State TV loses the rights to the tennis masters’ week, a ratings machine that passes to Mediaset for at least three years. And who could move from Turin to Milan…
It’s not a great moment for sport on Rai. In the torrid days of protests and controversy over the commentary by the director of Rai Sport for the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Olympics, with the editorial team on a war footing and firm in calling for the removal of Paolo Petrecca, here comes the confirmation of a sensational “snatch” on state television. The ATP Finals will move from Rai to Mediaset, starting from the next edition and for at least three years.
Il Biscione presented an offer to Atp Media considered indispensable and which Rai was evidently unable to cover, hence the turning point. There are no signatures on the contracts yet, but the deal is considered concluded. Jannik Sinner and the best tennis players in the world therefore end up on Mediaset in the final week of the season which assigns the ‘masters’ title won in 2024 and 2025 by the Italian who interrupted Djokovic’s reign.
An event that has also become a ratings machine. The final of the last edition with Sinner and Alcaraz on the field attracted a total of around 7 million viewers (36% share) adding the numbers of Rai and Sky with the live free-to-air broadcast on digital terrestrial which involved 5.5 million viewers: the most watched tennis match in the history of Italian television with Auditel findings since 1987.
The previous editions had also been record-breaking, with a dizzying growth in interest in tennis which rewarded on the one hand the investment of Sky Sport, which secured practically the entire circuit until 2028, and on the other the choice of Rai to focus on events available free-to-air. Now Mediaset’s coup also precedes another possible news regarding the ATP Finals.
In 2026 the tournament will certainly be held in Turin, but from 2027 to 2030 – expiry of the contract signed by the ATP with the powerful Binaghi’s Federtennis – it is not excluded that the event could explore new horizons. The focus is obviously on Milan where the Winter Olympics will leave a legacy of the Santa Giulia arena with a capacity of over 15 thousand spectators and cutting-edge facilities. Turin has already made it known that it is not willing to give up, but tennis is attractive to many and not only in the war of TV rights.
