What is going on between Sanremo and Rai?

The Rai contract for the Sanremo Festival might be nearing its end. Last Thursday, the TAR of Liguria declared the «direct award to Rai by the Municipality of Sanremo for the organization of the festival illegitimate». A bolt from the blue, coming less than a week before the reveal of the Big names competing in the 2025 edition. However, according to statements, the next edition should be safe, but starting in 2026, Italy's flagship cultural event could potentially air on any television network. The reason? The Liguria Tribunal revealed that in March 2023, the company Just Entertainment had expressed interest in the titles and rights «to the economic and commercial exploitation of the Sanremo Festival», as well as in the marketing, promotion, and broadcasting rights. Previously, the rights had been entrusted to Rai for the 2022 and 2023 editions, with an extension for the 2024 edition, all under the artistic direction of Amadeus. Rai was quick to respond to these accusations through an official press release, stating that the Festival will remain on the main channel and that there is «no risk that the music event, in its current form, could be organized by third parties».

The main issue raised by the TAR is not so much the Festival as a format, but rather its image as a brand. Although Rai holds only the television rights, the company argues that the format and the brand have become inseparable, making it impossible to entrust the Festival to another party. According to this perspective, only Rai could continue to manage it. However, the TAR did not agree with this interpretation. The judges determined that the brand and the format were not the same, thus ordering the initiation of a public procedure for the event's assignment. The ruling clarifies that «the municipality owns the brand and is, therefore, free to associate it (following a public procedure) with formats other than those of Rai». To complicate matters further, Codacons intervened, accusing Rai of creating an «incomprehensible monopoly that favored the state network to the detriment of competition from other operators, a flaw on which the judges have now expressed themselves by declaring the direct award illegitimate». If the Viale Mazzini entity were to actually lose the rights to Sanremo, the impact on its revenue would be severe. From an advertising perspective, the Italian Music Festival has, in recent years, become almost the Italian Super Bowl: the 2024 edition generated 60.2 million euros in advertising revenue, marking an increase of 10 million compared to the previous year. In fact, according to 2023 financial statements, the revenue from the five days of Sanremo accounts for about one-tenth of Rai's annual income. After all, it seems that Amadeus had a clear vision.