Internationals, Binaghi: “The expensive tickets? For me they are cheap”. Cozzoli: “Central plant coverage by 2026”

ROME – “The first thought goes to the populations affected by the floods in Emilia-Romagna”. Angelo Binaghi and Vito Cozzolirespectively president of Fitp and Sport e Salute, begin the closing press conference with a message of solidarity International BNL of Italy of tennis. A tournament that had to deal with adverse weather but which “is a small part of the disaster that occurred in Emilia-Romagna”, explains Binaghi. Words, but also facts. “We will reimburse all tickets purchased from Thursday to Sunday to all people who are residents in the list of municipalities affected by the flood. And furthermore – continues Binaghi – as a Federation we will intervene with contributions to help our sports clubs, whose facilities are been damaged by the disaster. We will do it to a greater extent than we have done in similar situations in the past, because our economic situation is also different. We have commissioned the Emilia Romagna Committee to carry out a census to understand the extent of the damage in order to understand where to intervene first”.

Record numbers

A few hours from the final of the 80th edition of the tournament (Rune against Medvedev), which for the first time presented itself in the upgrade version as a mini slams, President Binaghi rattles off the record numbers of the event. “We took advantage of the opportunity given to us by the ATP and the WTA. We had 298,000 paying admissions, last year there were 235,000. The composition is curious: 26% of spectators come from abroad, 20% from Rome and the Lazio, while 54% from the rest of Italy. The turnover of the ticket office was higher than forecasts: not 21.5 million, but 22.5”. Then, the economic impact on the territory, in an analysis performed by Ernst & Young: “We’re talking about an impact of 490 million. With over 100 million in tax revenue for a tournament that hasn’t spent a single euro of public funds. According to the data from the Bank of Italy, for catering in Rome an average of 50 euros is spent in a day.For hotels, 5-star and luxury hotels were not taken into consideration, but the average price of 3-4 stars was seen , evaluating the double room. We had underestimated the extent of the event. If these are the results, with a sports performance of the Italians below expectations and with adverse weather, imagine what will happen in the next few years. The upgrade formula will remain and we will do other records”.

Binaghi and expensive tickets: “The price is right”

Binaghi also responded to the criticisms on the price of tickets: “The market says that the price is right, given that everything is almost always full. For me, they are also cheap because tennis, in my opinion, is not the Wimbledon final, which I saw only when Berrettini was there. But it’s the weeks before, the matches at the ground. We’ll find an average price, next year we’ll increase the central seat by 2,000 and we won’t touch the cost of tickets”.

The novelty of this year was the large attendance at the Pietrangeli: “The appeal of the ground was much greater than before. Anyone who had subscribed to the ground in the past would have seen a lame tournament, would never have seen the big names like Djokovic, Federer or Nadal. This year all the semifinalists played there , but also Musetti and Fognini. And the cost is very competitive: for example, it costs less than the next Roma-Salernitana football match, which lasts an hour and a half. There was incredible pressure on the ground because, after the boys, 10,000 left from the centre-back and preferred to go to Pietrangeli rather than see the women. We need to make better evaluations. One day we made a mistake in letting Italian players of great prestige play there.” On filling the site: “Compared to last year, it grew by 23% against an overall increase of 29% in the site’s audience. Some conclusions were too hasty. It affected the pre-sale trend, people hadn’t yet gotten used to the news, such as the evening session on Sunday which had never taken place. The turnout at the Centrale on Sunday 14 May was lower than that of Monday, for example. While on the same Sunday there was a peak of people at Pietrangeli”.

Cozzoli: “Central will have coverage by 2026”

Much satisfaction also for Vito Cozzoli, president and CEO of Sport and Health. “It was a completely new edition, renewed in form and content, but it was a success. The 95,000 square meter site became 125,000, we expanded to include the swimming pool area. It was a challenge won , ATP and WTA have recognized that the Italians are reliable and know how to keep their commitments. The weather wasn’t good, but there’s no need to complain too much”. Then, the long-awaited announcement: “The coverage of the Central will arrive by 2026. The tender has been awarded, in 6 months there will be the executive project. The works will take place in parallel with the tournament, we will continue to play here even during the next few years. No relocation, therefore, no impediments. The company that will be assigned the task will have to undertake to interrupt work only during the tournament. The Centrale will become a futuristic and multi-disciplinary arena, able to host basketball, volleyball and even music events”.