As
the Serie A new season kicks off discover how to
get kitted out in all the best gear - via Internet,
of course. (Or, as Naomi Klein might say, how to
make your favourite team into a major profit-making
multi-national company.)
The
brand business - look out for logos on clothing,
bags, ties, toiletries and even credit cards - is
big business for all the major football teams. Merchandising
is big news in Italy, but nothing like in England
where last year alone Manchester United sold
some 750,000 official jerseys in comparison to a
mere 120,000 by Juventus.
The going price for an official jersey is ITL
130,000 (67 Euros). No bargain when you consider
it lasts for just 9 months as market (designers,
sponsors and team accountants) demands see to it
that each new season provides new home and away
strips plus all the necessary for the European Cups.
Juventus The club Italians love (to hate). You can
still buy last season's jerseys on Juve's official
website at 50% discount - but hurry as the sale
days are numbered. Manufactured by sportswear specialists
Lotto, and with a new sponsor Fastweb, this year's
strip has slightly narrower stripes (black and white,
for those of you who need to ask). Juve
Eau de toilette, anyone? You
can buy a 100 ml bottle for ITL 80,000 (41 Euros).
Fancy stubbing out your fags with an official
Juventus ashtray? There's one free if you purchase
the perfume.
Milan The subtle joys of being a Milan fan. The
old gear is still on the site and manufacturer and
sponsor remain the same (Adidas and Opel). You can
buy scarves, bags and gifts galore but diehard fans
choose Milancom as their phone service. Milancom
pledges 20% lower costs than Telecom Italia plus
a credit of ITL3,000 (1.5 Euros) for each championship
win.
Inter Will this be Inter's season? Nike and Pirelli
(the respective manufacturer and sponsor) certainly
hope so and who knows, maybe the new kits (the black
stripes are slightly narrower and a gold border
has been added) will bring about a much-needed change
in fortune. Inter still hasn't an official webstore
so you'll need to go to Cisalfa, in Corso
Vittorio Emanuel, Milan to get your gear and you
can stop to admire lots of Inter memorabilia as
well as match footage on the store's videowall.
Roma The current champions. Robe di Kappa provide
official jerseys, tracksuits, anoraks, pyjamas,
hats . . . and basically anything you'd ever dream
of wearing! The official store warns against fakes
but unable to tell the real thing from the counterfeits
we found this site worth looking at. Prices? Hats are priced from
LIT 29,000 (15 Euros). A word before we go . . .
the president of Roma's official sponsor, Ina Assitalia,
recently admitted to being a Lazio fan.
Lazio Rome's other team. Up until going to press
the Puma jerseys for sale on the website still boasted
the Cup won by Lazio in the 99/2000 season. However
you can still keep up-to-date with a Lazio Wap mobile made by sponsors Siemens, "your ideal
business partner". How much? A mere LIT 540,000
(279 Euros).
Parma Big name, small town. Parma never quite makes
it but is always in the running, a good reason for
Champion sportswear to choose it to flaunt their
wares. This year Parma's official sponsor is Joy
and 30,000 copies of new star-striker Hidetoshi
Nakata's number 10 jersey have already been
sold in Japan, There's even a site for resident Americans.
Club jerseys — for a huge choice of official jerseys all
on the one site. Milanmania
— Join AC Milan supporters all over the world. Italian league — Stats and figures on last year's championship. Buy and sell — All the football-related merchandise you could ever hope for. Goal!
— A collection of football anthems. Diegoal! — Football anthems from Naples.
THE SURVIVOR'S 
The
brand business - look out for logos on clothing,
bags, ties, toiletries and even credit cards - is
big business for all the major football teams. Merchandising
is big news in Italy, but nothing like in England
where last year alone Manchester United sold
some 750,000 official jerseys in comparison to a
mere 120,000 by Juventus.