Italian Sport Newspapers

As many people know, football in Italy represents so much more than a game. It is a cult, it is art, it is beauty, it gives you a sense of identity and too many their specific squad is there religion. Not only is Calcio is as influential as politics; it is probably one of the most marketed industries in Italy. Not only can you buy a 60 euro monthly subscription to Sky Calcio, (over 30 channels of soccer going on around the world, including a channel that brings up all the football news on the hour)buy the weekly subscription to Calcio 2000 or even watch the games in every bar across Italy on a Sunday afternoon, you can also read the three daily newspapers dedicated to football.

The three publications are called La Gazzetta Dello Sport, Tuttosport and Il Corriere Dello Sport. Each newspaper represents a specific region in Italy and therefore focuses more on the major teams supported in these regions. For example, Il corriere is from Roma, therefore the first 5 pages everyday are usually dedicated to Roma and Lazio. On the other hand, Tuttosport is a Torinese newspaper and therefore is generally biased to reporting on Juventus news. Lastly, La Gazzetta is based in Milan, it is known throughout the world for its fluorescent pink colour and it mostly covers Inter and A.C Milan.

Today I am going to refer specifically to Tuttosport and La Gazzetta Dello sport as La Gazzetta and tuttosport  tailor specifically to the issues of the Big Three: Inter, Milan and Juventus. Coming from Torino, Tuttosport is daily read, and Gazzetta is refered to as the most upstanding paper in Italy, avoiding the rumor mill and sticking to the stats the reader wants to hear.

Printed on pale pink paper, la Gazzetta stands out to the crowd. As its name states la Gazzetta is still technically a sports daily paper, but it is seen as a classic Italian sport because Italians does not gain national recognition like football, 90% of the publication is dedicated to Calcio.[1] The paper was created in 1896, however it really picked up under the influence of Mussolini in the 1930s as it came out with a supplement called fascist sport. [2]The nature of the paper attracts every calico lover as it’s the perfect mix of Calciomercato, ( transfer gossip, rumours and done deals) pre game interviews, potential lineups, calcio estero ( football abroad) and a few pages discussing the random daily news of the Big three.  If anyone knows an Italian character, they know we are great  at bullshitting, making up tons of random rumours just to sell papers.

In addition, Italy has never had a problem voicing its concerns over the media, political correctness still has quite synced in and therefore, people often write racist articles, articles targeting certain group of people or even heavily criticizing teams in a way that would not be seen here. The political feelings and passion of the writer is often displayed in the author’s writing.

“We made them Black” – The phrase used by Tuttosport in its headline is a slang expression meaning to bruise, literally to make someone black and blue. Gianni De Pace, the assistant editor, said it also referred to Balotelli’s skin colour, but defended the headline. “It was a reference to him being black, but it is just a pun,” he said. “It was also because when he took his shirt off he looked like a boxer who bruises opponents. Through article’s such as this one, political ideals, political problems in Italy are highlighted through the press. Moreover much of the press and media is heavily politicized through its owners. Silvio Berlusconi is still the owner of the largest cable T.V company Mediaset, and the Agnelli family still owns the daily newspaper La Stampa, which is the third most sold paper across Italy.

Unlike, most countries that have lost significant sales in newspapers with the rise of tablets and more digital technology, Italian sports newspapers are still going strong.Il Corriere Dello Sport sells 240,000 papers a day,  Tuttosport 142,000 papers and La Gazzetta 362,000 copies, while selling 500,000 papers on Monday[3].

What’s not to love about this paper? It’s a Sunday morning tradition, wake up with papa, go buy Gazzetta at the local tabaccheria ( tabbaconist) and walk to your favorite café to have a lovely cappuccino before the mid-afternoon Serie A fixtures. I like to think of Italian media in Calcio summed up in the words of Gianni Brera – “Football is the most beautiful game in the world for all those who love it. Unfortunately, or fortunately, not all those who love football are able to understand it.”[4]