LEGNANO – The numbers of the event, including web and television views, feedback on social media and, above all, advertising revenue, are all growing compared to the previous edition. This was the starting point of the meeting organized by Palio Foundation to take stock of an event that began on Tuesday 27 February with the display of the costumes of Legnano Palio at the European Parliament, which culminated last Sunday at the Mari stadium and which will end in June with the Long Night of the Churches.
In the Coat of Arms room of Palazzo Malinverni, the Foundation’s leaders took stock of the situation. An important fact is the increase in advertising revenue who finance the event: the 105,000 euros in 2022 became 110,000 in 2023, and doubled to 221,024 euros in 2024. This growth will be difficult to reverse.
During the collateral initiatives on Sunday, the Medieval Festival at the Falcone e Borsellino Park attracted around 3,000 people, with 300 children engaged in medieval games, while the stadium Mari, sold outhosted over 8,000 spectators.
From 1 April to 30 May, the Palio websites attracted over 64,000 unique users and recorded 207,000 views, according to Foundation statistics. The Facebook page it reached half a million people with 25,000 interactions, while on Instagram 48,000 people were reached with 8,500 interactions. Sunday’s TV ratings show an average of approx 43,000 spectators for the live broadcast on Antenna 3, with a share of 2.35% in the time slot between 4.30pm and 8pm, the second highest in Lombardy. Live streaming views exceeded 135,000.
Here perhaps we see concretely that apart from Legnano and the Legnano area the appeal of the palio is not striking elsewhere. Few, very few spectators in front of the TV and live broadcasts.
Moreover 8,000 people in the stadium is a very small figure compared to the past. Not to mention the queues at the entrance to the stadium itself: exhausting with people waiting for up to 30 minutes before entering the pitch.
On the race: the sand brought confidence towards the horses, but also the boredom of the race itself. Whoever goes first wins in 99% of cases.
A Palio not as exciting as in the past. A Palio that has almost become a script of itself without any new features except for the collateral events which are limited to the medieval festival.
A Palio that will be in the future will want to survive beyond Legnano will inevitably have to change the formula and location.
