Hooliganism and demand for football in Italy Evidence for the period 1962-2011

This paper investigates the impact of hooliganism on attendance inItalian stadium and the effect of anti-violence measures adopted byItalian Government in 2007. Results first show that a structural breaktook place on Serie A average attendance in season 1979/80. Theeconometric investigation focused on the average of tickets sold pergame as dependent variable. We have found a robust negative impactof hooliganism and match-fixing scandals on stadium attendance. Inthe light of the previous results we focus on recent policy measuresadopted by Italian authorities aiming at reducing hooliganism. Thesemeasures, grounded on a ‘fidelity card’, were designed to keep outthe extreme and violent part of committed fans in favour of the uncommitted.According to our econometric investigation involvingsingle match played in Serie A from season 2007/08 to 2011/12 thesubstitution effect failed and the ‘fidelity card’ strategy did not turnto be successful if considering the average attendance point of view.[...]