AS Roma: Thanks for the Yanks; Why DiBenedetto and Co. is good (For Serie A)

It is all but assured that come Friday, AS Roma will become the first Serie A team to pass into foreign hands, as Richard DiBenedetto completes his takeover of the club.

Overwhelmingly, fans are enthused to see a change in leadership–while the Sensi family have been nothing but devoted to the team, their financial management has been less than sound and has burdened the club with a load of debt.

The American management has promised to restructure the team and organization in order to return AS Roma to profitability and prestige. Should they be successful, Roma fans will not be the only ones to cheer.

The Serie A as a whole will benefit from their example.

The reconstruction of Rome requires a three-pronged approach: the economic structure of the team, the international marketability and the squad itself all require tending.

To attend to these functions, the takeover group is composed in a way conducive to running a modern sports organization. Michael Ruane, James Pallotta and Richard D’Amore, three Bostonian business leaders, have signed on to fulfill specific, much needed functions in the Roma organization, with each member bringing experience to crucial departments.

Ruane, a real estate mogul and investment banker, will be tasked with the construction of a new stadium.

Italian stadiums are among the most decrepit in Europe and are exclusively owned by third-parties. The Juventus Arena ,to be inaugurated with the 11/12 campaign, will be the first of its kind-–a modern, expanded and 100 percent owned by the club stadium.

The stadium is, of course, a major investment and in a densely populated, difficultly zoned city like Rome, construction will take several years.

But the added revenue, in the long run, will make the Roman side a thoroughly competitive organization and will set an example for the rest of the league.

Another much needed point of renovation is the marketing aspect. The Premier League rose to prominence due to its uncanny ability to sell itself to the world.

The city of Rome itself lends itself to expanding AS Roma's global brand–per year, Rome hosts seven to 10 million tourists from all over the world, who spend billions of dollars in the city. It will fall to RIchard D'Amore to leverage this untapped market through his experience in new media.

Success means added cash and prestige. 

Furthermore, the group has a reassuring experience in sport.

DiBenedetto is part of the venture owning both the Red Sox and Liverpool FC (not involved with Rome), while Jim Palotta, a Bostonian hedge fund manager, owns the Celtics.

Liverpool’s recent cash-in of a misfiring Fernando Torres for the deadly duo of Suarez and Carroll evidences an auspicious cleverness in the transfer market on the part of DiBenedetto's partners.

Walter Sabatini, previously at Palermo, has also signed on as the Sport Director. Sabatini has a track-record of shrewd buys that have literally paid millions in dividends.

The arrivals of Javier Pastore, Simon Kjaer and Amauri were all orchestrated by the Perugian, players later sold off with a mega-bonus.

DiBenedetto has already promised six new arrivals for the summer transfer season: rumored targets are Gianluigi Buffon, Javier Pastore and, for the bench, Carlo Ancelotti.

Following Chelsea’s lackluster season, Ancelotti will be out of a job come May, and a return la Città Eterna is on the cards.

Once, years ago, the Serie A was the pinnacle of the footballing world. Van Basten, Zidane and Batitstuta all plied their skillful trade on the old peninsula, where “The Seven Sisters of Calcio” dominated the international scene.

Such glories are merely faded memories now. Serie A has fallen to fourth in the UEFA coefficient system, the metric indicating a league’s level of competitiveness and continues to plunge.

Their position has been usurped by a resurgent Bundesliga, driven by the highest attendance in Europe and efficient academies–this means that next year, it will be Germany and not Italy sending four teams to the Champions league.

And Italy does not seem in any position to reclaim it.

The French Ligue 1 is closer to Italy than Italy is to Germany, and the lone Serie A representative in the Champions, Inter, just limped out of Shalke 04’s stadium with its tail between its legs.

Furthermore, the move sucks out a guaranteed 25 million Euros out of Serie A economy and makes it harder for clubs to capitalize on their success. In short, the situation needs redressing.

Obviously, capital is needed and DiBenedetto represents just that.

Since Calciopoli crippled the league, Inter has dominated all domestic challenger, winning the last six Scudetti (two of the reassigned).

Milan, since winning the Champions in 2007, has disappointed in Europe and at home (though that may change this year), while Roma and Juventus have struggled to make any sort of impact.

This has made the Serie A less entertaining and less competitive in Europe, broadly speaking (excepted Inter's title last year). 

While the resurgence of Napoli has made for a spectacular campaign, but whether the partenopei can compete on the continent is yet to be determined. The addition of a title-ready squad in Rome would require that Inter, Milan and Juventus play with more quality.  

While a successful Roma will not be built in a day or even a season, in the long run, its will force the "comfortable" teams to adapt or perish in a new competitive climate.  

So bring on the Yanks.