‘Serie A must build new brand’

By Football Italia staff

Inter’s Michael Bolingbroke urges Italians to show ‘faith in their product’ as he explains how to fix Serie A.

Bolingbroke, who worked as CEO for Premier giant Manchester United, agrees that Italian football is in a state of crisis by comparison with other Leagues, but has a substantially different outlook on how to solve it.

“Twenty years ago Serie A was the best,” he said to La Gazzetta dello Sport. “So what happened?

“The Premier League at first, then the Bundesliga, created brands. If Serie A can look to those models, it will return to the top.

“It cannot be otherwise - football and Italy walk hand in hand. The problem is that Italians do not have faith in their own product.”

The Nerazzurri CEO has clear ideas on how to make progress, and he divides them into two parts.

“First of all we must invest in the stadiums, because it would start a virtuous circle – not just for the people, but also for the media and the sponsors, who prefer better backdrops.

“Then there's globalisation. Consider the match schedules, which should have greater consideration for the Asian and American market.

“Sky and Mediaset are very important for Serie A, but a match at 20:45 on Sunday evening deters families and children because the following day they go to school.”

Bolingbroke also laid great stress on the importance of the international market.

“Take China, for example – night-time for them is the prime-time for us.

“We have a great opportunity offered by the development of digital technology. Now we can let supporters abroad experience the same emotional involvement as those who are at the stadium.

“Serie A must exploit these qualities to develop a strong brand in North America and in the East.

“There are Italian clubs like Juventus, Inter, Milan, who are strong brands in and of themselves. But Serie A collectively can add something to that.

“You cannot begin to imagine what kind of benefits we'd get out of working collectively.

“We must all work together, draw plans over the next five-10 years, and think of the system's development overall.”

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