Serie A overhaul international strategy to grow sponsors and modernise broadcast

Serie A’s commercial operation has expanded from a long period of relying on three core sponsors to a broader portfolio of 11 partners, as the league rolls out a five-year internationalisation strategy built around standardised media inventory, upgraded broadcast control and market-by-market execution.For much of the past 25 years, Serie A’s sponsorship roster was largely stable, with Telecom Italia, Panini and Nike as the main long-term partners. That has changed under commercial and marketing director Michele Ciccarese, who joined the league in 2019 from a media background and has since pushed a modernised approach to partnerships and distribution.Speaking to The Drum, Ciccarese said the reset started by protecting what he called Serie A’s “jewel” rather than trying to change everything at once. “The heritage, the history,” he said. “That’s what matters.”From there, he said the league focused on understanding what brands actually wanted across different territories. “You have to understand what the brands want, so you ask them, from Atlanta to Indonesia and all over Italy.”The key demand, Ciccarese said, was reliable, standardised, high-quality inventory – with Serie A’s differentiator on the global screen rooted in “the passion of the fans in the stadium.” The league’s response has been to centralise production and improve consistency through an International Broadcast Center outside Milan, which he said has now been operational for three years.“It’s set up to get the signal from each camera of each stadium or every game,” Ciccarese added. “That gave us huge amounts of confidence we could bring the same experience to fans all over the world.”The league’s centralisation gives it control over the ‘chain’, including live output, advertising insertion and TV graphics, and Ciccarese said that is what unlocks partner value. “Once you have control of the chain, that’s when you can start building opportunities for brands.”That broader ‘ecosystem’ of opportunities has allowed Serie A to expand sponsorship beyond the league itself into the Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana and awards inventory such as Player of the Match, alongside categories including technology, timekeeping and automotive partners.Ciccarese said the media investment is designed to pay back quickly through commercial growth. “When you create something new, of course, you invest, but it can unlock revenue opportunities immediately.”The strategy is also framed as supporting clubs rather than competing with them for attention and value. Ciccarese said the league’s role is to be “an ‘arrow’ for the clubs, to help them score and get more revenues and more audience, which is exactly the currency they’re looking for.”He said the core strategy is “media,” with the stated aim of positioning Serie A as a relevant marketing platform in a crowded attention economy. “The goal is to position Serie A as relevant media from a marketing perspective, to empower the clubs and, of course, to give to the fans more opportunity to enjoy the game from different perspectives.”On production, Ciccarese said Serie A has doubled the number of cameras per match, introduced formats such as a ‘ref-cam’ and experimented with cinema cameras. He framed the competitive set as far wider than other leagues. “What we’re competing for is the attention of consumers… Videogames, entertainment – this is the competitive arena.”The league is also deploying small local teams in key regions, including the Middle East and North Africa, to stay close to partners and respond to market needs, while pointing to stadium upgrades as a further lever for TV product and fan experience in the coming years.Ciccarese’s longer-term vision blends matchday and tourism into a single premium experience, arguing Italy can offer something that goes beyond football alone. “You go to Rome to see a game of Roma or Lazio and you might go to the Sistine Chapel or visit the Vatican,” he commented. “Then you can go and have a Michelin-starred Italian chef experience at the stadium itself… and go back home in your country with a lovely memory of your experience in Italy.”