Owned Stadiums in Italy: General Overview and Comparison with European Clubs

One of the most debated topics when it comes to football, especially in Italy, is the possibility for football clubs to have their own stadium. In Europe, especially in the top five leagues, most teams either have their own stadium, or have recently renovated their facilities and modernized them. In Italy, however, the situation is quite different. Most football stadi-ums are municipally owned and have one of the highest obsolescence rates in Europe, as the last renovations date back to 1990, coinciding with the World Cup in the country. It is there-fore clear, that for a nation like Italy, where football is the most played and followed sport, the situation has become unsustainable. Many clubs, in fact, have significant financial diffi-culties and must also deal with the costs of rent and stadium management, expenses that would be reduced to zero with the construction of a stadium of their own. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of an owned stadium on club accounts and to analyze the way in which a stadium is built.