Serie A: Festive Football and the Commercialisation of Sport

Football has become increasingly commercialised / Image via sportbusinesscentre.com

Festive Football

Boxing Day, as the first segment of festive fixtures and holiday football, remains to this date a strongly-rooted tradition in United Kingdom and top-tier football leagues in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

And whereas Europe’s top football leagues such as La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga all go to shorter or longer winter sleep, which usually lasts until the first, second and it rare cases the third week of January, United Kingdom clubs would go on to play a couple of New Year rounds which bring special appeal to Europe’s most exciting and adored football competition.

Over the last few years however, there seems to be a firm split in public opinion in regard to positive and negative effects of the festive fixture list, as this becomes a burning question Europe-wide.

With England suffering at international level, both club-wise and through the national team, there seems to be a belief than long and exhausting fixture list – with a particular focus on the festive football – plays a great part.

A mere glance to the Champions League winners’ list will offer plenty of support to such belief with Premier League clubs struggling to exert their financial dominance over rivalling numbers from La Liga in the first place.

Chelsea were the last ones to lift the coveted trophy back in 2011-12 season, whereas English clubs won the UEFA Champions League on just one more occasion in the new millennium.

Memorable magical night in Istanbul remains one of the brightest moments in football’s history and a reminder of what English fans have been missing for quite some time now.

Reasons for such a downfall in international terms are up for a debate and thorough analysis, however there seems to be one point worth mentioning and analysing as perhaps one of the most important aspects.

The commercialisation of football

Football romantics and those fighting against modern football will require no additional explaining, however for all of those globally-oriented football fans it is a question which deals with the catering to football needs of many instead of few, or one selves for that matter.

I do not wish to be interpreted the wrong way, football is a global phenomenon and as such should be elevated beyond the borders of local communities, customs and requirements. The question which remains and continues to bother the aforementioned romantics is – at what cost?

With financials being put at the forefront of football attention, there seems to be little regard for the heart of the game.

Ticket sale, shirt sale, naming rights and sponsorship deals are steering the contemporary football away from its roots, slowly transforming it into a business instead of honest entertainment.

Premier League as the financially strongest competition seems to be leading the way as Europe’s football league struggle to keep pace in this regard. The TV rights money distribution model helps Premier League clubs remain at the forefront of the financial battle since, unlike in other big leagues around Europe, the Premier League TV rights money get distributed among all 20 sides equally.

The total TV revenue of the Premier League in 2015 was more than £1.5 billion higher than Germany’s Bundesliga as the next highest and Europe’s top tiers are already considering options that would help them to close the gap behind the financially dominant Premier League.

Once again – at what cost?

As European football goes on the Christmas break a row has erupted in Italy, revolving around a question whether Serie A should scrap the winter break as of next year.

Serie A returns on 7 January and the league president Maurizio Beretta has already proposed a model which would see Italian clubs play through the festive period, and also include games that would be played on neutral turf abroad.

Playing abroad is not anything new to Italian clubs, as the latest Supercoppa Italiana match between Juventus and Milan played in Doha would prove.

The Italian Super Cup matches – the total nine of them since the initiation of competition in 1988 – were played outside of Italy. Playing abroad allows clubs and the league to provide financial gain and to bring Italian football closer to worldwide fan base.

With such a practise common and universally adopted during the preseason, it is not that usual to make competitive trips abroad during season.

And this is where we return to the burning question of catering to global viewership for commercial gain instead of serving the needs of local supporters, who are getting increasingly unable to afford watching and following their beloved team.

Following the footsteps of the Premier League is not something the Italian FA president Carlo Tavecchio agrees with.

Spoken like a true football romantic, Tavecchio claims that the sacred time of Christmas must be respected.

“In that week it’s crucial for everyone to spend time with their families. We are a Christian nation and a traditional one,” he was quoted, adding that Serie A had to be played in Italy.

“Besides, Serie A has to be played in Italy. If someone in future wants to have a game abroad, thinking about the TV rights, then I am not against it, but there have to be rules”, Tavecchio concluded.

Stepping outside the boundaries and the ruleset which does not exclusively focus on financial gain and commercialisation of football might be just the thing football needs to preserve its core in a consumer society and an ideology which could be detrimental to the beautiful game.