Serie A is facing a paradox that is hard to ignore: audiences are growing, stadium attendances are increasing, and the average revenue per club continues to rise, yet profitability remains a distant goal. If the current trend holds, teams in the Italian championship will surpass €4 billion in cumulative losses since the pandemic this season, a figure that contrasts sharply with the image of recovery projected by European football after the harshest years of Covid-19.
In the 2024–2025 season, the 20 clubs added another €348.8 million to the accounting gap, although they managed to reduce losses by 5.7% compared to the previous year, according to data from Intelligence 2P, the strategy and market intelligence unit of 2Playbook. Seven teams posted profits, the same number as the previous season, while thirteen remained in the red, with newly promoted sides and historic giants sharing the burden of a deficit that reflects structural problems deeper than a simple cyclical downturn.
More income, but a model that fails to balance
Total Serie A revenue reached €2.773 billion, with an average of €139 million per club, up 2% year-on-year. Only FC Inter, AC Milan, and Juventus FC exceeded €300 million in ordinary income, while other key Italian clubs such as AS Roma, SSC Napoli, and Atalanta BC hovered around €200 million — even below clubs in LaLiga such as Real Betis. Napoli’s case is particularly striking: league champions with 29% fewer resources than their direct competitors, penalized by not playing in European competitions and highlighting how significant the so-called “UEFA effect” has become in Italian football budgets.
Television remains the main economic pillar, accounting for 55% of ordinary income, but matchday revenue is gaining ground, rising from 10% to 15% of total revenue in the last financial year. Even so, commercial income remains stagnant at around €40.5 million on average per club, with wide differences between entities. While AC Milan and FC Inter are reaching record sponsorship figures, others rely heavily on transfer gains, where SSC Napoli and Atalanta BC stand out with more than €100 million in profit from player sales.
The weight of stadiums, wage bills, and the European factor
A significant part of Italian football’s problem lies in its aging stadiums, which are poorly optimized as business assets. Projects such as the purchase and renovation of San Siro by FC Inter and AC Milan, Aurelio De Laurentiis’ intention to build a new stadium in Naples, and redevelopment plans in cities such as Palermo show that growth potential is closely tied to infrastructure. Pressure is increasing with Euro 2032 on the horizon and UEFA watching closely the delays in modernization, after San Siro lost the hosting rights for the Champions League final in 2027.
At the same time, spending on squads continues to strain finances. The wage bill ranged between €42 million and €345 million per club and increased by another €100 million in 2024–2025. Eight teams allocated more than 80% of their income to player salaries in a league that still lacks an internal financial control system and will need to adapt to UEFA’s squad cost ratio. Even clubs competing in Europe reflect the contrast: half of them lost money, accumulating a combined deficit of €152.4 million, while those that made profits did so largely thanks to the new financial distribution of the Champions League.
