意大利足球

　　More than just trophy assets

　　不仅仅是摆设

　　The country's largest clubs are belatedly becoming more businesslike

　　该国个大俱乐部的效率化进程姗姗来迟

　　FOR all their fans' passion, Italian football clubs struggle to make profits. In the 1990s Italy's Serie A was the most glamorous and high-profile of Europe's five main football leagues; it has since fallen, in revenue terms, from second to fourth place. In this year's Football Money League, published on January 22nd by Deloitte, a consulting firm, three of the four Italian clubs in the worldwide top 20 dropped at least one position. However, there are signs of a turnaround in the clubs' fortunes.

　　尽管意大利球迷非常狂热，但是它的足球俱乐部依然难以盈利。在上世纪九十年代，意甲是欧洲五大足球联赛当中最富魅力、最高调的联赛；自此以后，它的收益能力就从第二位下滑到了第四位。1月22日，由德勤咨询公司发布的本年度足球财富榜里，在全球前20名之内的四所意大利俱乐部当中，有三所至少下降了一个位次。不过，俱乐部的命运有转机的迹象。

　　意大利足球 可可英语.jpg

　　Italy's league fell behind its peers partly because of the complacency of clubs' owners. Tycoons treated them as trophy assetsmore than businesses. The clubs suffered chronic losses and corruption scandals, and their stadiums were left to decay. But Italy's sustained economic downturn and the introduction by UEFA, European football's governing body, of rules to stop clubs habitually spending more than they earn, have been among the main reasons why a number of clubs have changed hands. Foreign investors are trickling in.

　　意大利联赛落于同辈之后的一大原因是俱乐部所有者的骄傲自满。业界大亨们将他们看作是身份的象征而不是一门生意。俱乐部遭受长期亏损以及腐败丑闻的影响，他们的体育场因此杂草蔓生。不过，大批俱乐部被转手的两个主要原因是：1、意大利经济的持续低迷；2、欧洲足球管理机构——欧足联引入了一系列规则来阻止俱乐部习惯性地入不敷出。外国投资者正慢慢涌向这一领域。

　　For those seeking to turn around a club's finances, one of the most important tasks is to boost match-day takings, which account for 11% of total revenues in Serie A, compared with 23% in both the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga. That means improving the match-day experience. However, few Italian clubs own the stadiums they play in, and unlike in Britain and Germany, where official encouragement and incentives have led to stadiums being upgraded, Italian ones largely remain in a poor state.

　　对于那些寻求扭转俱乐部财务状况的人来说，提高比赛日收入是最重要的任务之一。与英超和德甲的23%相比，比赛日收入占了意甲总收入的11%。这意味着要提高观赛日的体验。但是，少数意大利俱乐部拥有他们自己的场馆，与之不同的是，英国和德国的官方鼓励和激励措施使得足球场地可以得到翻新，而这些意大利的运动场馆大多状态不佳。

　　There is plenty of money coming in from television: the amount that broadcasters pay to show Italian football matches is second only to that in England. However, Italian clubs are missing a few other tricks. For instance, they do not get much from renting out VIP boxes at their grounds on match days: Italian businesspeople tend to take clients to dinner or the opera; and to persuade them to start bringing them to football matches, the facilities at grounds would need to be improved. Also, unlike England's top clubs, Italian ones have not been good at conning their fans into buying overpriced team strips.

　　有一大笔钱来自电视：电视台转播意大利足球赛的付费金额仅次于英国。不过意大利俱乐部缺少一些其他的技巧。比如说，在比赛日里，他们不能从出租场地中贵宾包厢这一项上得到可观的收益：意大利商人往往邀请客户共进晚餐或者观赏歌剧；想让意大利人带客户来看足球赛的话，场地设施还需要好好改善。不仅如此，不同于英国的俱乐部，意大利俱乐部不擅长组织球迷购买高价的球衣队服。

　　But the tide could turn soon. Italy's top performer is Juventus, owned by the Agnelli family, whose forebears founded Fiat. The Turin-based club opened a new, 41,000-capacity stadium in 2011; it has since more than trebled its match-day revenues. Two other teams, Sassuolo and Udinese, have since embarked on revamping their stadiums, and AS Roma plans to build itself a new home on the outskirts of the eternal city.

　　但是这股浪潮即将被扭转。阿涅利家族祖先成立了菲亚特公司，而意大利的顶级球队尤文图斯就所属于这个家族。这个位于都灵市的俱乐部在2011年开放了一处可容纳41000人的新场地；这比比赛日收益的三倍还要多出部分。其他两支队伍，萨索洛和乌迪内斯队已经着手改造他们的体育馆了，而且罗马队打算在罗马市郊修建一处新的大本营。

　　Efforts are being made to earn more from foreign sources. Over the past five years the Supercoppa, the opening match of the season, has been played three times in China and once in Qatar. AS Roma, bought by a group of American investors in 2011, has since struck a ten-year kit-sponsorship deal with Nike. In 2013 Erick Thohir, an Indonesian businessman, acquired 70% of Inter Milan, bringing in a clutch of foreign executives to boost the brand globally: of Inter's 280m fans, 60% live in Asia, including 18m in Indonesia.

　　为了获取外国资源，意大利的俱乐部也是做足了努力。在过去五年中，作为赛季揭幕战的超级杯，已经在中国举办三次、在卡塔尔举办了一次。罗马队自2011年被一群美国投资者收购以后，就与耐克签订了为期十年的球衣赞助协议。在2013年，一位印尼商人雅立多斯获得了国际米兰70%的股份，并且带来了一众外国高管，他们打算将它打造成国际品牌：在国际米兰2.8亿球迷当中，60%居住在亚洲，其中1800万在印尼。

　　Harry Philp of Portland Advisers, a consulting firm which advises on sports infrastructure, predicts that more Italian football teams could soon be welcoming foreign investors. Their expertise in running a profitable business will be as welcome as their money.

　　波特兰顾问是一家专门为体育基础建设提供建议的咨询公司，它的雇员哈利·飞利浦预言，更多的意大利足球队将会欢迎国外的投资者。他们在管理盈利生意上的专业水准将和他们的投资一样大受欢迎。