At the Social Football Summit: «There is still a distance with the Premier League due to a guilty delay in the past. Play the Super Cup abroad? We also look at what the NBA and NFL do.”
Milan 12/15/2021 – red carpet film ‘Diabolik’ / photo Daniele Buffa/Image Sport in the photo: Luigi De Siervo
Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo spoke at the Social Football Summit 2024 where he spoke about the top Italian championship.
De Siervo: «We are the championship that invests the most in technology to allow for more credibility»
«We in Serie A don’t only look at the other football leagues. But also Netflix, NBA, etc. Because competitors are how you use your free time, not just other leagues. We have an incredible championship: six teams in two points at the top of the table, eight in 4 points at the bottom. We have brought home 4 different championship winners in the last 5 years. Then we changed the format of the home and away championship which is not repeated. A customized calendar for all the teams playing in Europe. We are managing many things, the championship is something dear to all of us. Football is and remains a great popular novel. We are the championship that invests the most in technology, from VAR to semi-automatic offside and all the technical elements that allow the product to be more credible.”
Center of Lissone?
«It was necessary to connect all the stadiums with images, the technological effort was to choose this place between Monza and Milan, in a point where there is a room with the uniform VAR rooms of the highest possible standard in the world, with 8 stations. The technicians of The Hague (Italian Referees Association) can face the decision without being under pressure: a perfect context. This has allowed us to develop a full-fledged production studio: we have 80 colleagues who live in the structure on weekends and not only direct, but also create a product idea. In a difficult context, given the dilapidated stadiums and the filming difficulties.”
Premier League?
De Siervo: «There is distance due to a guilty delay in the past of Serie A. I’ll start with the TV rights: there is the phenomenon of piracy which has an impact here, it almost seems like a boast but it is deplorable. Then abroad: the English were the first to see that investments could arrive from rich countries. And it became the place that attracted investments and capital. They cleaned the stadiums and renovated them: in this country bureaucracy reigns supreme. An excellent job is being done in this Government to simplify. You have seen what the Atalanta stadium has become. The small-medium sized ones will get there. The problem remains of the stadiums of Roma-Lazio, Inter-Milan, which are the home of four teams at the top of the table. This element is differentiating. It doesn’t just affect turnover, at the Parc des Princes three hours after the match you’re still there eating. There is a completely different way of approaching the sporting event. Much more similar to F1. To compete with the leagues ahead of us, we need rules, technology and the sporting part, but also the context. Which are the stadiums, that is the real gap we have. Thankfully, stadium audiences are reaching standards we haven’t seen in 35 years: Stadiums are finally full. I remain optimistic, but we must fill the gaps we have found.”
Italian Super Cup:
«Many don’t understand why we play it abroad: what do the NBA and NFL do? They try to acquire new markets by playing all over the world, including in Europe. They do it successfully, this thing pays off and produces results. I don’t understand what the scandal is that Italy can’t do the same. By the way, it’s been happening for eighty years. It was also done in Libya! But we don’t do politics, we try to pollinate new groups of fans. Let’s go to the Middle East, everyone is crazy about football, they are extremely young: over 50% of the population of Saudi Arabia is under 25 years old. In the past, one race, the final, was not enough to get a moment’s attention. There are important events every day, the format with two semi-finals and a final means that the best quality of football in our country can be expressed in that context. We will make a package for the fans at competitive prices to bring the Italian fans there, around 800/1000 Italians for each match. Maintaining contact with organized fans. This will fix and improve something we noticed last year. Among the commitments we have made, another important new element with the technology is that we will begin to sign an agreement with all the teams for facial recognition. Of course, I agree with privacy, but when you enter the stadium, placing your ticket on the optical reader, there is a camera that takes a photo and associates that face with that name and that place. It remains potentially available to law enforcement on encrypted servers. For racist howling or clashes, we must all know that we live in a context where personal freedom ends when that of others is not respected. You can shout in the stadium, but certain parameters must not be exceeded. This will be fundamental for the future, to make the football product increasingly suitable for sharing. We invented Keep Racism Out a few years ago, it’s very important to us. We managed to include it in the Ea video game, which we thank: a shirt born from an idea became a shirt with which 7 and a half million people played a match. This shows that the public is ahead of us. The kids wear it when they enter the field and at the end of the match it is given to them as a gift!
A dream he would like to see in Serie A:
From Servant: «Ford a little against the tide, we have some big names that are exploding: we just have to know how to wait. I say Yildiz to give an example. We are not the Serie B of the Premier League: here you learn to play! Two days ago at San Siro, do you realize what was going on between Italy and France? A large pool of players who play in Italy. An obligatory step is Serie A for a great player. Our technicians carry out training work. We build and export coaches, from Ancelotti to Ranieri and Sarri and Conte. We are a country that produces and teaches football, we do it at all levels. The champions of tomorrow play in Italy today.”
