AS Roma intends to adapt US-style commercialization

Claudio Lotito and James Pallotta (R)

American chairman James Pallotta intends to bring in United States-oriented branding and management in an effort to turn AS Roma into a profitable enterprise.

While Manchester United is worth some $3.9bn, Roma stands at less than $200m. Hence, the Boston-based manager intends to bridge the gaping chasm. But unfortunately, the task is not as easy as it seems. Serie A happens to be in the bottom of the list of profitable clubs.

Pallotta has identified a solution to the crisis at hand. The future plans for the club involves taking a leaf out of Juventus’s book and building Roma’s own stadium. The club authorities have already zeroed in on a site on the outskirts of Rome and one can expect the new stadium to be christened by the 2016-17 season.

The design for the stadium drawing parallels from Rome’s ancient Colosseum will have the capacity to seat 50,000-60,000 spectators. The crux of the plan is to draw in the tourists who visit the famous city.

Roma, who has been troubled by racism scandals caused by a group of zealous fans, will now employ facial recognition technology to identify the fans behind the racist outbursts.

The club ran into a bit of bad luck this year, finishing sixth in Serie A but in spite of the results on the pitch, commercial revenue has gone up by 6 percent to €36.8m.

This time around the club is also availing the use of social media to go ticket less.

Source: Footballeconom.com