At Spezia he will be responsible for driving the club’s core business strategies and objectives in relation to revenue generation. He will oversee the Spezia’s strategic business planning, the market value proposition and be responsible for revenue maximization from commercial partnerships, the stadium, licensing and merchandising.

Luca Scafati said, “I took the decision to move to Spezia Calcio because this club has huge potential thanks to a committed ownership group, a young, multi-cultural and ambitious management, an international ground-breaking model and an innovative approach both on the sports and the business side. There is no doubt that this club will soon have a solid and established presence within the football eco-system. I am excited to bring to Spezia Calcio what I have learned and experienced during my 13-year run at Euroleague Basketball and to make an impact for the benefit of the club and its stakeholders. The future for Spezia Calcio is definitely bright and the city, all our commercial partners and fans will enjoy all of this as never before.”

Spezia Chairman Phil Platek stated, “We are very excited welcome Luca to the Spezia family. His experience at Euroleague Basketball coupled with his energy and enthusiasm will help Spezia build a Commercial Department which will drive revenue growth well into the future.”

Scafati will start his role immediately after moving to Spezia from Barcelona, where he spent several years with Euroleague and held several roles. As director of business operations and part of the organization’s executive management, he promoted the creation and led the innovative Business Operations & Club Services (BOCS) division, an in-house consultancy group inspired by the North American professional leagues’ club services divisions, aimed at guiding the transition of the league and its clubs towards a business-oriented structure by setting principles, standards, priorities and providing the clubs with business consultancy on governance, business planning, arena construction and lease agreements and all revenue-generation areas such as game-day, commercial partnerships, licensing & merchandising, digital and innovation.

Before moving to Spezia Calcio, he also oversaw and finalized the process for incorporating new long-term franchises within the group of EuroLeague club members, such as German giants FC Bayern Basketball and former NBA star Tony Parker’s owned LDLC Asvel Villeurbanne, along with setting the strategy for the establishment of new future expansion franchises.