What is RAI Sport?
RAI Sport is the sports output of RAI, the Italian public broadcaster. The Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy describes RAI as “la società concessionaria in esclusiva del Servizio Pubblico radiotelevisivo e multimediale” — the exclusive concessionaire of the public radio, television and multimedia service.[1]
That status rests on a chain of instruments. The ministry records the reform law 220 of 28 December 2015, a presidential decree of 28 April 2017 renewing the concession, and the statement that “La concessione ha durata decennale a decorrere dal 30 aprile 2017” — a ten-year term running from 30 April 2017. The activity itself is regulated by a national service contract between the ministry and RAI, currently the one covering 2023 to 2028.[1]
The lineage is longer than the current instruments. The Italian Parliament's archive of the bicameral RAI commission records the earlier framework — law 103 of 14 April 1975, law 206 of 25 June 1993 on the company holding the public service concession, and law 650 of 23 December 1996 — together with a presidential decree of 28 March 1994 approving the State-RAI convention.[3] The date on which RAI itself was constituted as a company could not be established from a primary source retrieved for this page.
What does RAI Sport cover?
The obligations are written down. Article 7 of the 2023-2028 service contract, headed “Sport, salute e stili di vita sani”, requires RAI to develop public-service programming that promotes sport including from the standpoint of health, to give “ampio spazio alle discipline cosiddette minori al fine di valorizzarne la diffusione e la pratica” — ample space to the so-called minor disciplines so as to encourage their spread and practice — and to cover women's sport and sport practised by people with disabilities. The same article provides for the acquisition of “diritti sportivi relativi alle discipline olimpiche e paraolimpiche e agli eventi, nazionali e internazionali, di maggiore rilevanza”, consistent with available public resources.[2]
The obligation is not new in kind. The service contract approved by presidential decree of 29 October 1997, in the parliamentary archive, already required at article 2 “programmi e telecronache degli avvenimenti sportivi nazionali ed internazionali riguardanti sia gli eventi di principale richiamo sia le discipline cosiddette minori”.[3]
A separate regulatory instrument shapes what must be free to air on any Italian broadcaster. AGCOM's council adopted an updated list on 29 April 2026 of events of particular relevance to society, requiring access for at least 80 per cent of the population: Italy's national football team matches, Champions League and Europa League semi-finals and finals involving Italian clubs, the Six Nations with Italy, Rugby World Cup semi-finals and finals with Italy, the Giro d'Italia, Formula One and MotoGP races held in Italy, and the decisive phases of the world championships in basketball, volleyball and water polo involving Italy. A further set — the Coppa Italia final, Conference League semi-finals and finals with Italian clubs, tennis grand slam semi-finals and finals with Italian players, and ATP and WTA 1000 events with Italian players — takes effect on the expiry of existing contracts rather than immediately.[7]
How large is RAI Sport's audience?
The measured figure with the clearest date attached is from the Winter Olympic Games staged in Italy in February 2026. Adnkronos reported on 7 February 2026 that the Milano Cortina opening ceremony, broadcast live on Rai 1 from 20:02 to 23:30 on Friday 6 February 2026, drew 9,272,000 viewers and a 46.2 per cent share on Auditel measurement; the nearest competing programme that evening, on Canale 5, drew 1.87 million and a 12 per cent share.[4]
Auditel is the Italian television audience measurement body, and its sample-based SuperPanel and census-based software development kit are the instruments behind the figures used across Italian sports broadcasting.[4]
No continuous audience series for RAI's sports output as a whole could be retrieved for this page, and none is stated here. The ceremony figure above is a single dated measurement of a single programme, not an average.
Since when has RAI Sport existed?
RAI's sports obligation can be dated through the public-service instruments rather than through a founding announcement for the sports service. The parliamentary archive of the bicameral RAI commission records the service contract approved by presidential decree of 29 October 1997, replacing one that had expired on 31 December 1996 and running to 31 December 1999, with sports programming written into article 2.[3]
The present framework dates from the 2015 reform law and the presidential decree of 28 April 2017, with the concession running ten years from 30 April 2017, and from the 2023-2028 service contract in which sport is article 7.[1][2] The founding of RAI as a company, and the date on which a distinct sports directorate was created inside it, are different questions and could not be answered from sources retrieved for this page.
On the Olympic side the dated anchor is the rights award of 16 January 2023, described below, which covers four editions of the Games from 2026 to 2032.[5]
Why does RAI Sport matter in Italy's sport?
Milano Cortina 2026, staged in Italy from 4 to 22 February 2026, is the clearest recent case. The opening ceremony on Rai 1 on 6 February 2026 was watched by 9,272,000 viewers, a 46.2 per cent share.[4]
The rights behind that coverage were settled three years earlier. The European Broadcasting Union announced on 16 January 2023 that the IOC had awarded exclusive Olympic media rights in 49 European territories for 2026 to 2032 jointly to the EBU and Warner Bros. Discovery, covering Milano Cortina 2026, Los Angeles 2028, the 2030 Winter Games and Brisbane 2032, with every EBU member undertaking to broadcast more than 200 hours of a Summer Games and at least 100 hours of a Winter Games.[5] The EBU release lists Italy among the 49 territories and among those in which Warner Bros. Discovery holds “every moment” exclusive rights.[5] MilanoFinanza reported the same day that RAI would carry the Games free to air and on digital platforms through the EBU, with Warner Bros. Discovery holding the pay-television and streaming rights.[6]
Beyond the Games, the service contract obliges RAI to carry minor disciplines, women's sport and disability sport, which is a different editorial remit from a rights-led sports channel, and the AGCOM list guarantees that a defined set of events reaches audiences without payment whichever broadcaster holds them.[2][7]
References
- Ministero delle imprese e del made in Italy — RAI, Radiotelevisione Italiana: concession and service contract. Accessed 2026-09-19.
- Contratto nazionale di servizio tra il Ministero delle imprese e del made in Italy e la RAI, 2023-2028, article 7. Accessed 2026-09-19.
- Camera dei Deputati — archive of the bicameral RAI commission, contratto di servizio and governing laws. Accessed 2026-09-19.
- Adnkronos — Milano Cortina opening ceremony on Rai 1: Auditel figures, 7 February 2026. Accessed 2026-09-19.
- European Broadcasting Union — IOC awards exclusive 2026-2032 Olympic Games media rights in Europe to the EBU and Warner Bros. Discovery, 16 January 2023. Accessed 2026-09-19.
- MilanoFinanza — Olympic television rights to 2032 for Warner Bros. Discovery and RAI, 16 January 2023. Accessed 2026-09-19.
- Calcio e Finanza — AGCOM updates the list of events to be shown free to air, 6 May 2026. Accessed 2026-09-19.