Serie A clubs now have a built-in safety net for one of soccer’s biggest financial risks: relegation. Under a new five-year collective bargaining agreement, players will take automatic 25% pay cuts if their team falls to Serie B.
Like most European leagues, Serie A operates on a promotion and relegation system, where the bottom teams drop to a lower division each season.
This new CBA, agreed between the league and the Italian Player’s Association (AIC), takes effect for all contracts signed after September 2, 2025. The built-in pay cut aims to give clubs a financial safety net while still allowing players and teams to negotiate different terms if they choose.
Relegation has long carried steep financial consequences for soccer clubs, especially in Italy, where dropping out of Serie A means a dramatic cut in broadcast and sponsorship revenue. Clubs have traditionally had to respond by cutting players or renegotiating contracts.
As of 2022, teams competing in Serie A benefited from broadcasting deals that guaranteed each club a minimum of €23.5 million ($27.4 million) per season. In contrast, clubs in Serie B averaged a total wage bill of just €10.6 million ($12.3 million) in the same year, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
Each season, the bottom three Serie A clubs are relegated each season and replaced by three from Serie B: two promoted automatically, and one through playoff games involving the third-through eighth placed teams. While this system is designed to maintain team turnover and discourage tanking, it also can lead to financial instability for clubs.
The wage reduction will only apply during the time a club is in Serie B. If that team earns promotion back to Serie A, affected salaries will revert back to their original amount.
The new CBA also introduces a minimum salary structure based on a player’s age, which cannot be reduced even after relegation. These protections ensure that younger and lower-paid players can maintain financial stability regardless of their team’s status.
The 2025 Serie A season will begin on August 23.
