The decision to move the Derby della Madonnina kick-off time to 12:30 on Easter Saturday has predictably left behind a long queue of dissenting voices. One thing is certain however; no matter how controversial a move it is, Italian football has reached an important turning point.
The popularity of both clubs in Asia – and China in particular – is what has led to this rethink of how Calcio is marketed abroad. On April 15, viewers in Beijing will be able to watch the match at 18:30.
La Gazzetta dello Sport believe this was an inevitable step, especially given the fact that Inter are owned by Suning. Furthermore, Milan are also in the process of being sold to a Chinese consortium.
Potentially, there will be 333 million viewers in China alone, proving that the demand for Serie A is there. There is a lot of ground to be made up on the Premier League and La Liga, which have tailored their schedules to suit Asian markets for many years.
A lunchtime derby will be an historic event, even a little strange, but the business world is changing and Italian football must move with the times.
Source: La Gazzetta dello Sport
So I guess this is a sign of inter ditching the American continent? A lunch time kick off is 630 EST…. and if I was in Milan I wouldn’t probably wake up in time that 6 hour time change kicks your ass
ya ga perlu begadang ya bro 🙂
Its an akward time imo, a derby should always be an evening match.
LOL @ the 333m potential views part btw, what a complete load of utter nonsense.
GdS is not even worth wiping your ass in these days.
Threre was a guy asking for a precise kick off time on some other article… well here’s the answer
Definitely was not expecting a 12:30 kick off haha
As a foreigner going to Milano once in a while, this is not a bad thing either – everything is just easier during daylight. I don’t see the big problem here.
yep when serie A was best league in the world it was very rational to play big game late at night now serie A must move with the flow since the big games are “not so big” compared to older times