Como's luxury play

When you buy a club like Como, it is rarely with the expectation that traditional football revenues alone will be enough. Matchday income, broadcasting rights, and sponsorships form the backbone of most clubs’ financial models, but these are finite and often insufficient at smaller or mid-sized teams. 

Stadio Comunale Giuseppe Sinigalia holds just above 13,000 people and will never generate Premier League–style gate receipts — in Italy broadcast deals are negotiated centrally and trickle down modestly — and the local sponsorship market is limited. 

Relying solely on these sources risks leaving the club perpetually struggling to break even, at best.

Those running SENT Entertainment – a company owned by brothers Michael and Robert Hartono, considered among the richest families in Indonesia – were well aware of that when they took over in 2019.  After all, this was a club that, despite some history in Serie A, had spent most of the previous decade bouncing between the third and fourth tiers. 

Even worse: three years earlier the club was liquidated because it could not repay debts owed, so a new organisation picked up the name and restarted from the amateur leagues.  Como went through this same trauma in 2004. so there were no illusions about the prospects of Como 1907 if they kept doing what they had always done in the past.

The new owners recognized that the club’s real value lay not in its assets, but in where it was located.

“Slowly we realized that the opportunity was far greater than what we originally thought,” SENT executive Mirwan Suwarso told Reuters. “We'd like to create a model similar to that of Disney, where the centre of the business is the lake, Como, the city. That's our business. That's how we see us.”  

This is where the Lake Como brand comes in. Long before football success returned, the lake itself was already one of the most desirable destinations in the world, synonymous with luxury, exclusivity, and timeless beauty. From George Clooney’s villa to Hollywood films shot against its backdrop, Lake Como carries a global cachet that far outweighs the size of the town it surrounds. 

The new owners understood that the football club could become an extension of that identity, blending sport with lifestyle and tourism. By positioning the club as part of this wider ecosystem, the owners wanted to tap into a brand that already commands international recognition, giving them a commercial platform that few other clubs of their size could dream of.

“For us, it’s crucial to find a way to turn football into a real business,” Suwarso told Calcio e Finanza. “Football is the catalyst, the gateway, but in the end, we need to create an ecosystem that can sustain the football operation. That means making everything sustainable. A football club in a city of 85,000 people faces major challenges in becoming sustainable through football alone.” 

“However, we are fortunate to be in a place where the city itself is a brand: Lake Como is a global brand. It would be foolish not to capitalize on this opportunity—integrating football into the ecosystem, not as the centerpiece but as a key element. We can use football to increase visibility while also leveraging the Lake Como brand, developing activities that start from the club but expand to the Como brand as a whole.”

The new owners took care of what was happening on the pitch first.  They earned promotion from Serie C in 2021, finally escaping the depths of Italian football where they had once nearly disappeared completely. Building on that momentum, they secured a second-place finish in Serie B in the 2023/24 season, returning to Serie A for the first time since 2003. 

Boosted by the presence of coach Cesc Fabregas – a revelation since stepping into the role - once back in Serie A for the 2024/25 season, Como not only held their own but achieved a solid 10th place finish, their best top-flight performance in a generation. Highlights included a run of six consecutive victories, a club record in the top tier, as well as their largest win, a 4–1 against Udinese. 

Inevitably, success on the pitch drove interest, and Como’s attendances have surged. The once nearly deserted Stadio Sinigaglia now regularly attracts crowds that fill the lakeside stands, with season ticket sales rising year after year in step with the club’s climb up the divisions.  From the less than 1,000 souls who used to follow them in the dark pre-takeover days, average attendances have grown to 10,524 per game during the first season back in the Serie A.  

The unique setting of Lake Como has also turned matchdays into an attraction for an ever-wider audience. Alongside the numbers of regular fans there has been another change as the club’s growth has drawn a wave of high-profile supporters and celebrity investors. 

It has become a regular occurrence to see figures such as Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Kate Beckinsale and Benedict Cumberbatch at Como’s home games. 

For all that success, it is still not enough.  A table of average attendances during the 2024/25 season shows that only Venezia – who were ultimately relegated – attracted lower attendances.  Based on those attendance figures alone, Como will be at a huge disadvantage when compared to the rest of the Serie A.

Thankfully for them, those running Como have no intention of basing their income purely on the two traditional revenue streams of ticket sales and television money.

Instead, they are leveraging their location to the maximum.  If you’re lucky, you might manage to find a free ticket to catch a Como home game but if you’re wealthy enough, you won’t have too many issues.  Especially if you want to couple the game with a stay by the lake.

Como have taken the step of moving into the tourism space, offering anyone interested tourism packages that start from €890 per game to ones that go beyond €2,640. What this means is that the amount of money that they get from fans is far greater than the mere price of a ticket.  

As they wait for a decision to rebuild their stadium – something that fans are in favour of but the local authorities less so – which would lead to higher attendances, they’re making sure that those who attend end up spending more. 

Another way of padding revenues is by adding more games to the calendar.  This was achieved through the Como Cup, a pre-season competition launched this summer.  Inevitably, it was always going to be about more than just football. On the pitch, the home side unveiled their new kit, shimmering with reflections of the lake, and squared off against European heavyweights Ajax and Celtic, as well as Saudi club Al-Ahli. 

In the stands, the mix of voices told its own story: conversations in the local dialect merged with English, German, and countless other languages, proof that this was an event of genuine international stature. 

Suwarso had made that point clear during the launch, announcing that television rights for the mini-tournament had been sold to no fewer than 25 international broadcasters. Nothing, in truth, had been left to chance. From the branding to the details – such as the match ball displayed on a pedestal before kickoff, just as in the Champions League - everything was designed to convey the feel of a true European competition.

But the Como Cup was as much about tourism and spectacle as it was about football. For days, the streets of the city thronged with visiting supporters, while the club’s official stores were overwhelmed with demand. 

Many fans had crossed from Switzerland, drawn by the lure of great teams and the emerging idol Nico Paz, whose talent and charisma electrified the local faithful. The tournament slotted seamlessly into Como’s broader vision: to leverage both the natural beauty of the lake and the club’s growing presence in Italian and international football to attract visitors, sponsors, and high-end partners. 

With VIPs in the stands, premium hospitality buzzing, and the team of Cesc Fàbregas displaying elegance on the pitch, the club offered not only a footballing lesson but a masterclass in style, ambition, and business.

On the banks of Italy’s most famous lake, football has become the front door to something bigger: a brand, a destination, an experience. It might not be a story for football purists but not many local fans will be complaining. No longer fighting merely for survival, Como 1907 is carving out a new identity, one where the game is not the limit, but the launchpad.

Paul Grech is the publisher of Cultured Football, a weekly newsletter that curates the smartest, most thought-provoking writing from across the football world. Every Saturday, Cultured Football delivers five standout reads straight to your inbox, free and thoughtfully chosen. You can sign up or browse past editions here: https://www.cultured.football/