All ready for Sanremo 2022. At 20.40 on Tuesday 1st February the curtain will rise on the 72nd edition of the Festival. Also this year we will find Amadeus as conductor and artistic director who in the previous two editions brought home excellent results in terms of audience and revenues. Two fundamental voices for Rai, which places great emphasis on the event: just think that the five days of the Sanremo Festival alone have an 5% of the annual public TV revenues.
The accounts in your pocket at the Sanremo Festival
The Sanremo Festival is a huge machine, but above all very complex. Precisely for this reason it has happened more than once in the past the accounts did not add up. In the three-year period 2009-2012, in particular, Rai spent more than 20 million euros for each single edition, ending up collecting just over half of it.
In the last decade though, the music has changed. And not only because Sanremo has decided to rejuvenate itself, trying to expand its audience and attract an increasingly younger audience, but also because attention to the budget has become a priority: one less super international guest is better than a negative balance at the end of the year. A diet that seems to have paid off especially in the last two years: the 2021 edition in fact closed with total costs of 17,4 million euros e 38 million revenues, a record achieved despite the lost revenue from ticket sales (there was no audience in the hall due to the restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic). In 2020 the profit had instead been 19 million, with 18 million in costs and 37 million in turnover.
The costs of Sanremo 2022
Even in organizing this year's edition, the utmost attention was paid to the budget. There are still no official confirmations, but according to rumors, compared to 2021, the resources available to Amadeus should have decreased by a further 5%. Calculator in hand, the total cost of Sanremo 2022 should therefore slightly exceed 17,3 million euros.
Let's try to analyze the largest expenditure items. The first is undoubtedly the one concerning the renewal of the agreement with the Municipality of Sanremo. The two-year agreement was signed last December and envisages that public television will pay an annual fee of 4 euros.
From Zalone to the Maneskin, the fees of conductors and guests
The fees of conductors and guests also affect the budget. The host Amadeus, as for the previous two editions, should receive a fee of between 500 and 600 thousand euros, a figure that takes into account the 5 evenings of conducting, but also the commitments carried out in the last 5 months as artistic director.
There will be five the co-hosts, one for each night. The cachet of Ornella Muti, Drusilla Foer, Sabrina Ferilli, Maria Chiara Giannetta and Lorena Cesarini should amount to around 25 thousand euros each.
Guest chapter, always one of the most expensive. On the matter, Rai has maintained absolute confidentiality, but based on the rumors, a Checco Zalone, Fiorello (which will be there again this year, but for one evening only), Cesare Cremonini and Laura Pausini a compensation of around 50 euros each should have been agreed. On the other hand, the expense for is higher the Maneskins, winners of the last edition and of the Eurovision Song Contest, as well as international musical phenomenon of the year. For the band led by Damiano David, who will perform during the first evening, the cachet should be around 80 thousand euros.
Infine, per the singers in competition a reimbursement of expenses of around 48 thousand euros should be foreseen.
The revenues of Sanremo 2022: advertising and sponsors
The final evening of the Sanremo Festival 2021 was seen by 10,7 million spectators, placing it in second place overall behind the final of the Italy-England European Championship. The average audience was instead 8,3 million viewers. This year Rai has decided to further raise the bar and is aiming for increase ratings by 10% compared to last year.
A lens that also brought with it a increase of 15% of advertising rates. And therefore for telepromotions from 45 to 60 seconds long, you have to shell out 406 thousand euros per evening (2 million and 30 thousand euros the cost of a package). For the billboards, however, the cost set by Rai Pubblicità is 27 thousand euros.
In this context, however, we must remember that this year there will be 4 ad stops less for early evenings due to the new European directive on audiovisual media, implemented by the Government, which limits "advertising crowds". To try to "limit the damage", Rai therefore decided to cancel the commercials between 18 and 20.30 pm, eliminating only one during the event.
As far as sponsors are concerned, this year Tim will no longer be the sole sponsor of the event. In his place will be Eni, but the figures of the agreement are not known.
Sanremo 2022: how much do tickets for the Ariston cost?
As mentioned, after the stop imposed in 2021 due to the restrictions due to the pandemic, the public will return to the Ariston Theater in 2022, all with super green passes and Ffp2 masks. Needless to say, the tickets sold out days ago, despite a not exactly affordable cost: to attend the Sanremo Festival seated in the stalls the cost is equal to 1.290 euros for all 5 evenings, 672 are needed from the gallery.
