 6th place finish and two consecutive 7th place finishes. In 2011 the new stadium opened and wow - 2 consecutive Italian titles. Coincidence? Maybe but even as an amateur footballer I know the difference a new stadium and packed house can make to a team. Play in front of a half filled stadium and you just don't want to be there anymore no matter how much you get paid.

Udinese will follow in Juventus and AS Roma's footsteps so I'm hopeful that in a decade from now the Serie A will be played with a brand new stadium in the nations capital, a renovated San Siro and many more renovated grounds with the athletics track ripped away. This will 100% attract the fans back to the ground for the atmosphere and passion that comes with being a football supporter.

Until next time guys
--
Daniel Joseph Pisani #23

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