This is meant to start a debate about the merits of slightly less TV money (or maybe more) vs. rest (resulting in best results possible in Europe + better results for Italian national team). Currently, the Italian football system looks like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football_league_system_in_Italy. Personally, I would like to see some changes. As far as the amateur ranks are concerned, I would keep them the same. However, I feel Serie A and Serie B (especially) are bloated. If each league contracted to 18 teams, I personally believe four less match-days would help with Europe. For instance, Juventus and Roma had to play midweek matches in Serie A a few times the week before or after a midweek match in the CL-which means playing 5 games in two weeks (that is a strain). Although Serie A does a good job of helping its clubs in Europe (especially CL squads) with scheduling Friday games, for instance, it could do better. Additionally, I believe the Lega Pro should be renamed Serie C (duh), and should have 3 regional leagues of 16 (instead of the current 18) clubs each (to reduce travel). Back to Serie A: between 1988 and 2004, the league had arguably its greatest success. I think it is no coincidence that during that same time period, there were only 18 teams in Serie A. So the question becomes, would Serie A sides lose TV money because they lose four games a season, or would it remain relatively stable as the games on average would be better. Also, would ticket revenue go up (per game) as there would be two fewer homes per season so fans would be more likely to show up as a game is a slightly more precious commodity than previously (when there were more of them). (It should be also noted that costs would go down as their would be two less away trips per year.) What say you?
I agree, i think it should be cut to 18 teams and i'm surprised the Lega Pro hasn't been re-named to Serie C yet but that's not that big a deal. Serie B should be cut to 20 teams IMO. For the teams in Serie B especially, they don't really make that much money off of gate revenue. It's much more costly having to afford away trips. Especially teams from Sicily/Sardinia having to go everywhere with flight costs.
I would be in favor of contracting to 18 teams (so starting with the current 20 teams minus Milan and Inter) if it meant playing each other team twice at home and twice away, so a 68-match season and we could do away with national team stuff and maybe even Coppa Italia to make it all work.
Serie A needs to be cut down. B teams added to Lega Pro and fight for promotion to B and stay there, no chance of promotion to A and excluded from Coppa Italia.
Here is the question: would the four non-Epiphany weekday matches be scrapped if the league shrunk to 18 and went to 34 matches?
I think another benefit of going to 18 teams is that when marketing the league, the casual fan will see less adverts for teams they haven't heard of before (Carpi, Frosinone, and Hellas Verona...I'm looking at you) getting scored on by Juve, Napoli, Roma, etc. and instead see Bologna, Palermo, and Inter (more recognizable names) getting scored on.
I have rethought this, and I believe the answer is to go back to 16 clubs in Serie A. 29 of the 30 league fixtures would be on weekends, and the other fixture would be the first Thursday in January after the winter break. The Coppa Italia would feature two preliminary rounds leading to the Round of 32 (where the top 10 Serie A sides of the previous season enter). These two preliminary rounds would be played on weekdays. The Round of 32 to the final (all one-off matches) would be played on weekends. In total, there would be 34 weekend matches, and 1-3 weekday matches for Serie A sides (if they reach the cup final). This would lead to well rested sides who have no excuse to fail in Europe. Shrinking the league to 16 would increase the quality by diluting the talent somewhat, and because there would be only one midweek league match, there would be little squad rotation. Serie A would relegate two clubs, and Serie B would promote the top two in their league (18 clubs). Serie C (Lega Pro's new name) would also have 18 clubs and would feature a 3 up/3 down promotion/relegation relationship with Serie B. Serie C would be semi-professional (and as others have input, I would allow B-teams up until this level).
I think we should go back to 16 teams. All the 30 matchdays can be on weekends. Also, the Coppa Italia format can be slightly changed so that the semifinals are one match and the top 10 Serie A sides from the previous season enter the Round of 32, which precedes two qualifying rounds to whittle down the field. The final would be played on a Sunday and the rest of matches would be played on weekdays. This would allow for a proper winter break. A study by the Bundesliga was done to see if it should expand to 20 from 18 and it was found that cost would exceed revenue for expanding. I think the inverse would likely be true if we shrunk from 20 to 16. Serie A should never be played mid week and each team only having 15 home league games would lead to better crowds as matches would be rarer.