Serie A Reveals Desire to Stage Matches in The USA as Calcio’s Popularity Soars Stateside
By Harry Slavin
Serie A chiefs have revealed their desire to see matches staged in the USA ‘in a window of one to two years’ as the league’s popularity in the States continues to grow.
Italy’s top flight hosted an event at its New York office on Tuesday to showcase its growing stature in the country, the ‘Calcio Aperitivo’ gathering seeing the likes of Lega Serie A president Ezio Maria Simonelli attend alongside icons such as Andrea Pirlo and Marco Materazzi.
The function was used to shine a light on the growth Italian football has enjoyed over the past year, after it was announced that audiences within the country had grown 50 per cent year-on-year – thanks to their work with CBS and Fox Deportes. Those broadcast deals, along with numerous other intiatives, have helped the league reach some of the 51million Americans who express an affinity with Italy and its culture.
Speaking at the event, President Simonelli said: “This season marks a historic milestone for Serie A in the United States.
“Never before has Italian football been so widely accessible across the country. The upcoming CBS Main Network broadcast of Juventus vs. Genoa on March 29 is yet another key moment in our mission to bring Serie A to as many fans as possible.”
As well as bringing main network broadcasts, there are discussions on delivering the real thing to Americans in the not-to-distant future. In a Q&A with journalists during the event, Serie A’s commercial and marketing director Michele Ciccarese was bullish about bringing matches to US soil.
“All the different leagues are discussing the possibility of playing a regular-season game (abroad),” he said, as reported by The Athletic. “If you look at the NFL, they’re playing in Germany, they’re playing in London, they are going to play in Australia.
“I would say that it’s up to us to put together the piece of the puzzle and present a proper strategy to the authorities. This is what we are doing, and who knows, maybe in a window of one to two years, we will see the league playing if the approvals come.
“For us, we need the approval of the Italian Federation, with the approval of UEFA, then it goes up to FIFA, and then it goes back to the local community.”
Italian football has long been working on ways in which to grow its international audiences, having regularly taken the Supercoppa abroad. The first clash played outside of Italy was the 1993 final, which took place in Washington D.C. in front of more than 25,000 fans at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.
In more recent years, they have extended the format of the competition, with a four-team tournament taking place in Saudi Arabia the past two years.
The move towards US audiences has been driven by a sharp increase in American ownership among top-flight clubs in Italy. Nine of the 20 teams currently in Serie A have North American investors invovled, with the likes of Pisa, Juve Stabia and Cesena in Serie B also boasting American backing.
Italian football fans in the USA can watch live Serie B action for free at tv.destinationcalcio.com. Visit our site our download the app for free on Google Play or from the Apple App Store.
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