Major changes are abound in the way Italy's professional soccer is organized. There has been a growing sentiment from clubs in Italy's Serie A - top soccer division to break away from the economic floundering second division Serie B. According to reports this could be done as soon as next summer. The model of what Italy's Serie A clubs are trying to do is patterned directly after what happened in 1992 when England's top c;ubs set up the Premier League.
So what are the advantages to breaking off and creating your own independent top league? Once again let's look at the case study that is the world's largest soccer league - the Premier League
England's top clubs changed the economics of the game when they set up the Premier League. They were able to keep a bigger share of the money coming into the game from ticket sales, merchandising, sponsorships and broadcasting rights, because they no longer had to cross-subsidize the lower division to the same extent.
They also greatly grew their collective pot by negotiating a separate and more lucrative broadcasting rights contract, free from the constraints of having to include lower division games in the deal.
As a result English football has become the big-money power in European soccer. Deloitte estimated that in the 2005-06 season the EPL's revenues at 1.4 billion pounds were 40% higher than Serie A's, and the fourth highest of any sports league behind the NFL, MLB and NBA). The gap with Serie A has likely widened since as the EPL has just started a new three-year TV deal.
Source: Forbes.com
With the recent departure of arguably one of the game's best players in Kaka who was transferred away from AC Milan to Real Madrid and the lack of high-level talent that Serie A has recruited in recent years, it makes sense for high-end clubs like Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Roma to reassert themselves amongst the elite of European football with a league that will draw in higher revenues.
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