The soccer club market - Italy

Soccer clubs are defined as all professional clubs in Italy, which for simplicity will be treated as Serie A and Serie B clubs in the case of Italy. These clubs are distinguished by higher budgets, a preponderant role in the market window, and increasing TV rights that are exported beyond the Italian market. The associations that deal internationally with the market are FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), which operates worldwide and involves 211 countries, and UEFA ( Union of European Football Associations), which operates at the European level and represents 55 clubs on the continent. UEFA is a Swiss flag association and is recognized by FIFA, the world governing body of soccer. In Europe, the major clubs with the highest turnover are: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Manchester United. The ranking of the top ten clubs sees the dominance of Spanish and English clubs monopolizing the top spots. The top Italian club is Juventus, with other international clubs such as AC Milan, FC Inter AS Roma, Atalanta BC, SS Lazio and SSC Napoli. Italian clubs accounted for 13 percent of all the estimated value of European clubs in 2021, behind England (39 percent), Spain (23 percent), and Germany (13 percent), but ahead of France (7 percent). A four-time world champion, the Italian peninsula is home to many big clubs, and more than 350,000 Italians register for their favorite team's matches. However, the covid-19 pandemic has dealt a blow to clubs with temporary match suspensions and closed games that lasted for extended periods in 2020 and 2021. These closures resulted in reduced revenue for clubs, during the 2019-2020 Season, mainly from matches suspended in March due to the pandemic. However, interest in soccer remains intact and the return of fans to competitions is a key factor in market growth.