Bolzano/Rome – Three weeks ago, Jannik Sinner topped off his phenomenal tennis year in Malaga, southern Spain: He defended the Davis Cup title with Italy, the world championship for national teams. Ten days later, Angelo Binaghi, the president of the Italian Tennis Federation (FITP), announced that the Davis Cup finals with the eight best teams in the world would no longer be held in Spain, but in Italy.
The boot state is currently winning almost everything there is to win in tennis. This year Italy won both the Davis Cup and the women’s counterpart “Billie Jean King Cup”, making them team world champions for men and women. It has Jannik Sinner, number one in the world rankings and at the same time the ATP world champion, as well as nine athletes in the top 100 in the world. With Andrea Gaudenzi, it has a compatriot at the head of the powerful international association ATP. It is also host to two of the 15 most important tennis tournaments in the world: the ATP Finals in Turin, just extended until 2030, and the traditional ATP 1000 tournament in Rome. And now there will be the Davis Cup finals until at least 2027.
Ice hockey would have to give way to tennis
In 2025 – from November 18th to 23rd – the venue will probably be Bologna, where the Davis Cup intermediate round has already taken place in the past three years (without superstar Jannik Sinner) and therefore the machinery is already working. According to reports, Milan or Turin could then come into play. Or maybe Bolzano? According to the Ansa news agency, FITP President Binaghi described it as an attractive idea to bring the Davis Cup to Jannik Sinner’s home province.
The news sparked euphoria in South Tyrol. It was said, among other things, that Bolzano is at least as accessible to European tennis fans as Malaga. And the “Sparkasse Arena”, the ice hockey home of the HC Bozen Foxes, with a capacity of 7,800 fans would only be slightly smaller than the “Unipol Arena” in Bologna with its 8,275 seats.
Moving the Foxes out for a few weeks in November and laying a tennis surface would be the smallest challenge.
Anyone who talks to people who know the tennis business will still come to the conclusion: For Bolzano, the Davis Cup finals with eight teams is a nice dream, but a few sizes too big. The Sparkasse Arena would undoubtedly be the only possible venue. Moving the Foxes out for a few weeks in November and laying a tennis surface would be the smallest challenge. It would be trickier with the training pitches, of which two or three would have to be set up nearby (with exactly the same hard pitch surface).
The tennis fans and the economic effect
But the trickiest thing would be solving the money question. Negotiations for the final round in 2025 are currently underway in Bologna, and according to indiscretions, eight to ten million euros are at stake, which the region and the municipality will have to cough up. The Davis Cup is not free because the Italian Tennis Association is aware of the tennis hype that has swept the nation and the desire that such a major event arouses. Incidentally, the association paid a lot of money for the Davis Cup hosting rights (how much has not yet been announced) and, in the spirit of good corporate governance, is trying to recoup the investment. The fans’ entry fees are not enough for this.
The Andalusia region estimates an economic impact of over 150 million euros.
The association can benefit from the economic impact of the event. 65,000 tickets were sold in Malaga this year, 43 percent of tennis fans came from abroad with their national teams. The Andalusia region estimates an economic impact of over 150 million euros. In Bologna, 40,000 to 50,000 tickets are cautiously expected to be sold because the tennis arena is smaller than the hall in Malaga with its 11,000 seats – but with a significant increase of 95 percent compared to the around 25,000 tickets that were sold for the Davis Cup intermediate round from Italian fans. For the interim round, an economic effect of around 60 million euros and tax revenue of almost twelve million euros were calculated in Bologna.
1992 and 2009: South Tyrol’s Davis Cup experiences
The numbers serve as justification for the use of taxpayer money. And they show what a multi-million dollar business tennis has become, especially in Italy, where tennis is the new football thanks to Jannik Sinner. The situation is not comparable to 1992 and 2009, when the Davis Cup actually visited South Tyrol once and almost came back a second time.
In 1992, Italy won 4-1 against Spain in the Bozen town hall with Omar Camporese and Cristiano Caratti. However, it was a first round game at the time and not a final round with eight teams.
In 2009 there were serious efforts to bring the encounter between Italy (with Andreas Seppi from Kaltern) and Switzerland (with world number one Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka) to Merano.
In 2009 there were serious efforts to bring the encounter between Italy (with Andreas Seppi from Kaltern) and Switzerland (with world number one Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka) to Merano. Back then, the game would have been played outdoors on sand in September, and state governor Luis Durnwalder announced that the state government would support the event with 120,000 euros. However, 200,000 to 300,000 euros would have been necessary, and the match was ultimately played in Genoa.
David versus Goliath: Bolzano versus Turin and Milan
Meanwhile, 120,000 euros is no longer enough, and 300,000 euros won’t do it either – even if the Italian tennis association is accommodating because it absolutely wants the Davis Cup in Sinner’s homeland.
Bolzano is competing with Turin and Milan, which have already positioned themselves and can guarantee significantly higher ticket revenues with larger stadiums (Turin: 12,000 seats, Milan: 16,000 seats). Apart from that, the question arises as to whether it would be politically feasible in South Tyrol if the state government earmarked several million euros to attract tennis fans to the country shortly before the Christmas markets.
In the meantime, association president Angelo Binaghi has also curbed Bolzano’s hopes, albeit only cryptically.
In the meantime, association president Angelo Binaghi has also curbed Bolzano’s hopes, albeit only cryptically. When it comes to the Davis Cup, he said, “the most adventurous hypotheses” have emerged. We will carefully examine which cities are suitable as Davis Cup venues, but the prerequisite is “a hall with space for at least 8,000 spectators”.
