Inter CEO Beppe Marotta feels that foreign investment in Italian football will be hugely important for long-term financial sustainability.
Speaking at the book launch for journalist Marco Bellinazzo’s new book “The New Wars of Football,” as reported by FCInter1908, the Nerazzurri CEO also gave his thoughts on the failed Super League project.
The financial issues that Italian football as a whole is dealing with is no secret.
Inter’s financial problems since the beginning of the pandemic have been widely reported, whilst other big historical clubs such as Juventus, AC Milan, and Roma have had issues of their own.
A number of solutions have been pursued to mitigate or altogether fix these issues.
However, at the moment the problems very much persist.
Marotta stressed more investment as something that football clubs in Italy will need to survive, whilst he also feels that the Super League problem was a desperate attempt by the clubs to bring in a new model whose revenue can keep up with their spending.
The CEO said of the Super League that “The Super League got off to an embryonic start, with several Premier League teams who then walked out immediately.”
“It was nothing more than a cry for help,” he continued, “today there are three clubs still left.”
Marotta argued that the Super League was about “The search for sustainability, above all.”
“But also competitiveness,” he continued, “in a European context where models other than the Premier League are struggling, with the exception of the German one which has very particular rules regarding ownership – there there is a very strong bond between clubs and fans.”
“Meanwhile Italy, Spain, and France are struggling greatly.”
“But everything revolves around the quality of the spectacle,” Marotta explained, “if it’s poor, you don’t go to see it, that holds true in football as in movies or theatre.”
“You pay the ticket if there’s an emotional involvement,” he reflected, “faith in the team is a dogma, the real fan follows you even if you wind up in Serie A, but most fans are second-tier ones, in other ones those who are looking for spectacle.”
“We have to find an organizational model which also includes foreign investment, which is necessary.”
“If big funds come in to buy the clubs, it’s because they have the cash, which we don’t have today,” Marotta continued.
He continued that “We have remember what a football club is.”
“It’s a private company in the public interest.”
“No customers put pressure on the factories that make water bottles or cookies, in football we’re subject to trials every weekend.”
“And this leads to two things,” Marotta continued, “over the years, in the 1980s and 1990s, many clubs’ ownership fell into disarray, because they were unable to hold up under pressure from the fans, and sold a large part of their assets to keep up.”
“Today, if we were to take a hundred fans and ask them whether they want a club who are well-run and finish fifth or sixth in the table, or a team who win but have major budget problems, ninety out of a hundred would answer the latter,” he noted.
