The Italian League is renewed with a salary cap, NBA-style Cup and a request for endorsement of online betting

The Italian League outlined a plan, with 12 points and 26 pages, which aims to regain its strength in terms of business and guarantee the economic sustainability of its clubs. To do this, it will seek to incorporate a salary cap, hold an NBA-style Cup and ask the government to lift the veto on online betting sponsorship.

Among the measures proposed, according to the Calcio e Finanza site, in the Italian League the possibility of incorporating a salary cap stands out, as is already happening in the Spanish League, and adjusting the number of professional clubs, but without reducing the number to 18. number of teams in First Division, as the big ones want (Juventus, Milan, Inter and Roma).

Currently, in Italy there are 100 professional clubs, since Serie C (Third Division) also holds this rank, made up of 60 teams divided into three groups. For the Lega – the manager of professional football – we must “rethink and raise the demands of the teams participating in the professional leagues”, as well as “review the number of promotions and relegations in the different leagues”.

In this regard, the aforementioned four major teams are committed to reducing the number of clubs in the Italian League to 18, alleging – as France did to approve this change – that the "cake" to be distributed (with audiovisual income) is not what big enough for so many "diners". Furthermore, these teams remember that the increase in European matches after the reform of the Champions League can greatly strain the calendars and the risk of injury to the footballers.

NBA, a model to replicate
On the contrary, the other 16 teams, united in the idea of not reducing places, assure that removing two teams from the highest category would bring a reduction in the value of television, which, to begin with, would have fewer games to offer, among other aspects. . In terms of competitions, the Italian League is also working on the possibility of replicating for the Coppa Italia the idea of the NBA with its in-season tournament, a modality that divides all NBA teams by conference and in which they play. all a group stage from which only the best classified in each group and the two best runners-up from each conference advance.

Another topic under discussion in Italy is timeshare: there are businessmen who own a team in Serie A and another in Serie B or Serie C. Claudio Lotito, owner of Lazio, had to sell Salernitana when he was promoted to the elite. And Aurelio De Laurentiis controls both Napoli and Bari (Serie B).

To put an end to this conflict of interest, the Italian Football Federation (Figc) decided that timeshares would be banned in 2024, but an appeal by the Neapolitan justice allowed the start of the veto to be extended to 2028-2029. Now, the Italian League proposes supporting this system with some mechanisms that ensure the sustainability of the 'second teams' and in favor of young talent.

On the other hand, the Italian League is committed, as Spanish football is already requesting, to separate the referees from the Figc (considering them professionals in legal and contract terms) and demand greater autonomy, both with respect to the Figc and the government. Among their requests are to be able to collect a percentage of the online betting business and to lift the veto on sponsorships linked to the gaming sector, something in which the country was ahead of Spain by introducing it before the pandemic.

And more recent is the financial hole that the end of the tax advantages it enjoyed for hiring foreign footballers will mean for the Italian League. This measure also requests that it be eliminated within its new reformulation.