<p>Italian soccer club Campobasso has earned promotion from Serie D to Serie C for the 2024/25 campaign. The team is currently co-owned by American celebrity couple Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa. The duo <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/kelly-ripa-becomes-co-owner-of-italian-soccer-club-20221111-WST-407841.html">previously</a> helped purchase the team back in 2022. Campobasso was sent down to the fifth tier of Italian soccer at the time due to financial irregularities surrounding the previous ownership.</p>



<p>Consuelos and Ripa initially met on the set of the hit soap opera <em>All My Children</em> in 1995. The actors then married a year later and have since had three children together. Consuelos has also made appearances on <em>Friends</em>, <em>Riverdale</em>, and <em>American Horror Story</em>. The American now co-hosts the talk show <em>Live with Kelly and Mark</em> with his wife.</p>



<h2>Actors joined the ownership group with fellow American investor</h2>



<p>While the celebrity couple receives most of the attention for owning Campobasso, there are other investors involved at the club. North Sixth Group, an investment firm headed by Matt Rizzetta, led the aforementioned takeover of the team. Rizzetta also currently owns new USL side Brooklyn FC. The New York club is set to field a women’s team later this year and then a men’s side in the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/usl-championship-tv-schedule/">USL Championship</a> in 2025.</p>



<p>Along with Campobasso and Brooklyn FC, Rizzetta’s firm also owns lower-level Swiss side FC Locarno. With the Americans at the helm, the Italian club earned promotion in their first season last year. The Wolves previously topped 2022/23 Excellence Molise by winning 28 of their 30 league games. They only conceded 10 total goals throughout the entire campaign.</p>



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<div class="ck-youtube"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Mark Visits the Campobasso 1919 Soccer Team in Italy" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/suK69efzWN4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
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<h2>Campobasso dominating opponents en route to another promotion</h2>



<p>Campobasso then earned promotion to Serie C this season after winning Serie D’s Group F. The club topped the table with one match remaining on the fixture list after losing just four matches all season. The Wolves avoided potential playoffs by dominating their division. They currently have the most wins and goals as well as the best goal differential in the group.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats to the American-owned <a href="https://twitter.com/Campobasso1919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Campobasso1919</a> for being crowned champions of Serie D, Group F 🇮🇹🇺🇸<br><br>The 105-year-old Italian club earned promotion from the 4th tier to Serie C. Club co-owners include actor <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkConsuelos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarkConsuelos</a> and the owners of new US club <a href="https://twitter.com/_BrooklynFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_BrooklynFC</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/prorel?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#prorel</a> <a href="https://t.co/94Wv6zKGan">pic.twitter.com/94Wv6zKGan</a></p>— World Soccer Talk (@worldsoccertalk) <a href="https://twitter.com/worldsoccertalk/status/1785654681554850212?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2024</a></blockquote></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>Serie C will present the club will a relatively new challenge. Campobasso started back in 1919. It previously played five consecutive seasons in Serie B in the mid-1980s. The highest the club has ever finished in the Italian leagues is seventh in the second-tiered Italian division. </p>



<p>Based about 90 miles northeast of Naples, Campobasso’s most famous victory came against <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/juventus-tv-schedule/">Juventus</a> in the Coppa Italia during the 1984/85 campaign. Around 40,000 supporters attended the historic victory, nearly double of the club’s stadium capacity.</p>



<p>Nevertheless, the Wolves experienced a tough downfall following the relative success in the 80’s. Campobasso suffered three relegations in four years and ownership declared bankruptcy in 1990. After decades of bouncing back and forth between the lower tiers of Italian soccer, the new American investors seem to have the club back on track.</p>



<p>Serie C consists of 60 professional clubs geographically split into three different groups. Former Italian top-flight teams such as Catania, Pescara, and Messina currently feature in the third-tiered division.</p>



<p><em>PHOTOS: IMAGO</em>.</p>


US-owned Italian side Campobasso promoted to Serie C

Italian soccer club Campobasso has earned promotion from Serie D to Serie C for the 2024/25 campaign with American investors at the helm.

<p>Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos have purchased an ownership stake in Italian soccer club ASD Campobasso 1919. The duo become the latest Hollywood group to invest in a foreign soccer team.</p>



<p>The Italian club currently competes in the Eccelenza, the fifth tier of the country’s soccer pyramid. Campobasso played in the third tier of Italy, Serie C, last season. However, financial irregularities of the previous owner deemed the club ineligibile. Campobasso was also denied entry into the fourth-tiered Serie D for the current campaign.</p>



<p>Now, the club essentially must restart. Despite this, Campobasso signed former Serie C and Serie D players prior to the 2022/23 campaign. Currently, Campobasso leads the Eccellenza, the fifth tier of Italian soccer.</p>



<h2>Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos saw opportunity with Italian soccer club</h2>



<p>“The Campobasso project is the quintessential underdog story,” Consuelos told <a href="https://www.sportico.com/business/sales/2022/kelly-ripa-mark-consuelos-campobasso-1919-italian-soccer-1234694531/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sportico</a>. “When I heard the story about these fans being at risk of losing the sport they love, Kelly and I wanted to get involved and be part of the solution. This is a story of redemption, rebirth and hope that will be playing out on the football pitches of Italy, and we are truly proud to play a role as co-owners.”</p>



<p>Despite his enthusiasm, Consuelos admitted that he previously did not know anything about the club. “I literally had to Google it on the map to find out where it is,” said Conseulos. The actor was approached by the investment group’s chairman Matt Rizetta before the start of the season.</p>



<p>Campobasso was founded in 1919 and previously played five consecutive seasons in Serie B in the 1980’s. The highest the club has ever finished in the Italian leagues is seventh in the second-tiered Serie B. Based about 90 miles northeast of Naples, Campobasso’s most famous victory came against <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/juventus-tv-schedule/">Juventus</a> in the <a href="https://www.worldsoccertalk.com/coppa-italia-tv-schedule-and-streaming-links/">Coppa Italia</a> competition.</p>



<p>Consuelos has high hopes for the future with his new club. “Things are looking great,” claimed Consuelos. “I don’t want to jinx it. Everybody gets scared when I start saying this within the group, but we’re getting promoted to the fourth division. This [is] my first venture into football, and my team’s gonna get promoted.”</p>



<p><em>PHOTO: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire</em></p>


Kelly Ripa becomes co-owner of Italian soccer club

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have purchased stake in small Italian soccer club Campobasso, which is currently in the fifth tier.

Kelly Ripa becomes co-owner of Italian soccer club - World Soccer Talk

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US-owned Italian side Campobasso promoted to Serie C

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Kelly Ripa becomes co-owner of Italian soccer club