jtelly

Interesting point you bring up Giovanni, and as someone who is being marketed to (an American who now has 3 totally dedicated channels to football), I can try to lend a perspective. I've also traveled to matches in all the major footballing countries (including Finland and Russia!!) so I think I've got a diverse viewpoint in being there as well.
First, I want to counter Hany's point that it is the fans/customers who have failed. If you are in marketing my friend, you will be quick out of a job with that attitude. It is NEVER the customers' fault, and if you want to excuse something like the decline on "Product Life Cycle", well that is a big cop-out. It is ALWAYS the marketer's job to reinvent, refresh, and recycle the same old thing so that we want to see it again! So I think it is very foolish to blame the fan.
Ok, so back to the usual things that point to the downfall of serie A. First, stadiums are atrocious. They are falling apart, cavernous, fans are away from the pitch, they are dangerous. There has been no upkeep in them. From my first visit to italy in 94 from my last one in 2007, there has been no really visible changes. The seats still suck, I am still far away, and now there are less people so it seems like even more of a wasteland. Plus, nets and cages and plexiglass are still up, and that is something you will not find ANYWHERE in England.
Ticket prices are an interesting thing, and this is where I think you can put the blame on the product and the stadium. In england, most tickets are so expensive, the cheapest to Arsenal is like 32 pounds, but i paid like 15 euros for milan. Also, season tickets in england run to the thousands while in italy you can get milan for like 270 euro. So that makes if financially viable to go to a game, but where are the folks? Well, they are jaded by the violence. They are jaded by calciopoli. They are bored with the pace of matches. They have seen the best players leave the league. Why? Because the teams and league refuse to change its way of play. Entertainment is supposed to be fun and exciting. If you flip on the tube and watch an EPL game even between Bolton and Wigan, the fans are rocking, they are right on the pitch, the game is fast, the names are known, the commentators are upping it, all because they BELIEVE it is the best. Conversely, you flip on the tube to watch serie A, the sound is dead, the comments are bored, there are no fans, nobody knows the names, and the play is slow. (In no way is this meant to be an endorsement of who plays the better football, this is just the reality as people see it). Now that football is available all the time, all over, you better have the best. And the EPL has the best names, most international, most appealing, fastest pace, etc. They built their hype and it works.
This brings me to TV. I can watch about 8 EPL games each weekend on Fox or Setanta. They are always given first billing, and bump any other games out of the way, no matter what. There is a whole new culture of the EPL in the world, because their marketers invented it, and people bought it. Serie A used to be on Fox and GolTV, but now it is limited to Fox. At best we get 3 games, but usually 2. There is no fanfare or talk about Italy, the games come on, the comments and sounds suck, and it is left to die. Hell, even MLS is getting more play on TV.
At the end of the day, people are caught up in the hype and speed of the EPL. There is less and less appreciation of tactical football or defensive football, and for new fans, most want the most accessible and easiest product to get into.
So, the million dollar question is, how do we change it? Well, we need to fix the stadiums. They are absolute ****e. And without the stadiums full and rocking, the product just doesn't seem as good. Hell, MLS stadiums seem to have more atmosphere than some italian ones (at least on TV).
Also, it is embarrasing to turn on the TV and see mostly Italian and Spanish fans now getting put in the hooligan category-rarely is there anything about English fans anymore. In america, all the press about the roma v manchester fracas was about how terrible italian police are. And also, the champions league where anders frisk got coined, dida flopping around against celtic, these are all being shown and disparaged in worldwide television audiences, and it embarasses the championship.
I think italy needs to recreate its whole championship, but I don't think that is the italian way. I honestly don't really see much in the way of italy ever getting back on top-and i think that it will always be looked at a somewhat sinister and cynical championship. Anytime i post on an english site, i'm referred to as a cheat and diver and things like that. but really, is it hard to see why? i mean, that fight with atalanta after that guy scored a goal he "didn't need", that is pathetic and totally unsporting. look at bolton on the last day in england, they could've curled up and died but in the end fought out a result. italy has a long way to go before we will be the top destination.
I do agree with hany on his last paragraph, i think we are destined to be a second-tier with la liga and Bundes, with most of our good hope coming from cup runs. There seems to be very little care in the english speaking world for the italian championship, other than when a side goes on a cup run. it is up to MILAN to make the best we can, just like Madrid and Barca in spain, and Bayern in germany. We'll see how the future goes...