Juventus chief open to taking Serie A overseas

The Italian top-flight could follow in La Liga’s footsteps by staging games outside of Italy, according to the Bianconceri’s chief revenue officer

Juventus’ Chief Revenue Officer Giorgio Ricci has claimed that he is open to Serie A playing games abroad.

La Liga have signed a deal to stage one game per season in the United States, as part of an ongoing expansion plan.

The proposal has been met with firm opposition from the players, who claim to have been excluded from the decision-making process and are not ruling out strike action.

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However, Ricci feels a similar deal could benefit Italy’s top-flight, and has floated the idea of playing games in Britain.

“To get the league more global is really important,” he said, at Soccerex.

“If we look at some other more developed leagues in terms of commercial strategy; the NBA and NFL, they are exporting one or two of their matches abroad, to the UK or elsewhere in Europe.”

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has often exported regular season games from the US around the world since 1990, with the National Football League (NFL) launching its own international series in 2007 and now playing in London annually.

Ricci, however, admits that Serie A must be careful of not alienating fans and players, as La Liga appears to have done.

 “The key is finding the right balance between what the commercial need is and not losing the domestic DNA, which is the essence of football.”