Crowds at Italy's Serie B matches soar - report

Crowds attending matches in Italy's second-tier Serie B league have almost doubled on average so far this season compared to the 2019-2020 campaign, the last one unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by La Gazzetta dello Sport showed on Friday.

The average nyumber of spectators per Serie B match was 9,922, with the second-tier surpassing the milestone of one million fans attending in total in 11 matchdays and 110 games.

The average figure even tops the 2006-2007 season, when Juventus, who then counted star players Gianluigi Buffon and Alessandro Del Piero in their ranks, were in Serie B after being relegated due to the Calciopoli corruption scandal.

The report cited an improvement in the quality of matches as well as the presence of historic clubs which have had a long tradition of playing in Serie A, such as Bari, Genoa, Cagliari, Palermo, Reggio Calabria and Parma, as factors.

Serie B also announced on Thursday it had signed deals to broadcast matches in Australia, New Zealand and most of Africa.