Como 1907: How to make it on the lake with tourist fans and fashion

When somebody says Como it is easy to think of a gargantuan Italian lake, Renaissance architecture and quaint railways. But now it’s Champions League football.

Having been declared bankrupt in 2004 and again in 2016, a new iteration of Como 1907 was founded in 2017 and put into the fourth tier of Italian football.

Less than a decade later the side reached Serie A, took on Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas as shareholders – the latter is also the team’s manager despite interest from Chelsea earlier this summer – and are now set for a first ever appearance in the Champions League after a stunning finish to their  second season in Italy’s top flight.

Under the ownership of Indonesian conglomerate Djarum – under the billionaire Hartono brothers, who purchased the club for £725,000 –  the side’s fans have never had it so good on the banks of Lake Como.

Como 1907 and the tourist fan

“We play entertaining football,” club president Mirwan Suwarso tells City AM. “We want to be a place where young players learn and grow; that’s our identity and we can’t talk about ambitions in terms of where you win trophies because, dude, everybody says they want to win trophies.”

Ask any long-term Premier League season ticket holder what they think of fans that fly over to see a game – the so-called tourist fan – and the replies would be disparaging. For Suwarso and Como, however, those ticket holders present an opportunity. 

The president admits that the club needs to position itself “as the premium sports tourism destination in global sport” because even locals – due to the club’s geography and performances – have found themselves supporting one of the two main clubs in Milan and even Juventus in Turin.

“We have to build what we own,” he says, “and what we own is the location and the destination. That’s who we are. We were selling our jerseys when we were in the second division, but I think we were selling as much [wider] Lake Como merchandise, lovely Como merchandise.”

The surge in demand for all things Como has led to the team regenerating their stadium, employing Populous – the firm behind the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – to develop their riverside stand. It will see a swimming pool installed and an increase to the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia’s capacity.

Their stadium currently, however, does not meet Champions League requirements and the club is looking for further external revenue streams to shore up Como’s coffers.

Rhude 4 Fans

Como therefore launched Rhude 4 Fans, a “new collaboration model designed to reposition fan apparel as a premium”, the cub says, which has seen partnerships with the likes of Everton, Tottenham and Los Angeles Football Club. They are effectively taking on the background work for major clubs, and it’s successful.

It is a product line and commercial framework, according to the club, and a move that will see clubs and sports use apparel for growth.

“If the growth is overseas because of the aspirations, why not try to tune it,” Suwarso adds. “We realised we do have the bandwidth to actually service other industries and not just football teams.

“We have the expertise, we’ve gone through the pains. How can we help people not go through the pains and just benefit from the rewards? That’s how we do it.”

It speaks to a shift across football, especially with changes to financial restraints seeing revenues directly related to how much teams can spend on wages.

It’s changing, and huge teams are powering ahead with others left to catch up.

Como 1907 should be commended for their approach; they’ve held on to their history and understood, rather quickly, that continued evolution is what stands between them and a third bankruptcy this century.

When the big boys cotton on to what they have done and how it can be replicated, however, where Como goes next to stay ahead of the curve will be key.