In May this year ‘Como 1907’ was promoted into the top league of Italian football – Serie A. It was only five years ago when Como was languishing in the bottom league – Serie D, and 21 years ago since the club last managed to be in Serie A. This dramatic change in fortune can be attributed to what the BBC has defined as ‘the most interesting football project in Europe’ – a project inspired by Disney and starring the lake. What is that project and how did it come about? 

Como’s Stadio Sinighalia looks out over the lake. It is just one of a number of modernist buildings in the area including the Canottieri Lario and Terragni’s War Memorial designed in honour of Antonio Sant’Eglia and Novocomum.

Since the 2002-2003 season, when Como was last in Serie A, the club has faced a number of vicissitudes and just a few triumphs. In fact it was declared bankrupt the year after leaving Serie A. It faced bankruptcy again in July 2016 when it was put up for sale by auction. However no-one came forward to buy it until the price was dropped for the fourth time in March 2017 when finally it sold for a mere 237.000 euros to Akosua Puni Essien, the wife of the Ghanaian footballer Michael Essien who had played for Chelsea, Milan and Real Madrid. Unfortunately Mrs. Essien did not turn out to be the saviour all were hoping for since the players received no wages after the first three months and bills for the rent and maintenance of the stadium and training grounds went unpaid. Rather than raise the club from Serie C to B. as Mrs. Essien had promised, she failed to secure the payments needed to keep the team within the league. Como Calcio was back being declared bankrupt by June 2017 for the third time this century. 

Mrs Akosua Puni Essien bought the club back in 2017 but unfortunately could not secure funding to cover the club’s running costs.

A group of knights in shining armour then appeared over the Atlantic from Miami in the shape of the Nicastro Group headed by Massimo Nicastro, an ex-Bocconi graduate who migrated over to Miami in the 1990s as an entrepreneur and property developer. His knowledge of Italy, and Como in particular, allied to his sharply honed American-style entrepreneurial instincts led him to see the value of the club ‘as a sort of Via della Spiga of football. Football set in a panorama of beauty, which could act as a driving force for a lot of other things’. And it was perhaps the ‘other things’ rather than the dismal sporting record of the club that persuaded the Indonesian Hartono brothers (said to own assets worth up to 18 billion euros) to buy into Nicastro’s sales pitch.  In 2019, with Como 1907 now in the hands of the richest proprietors of Italian football, all was set to launch the sort of project Nicastro must have had in mind.

Scenes of jubilation both on and off the pitch after the match against Cosenza ended in a draw guaranteeing the club’s promotion into Serie A.

The Project

Como 1907’s logo. The club was established back in 1907 by a group of partners from the Canottieri Lario.

Como 1907 as from 2019 is owned by the London-based company Sent Entertainment which in turn is owned by Global Media Vision Ltd., an Indonesian company belonging to Robert Budi and Michael Hartono. Dennis Wise, former England International, came in as the Sporting CEO and another Indonesian, Mirwan Suwarso, was made responsible for operating the project as a whole without direct responsibility for the sporting side. He has described Sent Entertainment’s business concept for Como 1907 as an experiment linking sport, business and landscape – a sort of ‘boutique’ club within the unique setting of Lake Como where all these three elements are brought together by what might be called the Como ‘brand’. 

Suwarso’s challenge in his own words was ‘to transform a football club from a structurally loss-making company to a profitable business. Sustainability cannot exist in football without linking the events of the team to those of the city and the territory.’ But money helps and the Hartonos immediately started investing in both the team, the stadium and the overall business concept. They acquired a sports centre in Mozzate (half way between Como and Varese) for 3 million euros. They returfed the pitch and then set about extending and replacing the stadium’s seating and investing in the VAR technology required for Serie A matches. The organisation of the business was restructured into four divisions: Como Retail – shops and merchandising, Como Property – stadium and training grounds, Como Academy – the youth team and Como Entertainment – organising sponsorship events, fund raising and general celebrations! They have a merchandising outlet in Via Olginati and  a more upmarket ‘concept store’ in the iconic Vitrum shop front originally designed by Giuseppe Terragni, on Piazza Duomo. The concept store is currently running an exhibition of works inspired by the lake by the artist Golnaz Jebelli. Her lake artwork was also used by the Indonesian couturier, Didit Hediprasetyo to design Como 1907’s current kit.

Galleria Como is the concept store partnered with Como 1907 and owned by couturier Didit Hediprasetyo

The project can be divided into two main areas, commercial and sporting. The sporting aspect under Dennis Wise has seen constant improvement since the 2018 takeover with the club rising to Serie B for the last three years before promotion to Serie A at the end of this season. It is judged as 40% done. The commercial project is however still only 20% complete in spite of raising revenue from merchandising from a starting point of 90,000 euros per annum before the Hartono take-over to 1.35 million in 2022 and 3.9 million in 2023. Apparently a Como 1907 branded bag is now on sale at Harrods, a result of the club’s partnership with the Milanese bag maker Brics. More prosaically, the club has also partnered with the Piedmont-based mineral water company, San Bernardo and promoted a limited series featuring the artwork of Ester Maria Negretti – a local artist specialising in lake landscapes whom we have featured in a couple of articles over the years.

Ester Negretti is a local artist with a studio on Via BorgoVico. One of her favourite subjects is Lake Como.

The club has also ensured they launch projects of value to the local community and in support of charities such as the opening of a Children’s Community. In their own words:

On and off the pitch, Como 1907 is dedicated to being engaged members of the local community, working with other local enterprises to build prosperity.

We want to be world class in every sense: a world class club playing world class football in a world class setting, surrounded by world class partners, businesses and a world class sense of community.

Ultimately, everyone in Como is connected by our love for the region. Como 1907’s goal is to work to strengthen the bonds between us for the good of the community and all its businesses. That means reaching out way beyond Como to the world, to invite global solutions to our specific challenges and ambitions.

Como 1907 made a

These hyperbolic expressions calling on the club to ‘reach out to the world’  or ‘invite global solutions’ required a revolutionary change to this previously modest provincial club. Key to achieving such a global image was securing international stars such as Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry as shareholders committed to the project and the long term sustainability of the club’s success. Fabregas came on board in 2022 and briefly starred as a player for a single season before taking on the coaching of the youth team, the Primavera.  The symbolic importance of Fabregas joining the club was made explicit by one of Italy’s prime sports journalists, Gianluca di Marzio: ‘Fabregas is in Como to become a point of reference for the club, in terms of increasing its professionalism, but not only. For the outside world it is an important signal, a leap in quality for the Como brand.’

Local fans organised in the ‘curva’ to celebrate their team’s promotion.

The Coup D’Etat occurred on 12th November 2023 with the controversial dismissal of the coach Moreno Longo soon after he had secured Como’s away victory against Ascoli. The official announcement stated:

The paths have separated between Como 1907 and Moreno Longo. The search for a new coach begins immediately, with Cesc Fàbregas and the coaching staff taking on the duties on an interim basis.

After several months of strategic planning, the Como 1907 board decided that dynamic change was in the club’s best interest. Longo joined Como in September 2022 and helped the team avoid relegation, finishing in 13th place last season. Cesc Fàbregas, who currently coaches the Primavera del Como 1907, will have his first training session on Wednesday morning.

Mirwan Suwarso, official representative of the ownership group, commented: “We thank Moreno Longo for his hard work and dedication, especially for managing the team after a difficult period last season. However, we want to embark on a new path that we hope will give greater emotions and fun to the Como fans and beyond. We hope to be able to make a new appointment for the coaching role in the near future. We thank the fans for their understanding and unwavering loyalty and support. As always, Forza Como”.

The team’s shirt with the lake-inspired design by Golnaz Jebelli

However Fabregas was without a full coaching licence so could only fulfil the role for a very limited period. It was Thierry Henry as shareholder and consultant who recommended the club secure  the services of Osian Roberts, Patrick Vieria’s previous assistant coach at Crystal Palace. While Moreno Longo was maintaining the club’s fortunes midway up the table of Serie B, it was Roberts who, by the end of the same season, had secured the club’s promotion to Serie A. The revolution also brought about some changes and acquisitions of players to suit the style of play favoured by Roberts. But it was Fabregas who provided the metaphysical magic dust –  in the words of Suwarso ‘ the change of mentality … a new way of being, he gave us a DNA.’  

Suwarso described the Como 1907 project in the following terms in an article in the Gazzetta dello Sport: ‘ Our project takes Disney as it reference: theme parks, films, studios, media and merchandising.’ He outlined the project’s ambitions as “we think we will reach a value of one billion (euros) between sports, media, structures, merchandising and tourism … Today we feel included in the city, we work for the community, we no longer feel like guests”.  

The Challenges

Sent Entertainment may still be learning how to conduct business in provincial Italy. The much vaunted extension of the 1000 seats to the stadium remain unusable since their planning application was attached to another stadium improvement – the extension and strengthening of the lighting towers. The modification to the north western tower still awaits approval due to its closeness to the Como Aero Club and the potential risk to low-flying seaplanes. If they had submitted separate plans the additional seating would now be in use. The directors of Sent Entertainment might look at the disastrous project for strengthening the city’s flood defences with some trepidation since this project started in 2008 and has still to be completed. And given the need to make some rapid changes to the stadium, the club must not get ensnared or run any further foul of the city’s numerous planning and building regulations.

The Stadio Sinigallia requires updating and enlargement to cater for the crowds expected to attend Serie A matches. Sent Entertainment are ready to submit their plans for this to the Como Municipality in the near future.

The stadium is perhaps their largest challenge. It is both an asset in terms of its location overlooking the lake and a problem due its inability to house the number of visiting fans expected at Serie A matches. And with a transport infrastructure currently unable to manage tourists, how will these away fans get to and from the stadium without paralysing the city and engaging the entire manpower of the local and state police forces.

Queue for the fast boat to Bellagio

Above all, can Como actually accommodate more visitors? It is already challenged by the number of day visitors attracted to visit the town for a brief excursion on the lake. Serie A matches will attract many more and day visitors bring little economic benefit to the town in contrast to the challenges they bring in terms of the burden on infrastructure and services. 

Comaschi are of course delighted by the club’s success this season and no doubt Sent Entertainment’s executives are well received within municipal circles who must be relieved that the days of bankruptcy are over BUT….The Hartono brothers have given Como 1907 a metaphorical heart transplant, a new chance of life, yet, given the alien source of this vital organ, there is the possible risk of rejection. Assuming the club sustains its position in Serie A, the major risk of local rejection may come from the promotion of its brand of tourism. 

Sustainable Tourism

Mickey Mouse in Disneyland

Suwarso, as quoted above within his reference to Disney, makes the role of tourism an explicit element in achieving his billion euro profit target. Disney has the Mouse and Como 1907 has the Lake. As additional confirmation of the centrality of landscape to the Como 1907 project, Suwarso, as quoted by journalist Alec Cordolini in his article for Rivista Undici, states ‘I don’t deal with football and I don’t get into football matters, but when they ask me who the most important player in the team is, I always answer the Lake.’ But what sort of tourism will Como 1907 attract and will the financial benefits be shared beyond the club and its commercial partners? 

The charm and beauty of Lake Como, from Careno

A key element of Como 1907’s brand is the landscape (i.e. the Lake) and if the Lake is the club’s star player then fundamentally the project is about extracting financial value from our landscape – or, more precisely, from the image of the landscape as it is perceived within the Como brand. In this case, the DNA provided by stars such as Fabregas will serve to globalise and endorse that brand. And the ongoing success on the pitch will ensure ongoing publicity for that brand. Whilst Golnaz Jebelli’s lake-inspired artwork reflects the different moods and subjective impressions of the lake, the lake ‘brand’ is a more one-dimensional image of a rich man’s dramatic but benign playground.

The Lake Como fantasy entrapped within the Como bag.

The Como brand is of course a nebulous concept which we explored in a recent article on the challenges of tourism in our area. It is also a fragile concept that can easily be damaged by its own success, and no way as yet, is it oriented towards sustainability. The definition of sustainability for a football club is very different from the meaning of sustainability for a landscape and a territory. 

Conclusion

Getting to the heart of the Como 1907 project is partly about trying to understand some of the forms modern capitalism takes in extracting value from selling dreams. Ticket and merchandising sales might represent the actual point when value is realised but behind those ‘goods’ are the stoked up desires to participate, if only vicariously, in the ‘Como’  appeal, which itself has to be nurtured and promoted as passionately as the football team itself through branding. Como 1907 is indeed an interesting project and I wish the club continuing success. But I also hope that they will treat this success with a sensitivity towards the territory that they are promoting as fervently as their team of players – and consider the sustainability of the environment alongside the sustainability of the team’s success.

Forza Como!

 Sources

The main source was an article in the online sport magazine Rivista Undici written by Alec Cordolcini and published on 11th May 2024.

Further Reading

We have written two previous articles featuring the work of Ester Maria Negretti. They are Ester Maria Negretti – Como’s’Traditional’ Contemporary Artist and Ester Negretti One Year On – With Menaggio in Mind

We have also written recently about the challenges of tourism in Como Tourism Post Covid as well as presenting its history in Tourism on Lake Como – Then and Now and exploring Como: The Potential for Cultural Tourism