Aurelio De Laurentiis denied that he tried to get Napoli into the Super League when it was first instituted. The owner criticized it, but that does not mean he agrees with the current scenario. The flamboyant executive has lofty plans to create a new European competition that could yield €10B in revenues. It would follow a different model compared to the collapsed cup.
De Laurentiis explained his reasoning to The Daily Mail: “The system does not work anymore. The Champions and Europa League do not generate sufficient income for the club to justify participating in it. To be competitive, you need more top-class players. That means you have to spend more, and the prize money from the European competitions does not account for that. That is why the clubs need to speak to each other to come up with a more modern and lucrative tournament for everyone in it.”
“We need to lower the number of games by reducing the size of the top divisions. Also, we have to create a European league with a democratic system of entry, based on what teams achieve in their domestic competitions. I have examined a project ready to bring €10B, but we need willingness and total independence.”
De Laurentiis is worried about the current state of the game: “If we do not change the rules and make it a better spectacle, young people will abandon us, and football will no longer be the central part of our lives. My research tells me that people between the ages of 8 and 25 have stopped watching football and prefer playing with smartphones. I am not saying that the habit of going in a stadium will die, but now we have the virtual arena, which can attract billions of people, and we must exploit it.”