Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Any suggestions for a sporting event in Italy mid-June?

You'll have better luck getting football tix for Serie B versus Serie A. Even if you can't buy tix online, you should be able to find their full schedules and have an idea of when you might be able to see a game.

I was just in Bologna last month and wanted to see a football game. Bologna had an away game while I was there, but I was able to take the train a short distance to Modena where I attended a game. I could never find a way to buy tix online. My hotel did try to book tix for me by phone, but the ticket company never picked up. I ended up taking his word for it that tix would be available, and they were.

A few things I learned from this experience:
1) The people at the stadium didn't really speak English, but smiles and gestures got me exactly what I wanted.
2) I was incredibly relieved to have my passport with me, as they *required* my "documents" in order to issue a ticket in my name.
3) I had to choose the seating area from a grid, so just keep that in mind and maybe do some research on the stadium beforehand if you can.
4) My passport was required again when I headed towards the stadium (the guards checked my ticket against my passport).
5) The ticket only allowed entry into a specific gate, so make sure you look at the ticket and the signs over the entries so you know where you can enter.
6) Toilets at the stadiums (at least in Modena) are of the Turkish variety and there was NO electricity. This actually ended up being one of my funniest experiences...trying out my cellphone and my iPod to see which had the brightest light for using in the turkish toilet. You might want to bring a tiny flashlight and maybe some TP. :)
7) Lots of streets may be closed around the stadium (they were in Bologna), even for pedestrians. I wished I had planned an alternate route back to the strain station (or had a better map handy). I got lost and relied on kind strangers to wave me in the right direction.
8) In Modena, I was surprised to find that there were no team souvenirs being sold! I was also surprised at how cheap the concessions were compared to US prices.

The game was great...I went by myself and was 1 of probably 10 women in the stadium. The field was a bit sad looking (as was the stadium), but people were really into the game and it was one of my favorite things I did on my trip.

One side note on Modena if you decide to go...I actually did not really enjoy Modena aside from the soccer game. If you end up going to Modena vs Bologna for a game, do some research and decide how early you want to get to Modena. I showed up about 3 hours before the game started and it was a wasted/disappointing 3 hours. (Another daytrip to Parma was far more enjoyable)

Enjoy!!