Italian football lost €3.6bn during COVID period

Italian football lost €3.6bn during the three seasons impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest edition of the annual ReportCalcio.

The study, published by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), outlined the costs suffered throughout the period up to the end of the 2021-22 season while also reiterating the need to invest in facilities. The latter point comes just weeks after Italy abandoned plans to host Euro 2028, instead partnering with Turkey on a joint bid.

ReportCalcio said turnover for the top three divisions in 2021-2022 was equal to €3.4bn, a decrease of 12.0% compared to 2018-2019, while in comparison between 2019 and 2022, Italy’s GDP was up by 1%. Considering the impact of stadium closures and reduced capacities, ticketing revenues went from €341m pre-COVID-19 to €266m in 2019-20 and €254m in 2021-22.

The €3.6bn loss suffered by clubs in Serie A, Serie B and Serie C during the three-year period – at an average of €1.2bn per season — compares to a loss of €412m recorded in 2018-19.

In the COVID-19 three-year period, the estimate of potential spectators lost due to the restrictions was equal to over 29 million, with approximately €632m of unrealised potential ticketing revenues. In 2021-2022, in the face of the progressive reopening of stadium capacity (until the return to 100% from the beginning of April 2022), the turnout rose to over 11.9 million spectators, which was way down on the pre-COVID-19 period, which was over 16 million.

ReportCalcio repeated the calls it made a year ago concerning stadium redevelopment, again stating: “The launch of an investment program for the construction of a new generation of football facilities in our country appears increasingly essential.”

Comparing Italy to other nations, the report found that in the last 16 years (2007-2022) a total of 199 new arenas were built in Europe, with an investment of €22.3bn – but Italy accounted for just 1% of this investment. It said the leading nations in terms of new stadiums are Poland and Turkey (over 30 new stadiums), ahead of Germany (18) and Russia (16). Only five new stadiums in Italy have been inaugurated in this period – Juventus, Udinese, Frosinone, Albinoleffe and Südtirol.

“The data attest to the need to start an important process of renewal of the sports facilities as soon as possible,” the report notes.

“The average age at which stadiums are inaugurated goes from 61 in Serie A to 65 in Serie C and 67 in Serie B. Only 12% of the stadiums in the first professional series use systems with renewable energy sources, and just 7 % of Italian professional football facilities are not publicly owned.

“Numbers that testify to the increasingly urgent need for new investments, also considering the important induced effects associated with the introduction of a new generation of sports facilities in our country. With reference, for example, to the 14 projects for the construction of new football stadiums currently in the planning and/or actual construction phase in Italy.”

FIGC president Gabriele Gravina said: “ReportCalcio is a contribution to transparency, but above all a stimulus for all stakeholders to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of the movement in detail.”

Serie A, the top division of Italian club football, recorded its best attendance figures since the turn of the century last season, with an average of 29,495 fans heading through stadium gates during 2022-23.