Arena Market: Italy

With new sponsorships being brokered throughout the country, an emphasis on energy efficiency and audience experience, the future of Italy’s live entertainment industry is looking prosperous.

Daniele Donati, general manager of the Inalpi Arena, renamed from Pala Alpitour following a naming rights deal with the dairy company in January 2024, echoes this sentiment.

“Live shows are in a great growth period, and Italy is always a good market for international tours.” With a capacity of 15,666, this Turin-based venue is not only home to large-scale rock and synth pop concerts, having hosted the likes of Måneskin, Depeche Mode, and Thirty Seconds to Mars, but to major sports events. Donati credits the hosting of the yearly Nitto Association of Tennis Professionals Finals and the Frecciarossa Final Eight Basketball Tournament as one the main drivers of business.

Over the past year, Inalpi Arena has introduced improvements, including a new piece of software called Navigator, which collects performance data and can be used to improve future live events. “Based on a cloud system, it allows the venue’s energetic performances to be analysed and monitored down to details,” Donati says.

“Live shows are in a great growth period, and Italy is always a good market for international tours.”

He emphasises the arena’s commitment to “the realisation of energy-efficient operations and [that they] have developed specific solutions tailored to the Inalpi Arena needs.” It has installed a new air-treatment unit, lighting systems, chillers, pumping units, and air-conditioning to achieve this aim.

The 20,000-capactiy Unipol Arena in Bologna saw the likes of Olivia Rodrigo and Nickelback performing earlier this year.

Equipped with a truss structure of 1300m2, five fixed LED wall screens, LED programmable floor screens, nine bars, a “tunnel of stars,” and a versatile state-of-the-art VIO resident sound system installed by dB Technologies, Unipol Arena is committed to enhancing the audience’s overall experience.

Following a multi-year partnership established between ForumNet and Unipol as of May 2024, the Milan-based Mediolanum Forum is now the Unipol Forum. The multipurpose venue holds 15,800 spectators over three tiered levels and a VIP arena with corporate boxes. Attracting the likes of Childish Gambino, Cigarettes After Sex, and Melanie Martinez who will perform later this year, the forum holds up as being one of many key stakeholders in the Italian live entertainment market. In a statement, Unipol says: “This title sponsorship will help Unipol to consolidate both its brand position and active presence in Milan and complement its long-term sponsorship of the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno, Bologna.”

“This title sponsorship will help Unipol to consolidate both its brand position and active presence in Milan and complement its long-term sponsorship of the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno, Bologna.”

Also owned and managed by ForumNet is Palazzo dello Sport in Rome (formerly known as Palamottica). Famous for its establishment for the Olympics in the 1960s, this multipurpose, 11,500-seated indoor arena is set to host Blue and Mahmood this upcoming year.

Business at the Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence is moving at “strong pace,” despite “the decrease in requests for multiple dates of the same act,” says venue manager Giuseppe Malgeri. Despite this, the 8,200-capacity venue punches above its weight with the high-calibre events it hosts, from international music acts such as Bryan Adams and Måneskin to sold-out runs of musical Notre-Dame de Paris.

Within the last year, Malgeri says the venue has made significant changes in its approach to energy efficiency “by reducing heat dispersion with changes in the wall insulation and in fixtures.” Major structural alterations were made, creating more room and access to more bars and refreshment points.

New technology was implemented to manage these spaces, which have helped in improving the audience experience.