Over one million fans lost - TalkSoccer

**D-Kin** · 11-02-2008, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Juve count Calciopoli cost Monday 11 February, 2008

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A survey in the peninsula has revealed that Juventus have lost over a million fans as a result of the Calciopoli scandal.

The Old Lady remain by far and away Italy’s most supported side with an estimated fan base of just over seven million.

However, a survey conducted by Stage Up / Ipsos and printed in the Guerin Sportivo states that nearly 1.5m supporters jumped ship during the 2006-07 campaign in Serie B.

The biggest beneficiaries of Juve’s spell in Purgatory were world champions Milan whose support swelled by 33 per cent to around 4.8 million.

Despite reigning supreme in Serie A, Inter have enjoyed a growth of just 14 per cent to a total of around 4.3 million.

The research indicated that Fiorentina and Palermo are attracting a greater number of fans, but Roma and Lazio’s tifosi have shrunk.

channel4.com - Football Italia

Although these numbers aren't exactly surprising it does just go to show how fickle some football fans can be.

**LAF** · 11-02-2008, 12:36 PM

Who cares. Anybody that changes the club they support aren't proper fans anyway.

**D-Kin** · 11-02-2008, 03:06 PM

Exactly.

It's through times like these that you find out who the real fans are.

**azzurri** · 11-02-2008, 05:40 PM

Hardly a loss, since they were never fans to begin with.

**unitedfan** · 13-02-2008, 05:34 PM

It's 1 million people who buy Juventus shirts basically. How much that actually hurts you I don't know.

Not at all in terms of pride or stature, but it can hurt financially. Still got more fans then any other Italian side though, that's basically a testament to the stature of the club.

**azzurri** · 13-02-2008, 06:12 PM

True, those figures are probably based on merchandise sales. I doubt Milan had a 33% fan increase in Italy in 1 year. They probably just sold more stuff courtesy of the CL victory and Kaka getting alot of media attention.

Surveys b4 calciopoli put Juve's support at 12 mil, so its all estimates. Although I dont doubt Juve lost "fans". That joga bonito camel faced mercenary had alot of followers.

**Jager** · 14-02-2008, 06:31 AM

One could argue that Juve has the most die hard fans in Italia. One could also argue that a lot of their fan base is made up of glory hunters. In Rome or Milan, usually the third or even second most supported team is Juve. Many southerners who live in the north or Rome, support Juve.

Many believe they like to do so because they like to "show" up the local support in the city, which sort of makes sense.

But Juve support is sort of hard to understand. In their own city, they play second fiddle at times to Torino, which reportedly is more widely supported in the city itself...that is the CITY, not the province.

However support is support.

I still maintain Lazio, Roma and Inter fans are the most loyal in Italy. They are hardcore to the bone.

**azzurri** · 14-02-2008, 08:00 PM

Juve average slighlty more per game than Torino. The support is more or less equal in the city.

Sicily is probably the province with the most Juve support, outside of Piedmont of course.