Napoli, De Laurentiis: Serie A free-to-air a hit, new stadium in 4 years | OneFootball

In an interview given to the magazine 7 of Corriere della Sera, Aurelio De Laurentiis expressed some impactful ideas about the future of Italian football, touching on topics ranging from the broadcasting of matches to the restructuring of sports facilities.

Napoli, De Laurentiis: “Serie A on free-to-air TV would be a success, new stadium ready in four years”

The president of Napoli is hoping for a leaner Serie A, with 16 teams as in 1986, to ensure greater competitiveness and preserve the value of the players, who are the clubs’ assets:

“A reduced tournament would avoid matches with few viewers on TV, which weaken the commercial credibility of our football. Many fear a drop in revenues, but on the contrary, the value of the matches would increase.”

De Laurentiis also proposes making all matches available on free-to-air TV, sharing the league between Rai and Mediaset and financing everything through advertising:

“Italians would be happy to watch all the matches for free and the ratings would skyrocket. It would be a real revolution for national football.”

Politics and football: the “rich fools” according to De Laurentiis

On the relationship between clubs, television, and politics, De Laurentiis has no doubts:

“Politicians ignore the electoral potential of football and see club owners as the rich fools Giulio Onesti talked about. Broadcasting on free-to-air or focusing on pay-per-view remains an option, but decisions will not come easily.”

The president emphasizes that free-to-air broadcasting would guarantee clubs significant advertising revenue, compensating for the loss of income from exclusive TV rights.

New stadium in Poggioreale: the project moves forward

Another topic addressed by De Laurentiis concerns Napoli’s new stadium, planned for Poggioreale:

Capacity: 65-70 thousand seats

Parking: about 9,000 cars

Timeline: ready in four years, in time for the European Championships

“The law on stadiums needs to be integrated with a roundtable discussion among all parties involved: heritage authorities, the Court of Auditors, and commissioners. Only with a shared agreement can we move forward. With commissioners, on the other hand, it would be difficult to achieve concrete results in a short time.”

The project aims to create a modern, safe, and functional stadium that can become a point of reference for Naples and for all of Italian football.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.