Once upon a time they were the “Ricchi Scemi”, the rich fools. Businessmen with perhaps more money than sense drove Italian football to the top of the continental tree in a golden age of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Colourful, controversial and voluble they also had something else in common – they were Italian.
But with all three newly-promoted sides from Serie B this summer under foreign ownership, the game of Calcio has started to take on a distinctly Stateside drawl. But why has it happened and does it really matter for the state of the game and its fans? The answer to the first part is, on the surface at least, pretty obvious. Having snapped up sides in other leagues, many of the top teams in Italy remained open to overseas investors and – slowly but surely – they have started to move in on the biggest names.
might stubbornly cling to its historic links but both and are now in the hands of US investors. , too, have been in American hands for some time while are a more recent acquisition by 777 Partners. As a nation with a huge number of emigrants from the Bel Paese, it is hardly such a surprise.
Indeed, there is more than a bit of the local boy made good about the likes of Rocco Commisso at , Stephen Pagliuca at and the Canadian Joey Saputo at . What better way to show your success to your long-lost relatives than taking a top team under your wing? Only a handful can afford the luxury, of course. Another attraction, without a doubt, can be the beauty of the p.