Serie A hits five million subscribers on YouTube

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Italy’s Serie A has reached more than five million subscribers on YouTube, making it one of the most subscribed football channels on the platform.

Serie A’s YouTube channel increased its subscribers by 85 per cent during the 2019/20 season, as the channel also had 800 million views.

“This milestone further enforces Lega Serie A’s presence as a leader on YouTube by being the first football-related and the first football-league channel in the world with the greatest number of monthly video views,” Serie A said in a statement.

“This great achievement has been reached thanks to the support of IMG and Little Dot Studios agencies, partners of Lega Serie A for the development of the official Lega Serie A Brand Channel on YouTube.

“This goal has been accompanied by the numerical and strategical growth of Lega Serie A’s other digital platforms, which in the last year have seen exponential improvement both on the number of followers and the quality of content that is shared on the respective platforms with an aim to offer the best experience to Serie A’s fanbase across the globe.”

62 per cent of the channel’s viewers are from outside Italy. The channel has also achieved over 30 million viewing hours – Serie A’s most viewed video was a highlights package of a match featuring AC Milan and Juventus with over 21 million views.

On average, the channel posted more than 30 videos a week during the 2019/20 season consisting of over 1,200 videos released.

Serie A currently has 5.17 million subscribers, where La Liga with 5.8 million is the only other major league to have more numbers. The English Premier League has 1.15 million subscribers, while Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga have 1.55 million and 2.05 million respectively.

Compared to figures in Australia, the My Football channel has 53,000 subscribers – the official YouTube channel of the Hyundai A-League, Westfield W-League, Socceroos, Matildas, FFA Cup and National Premier Leagues.

Earlier this month, Inter Milan reached 25 million likes on its Facebook page. The page increased in likes by 71 per cent during the 2019/20 season and received 135 million video views and more than 35 million interactions.

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Daniel Foley is a sports junior journalist with Soccerscene. He reports widely on football policy and micro industry matters.

Football SA extending Development Centres throughout regional and metropolitan areas

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Football SA Development Centres
Image credit: Football SA

Football South Australia (SA) announced the expansion of its Development Centres for boys and girls from ages nine to 13.

This expansion will offer more football and more opportunities for players in the Barossa, Noarlunga, Port Lincoln and Metropolitan Adelaide.

The five new centres add to the four currently located in the Limestone Coast, Whyalla, Riverland and the Adelaide Hills, taking the total up to nine centres in 2024.

Much of the talk has been the incredible impact that the home soil FIFA Women’s World Cup has had on football participation in the country across all age groups. There has been a notable uptick in player participation in regional areas , registering a 16.5% increase. Across the entire state, there is overall growth of 9%.

The key goal of the Football SA Development Centres expansion is to lay the grassroots foundation in place and create a suitable environment for kids so that their talent is recognised and captured by coaches.

These added sessions as a result of the expansion are designed not to conflict with existing club activities and will enhance players’ fundamental footballing skills.

Football SA Technical Director Michael Cooper touched on the opportunity this opens up for player development at the early ages.

“When we started the original program in 2023, we had the vision to implement a state-wide program that provides equal opportunities for players to progress to our State programs and offerings, which are highly regarded nationally,” Cooper said via Football SA press release.

“Taking our programs to regional South Australia has prevented the need for young players to travel week in week out to Adelaide for specialised coaching. This illustrates our support for regional associations and pathways we collectively offer.

“We are excited to see all players come together at events such as the State Development Carnival in July and I am confident more players will be identified from regional areas in the future.”

An issue Football South Australia touched on in their 2023-2026 Strategic Plan was the lack of regional players making the transition into state and regional squads.

The key function of Football SA, as mentioned on their website, has always been player development and to increase participation. This Development Centre expansion will service the regional communities and allow potential talented players, who weren’t recognised before, to grow through a natural pathway up until they represent state squads.

Cádiz CF outlines plan for new sports technology centre

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Cádiz Sportech City
Image via Cádiz CF

LALIGA football club Cádiz CF has unveiled plans to construct a brand-new sports technology centre which will be known as ‘Sportech City’.

The centre is expected to deliver significant results in the sports technology industry, and assert Cádiz’s position in the top-flight of Spanish football.

In addition, the centre aims to make a positive impact in areas outside of the football club, most notably in health and education. A short video released on its official YouTube channel helped outline the proposed facilities within Sportech City.

These include:

  • A 7,500-square-metre data centre.
  • A dedicated sports university.
  • 5,600 square metres dedicated to laboratories and prototype validation for user experience.
  • An events/congress centre.
  • A technological business incubator centre with 6,100 square metres of offices.
  • Health and medical services.
  • A designated retail zone.

Sportech City is the latest plan to be announced since La Liga introduced its ‘Impulso’ agreement with CVC Capital Partners in 2021. The agreement provided nearly two billion euros (3.3 million AUD) for Spanish football clubs to invest in technology, innovation, internationalisation, and sporting growth initiatives.

Plans for the centre are being coordinated between the club and professional services firm KPMG, who believe the centre will stimulate the local economy. It is estimated that 4,000 jobs will be created for the construction of Sportech City alone, with a further 2,900 jobs expected for the running of the centre.

According to sources within the club, Cádiz CF hopes to generate a minimum of 15 million euros (24.7 million AUD) per year once it begins operation.

Cádiz CF, like many clubs that sit beneath the traditional giants of Spanish football, have suffered a turbulent off-field history.

However, under president Manuel Vizcaíno’s stewardship since 2019, the club attracted overseas investment which helped them return to the top-flight of Spanish football for just the fourth time in its 123-year existence.

Sportech City is hoped to be the next initiative under an ambitious Vizcaíno that will bring success not just to the football club, but to the city of Cádiz.

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