Football as an engine of urban and social regeneration. The L’Aquila 1927 project was rebuilt around this principle. Saved from bankruptcy by the fans at the end of the 2018/19 season, the Abruzzo club became “The people’s team”. And it’s not just a simple slogan. The associative structure, in fact, was based on a form of widespread ownership that draws inspiration from the Bayern Munich model and the organization has focused on the absence of debt and healthy management, although not without sporting ambition.
«It’s not just football»
The L’Aquila team has won three amateur championships in the last five years and is now starting to implement a five-year industrial plan – «It’s not just football» – whose objective is to reach Serie B by 2027, the year of the centenary of the foundation of the club. An objective that combines with the redevelopment of the stadium, the construction of a new sports center and an Academy Center, with the creation of a new city center dedicated to sport and beyond. The business plan approved by the company proposes a sustainable model, in which the revenue flows generated by the sporting part are supported by those generated by real estate assets and new entrepreneurial activities. With the new stadium, in fact, bars, restaurants, a museum, multimedia rooms, an indoor theater are planned, as well as two 11-a-side football pitches, a 5-a-side pitch, 4 padel pitches, in order to create lines of additional income independent of football activity. Furthermore, the vision of the Abruzzo club is not limited to football but aims to create a true sports club, with volleyball, padel, tennis and five-a-side football teams, which will promote social inclusion in the area.
Equity Crowdfunding
A territory which, with its entrepreneurial fabric, has already given a positive response: in fact, more than 300 sponsorship contracts have been activated. Meanwhile, in view of the transition from the current Serie D to professionalism, with the hoped-for promotion to Serie C in the 2025/26 season, an equity crowdfunding campaign was launched on March 21st. «This operation introduces a new financial culture in the L’Aquila club and can contaminate Italian sports clubs», underlines Francesco Ghirelli, former president of the Lega Pro and since May 2023 honorary president of the Abruzzo club. Various categories of members are contemplated. Those in category C, who can pay from a minimum amount of 250 euros up to 9,999, have the right to receive profits and the free sale of shares, those in category C can pay from 10 thousand euros and up and also have the right to vote at the meeting and the appointment of directors. So far, over 220 thousand euros have been raised from more than 300 investors and there is still more than a month left until the end of the collection.
The new Gran Sasso stadium
A central asset of the crowdfunding campaign is the stadium renovation project – in which the Municipality and other stakeholders will also participate – which will begin shortly with the demolition of the first curve, to be regenerated with more welcoming spaces for commercial and healthcare activities. The facility, which today has 6,100 seats, will have a capacity of 7,500 in the future. Already today without a fence towards the pitch and architectural barriers, it will be redeveloped without further consumption of land, with energy produced from renewable sources (photovoltaic and geothermal) and according to rules of accurate environmental sustainability (from the ban on single-use plastic to dematerialized ticketing). This is the Gran Sasso d’Italia stadium which in 2009 during the dramatic earthquake that hit L’Aquila hosted displaced people in a tent city. One more reason to transform it into an engine of infrastructural and social modernization.
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2024-04-01 05:31:12