(Gai went so far as to say that there are diehard Juve supporters who don’t even know they’re from Turin. I suspect he was pulling my leg, but who really knows?)
One of the side effects of a national, rather than local, fan base is that many fans have to travel long distances to home games. And when the team isn’t winning or playing well, and is surrounded by a cloud of negativity like the one that followed Pig-Pen from Peanuts, maybe you just sit home and watch them on TV — even when you already have the sunk cost of a season ticket.
In this, unwittingly, they haven’t been helped by the slogan coined by former president Giampiero Boniperti who, paraphrasing legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi, famously said, “Winning isn’t important, it’s the only thing that matters.” So much so, in fact, that they stitched it on their jerseys one season.
The problem is that this sort of messaging works great when you’re successful — like Juve were when they won nine straight Serie A titles from 2011 to 2020 — but less so when you struggle. Some supporters raised on the mantra who experienced the years of success are less likely to say, “Hey! We stink now, but this is when they need me the most, so I’m going to the game to sing my heart out.” When winning — rather than things such as rebuilding, weathering the storm or giving youngsters a chance — is the only thing that matters … well, if you don’t win, why bother?
Juve’s biggest issue is evidently performance on the pitch. At some point, it will either improve (and the sell-out crowds will return) or it won’t, and Allegri will be sacked and they’ll start over with somebody new. To some degree, attendance — and especially engagement of the positive kind, the sort that goes beyond posting #AllegriOut hashtags — and performance will always be related. It’s the holy grail of any team, in any sport: lessen that correlation (ticket prices and facilities obviously help), ensuring that folks come to see their team play and not just to see their team win.
For a while, it looked as if Juve had cracked that formula. Now, it’s not so clear-cut.
Hey, at least September is almost over. Will October bring better times or more of the same?
