La Gazzetta dello Sport

La Gazzetta dello Sport [la ɡadˈdzetta ˈdello ˈspɔrt] (The Gazette of the Sport) is an Italian newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports.

History and profile

La Gazzetta dello Sport was first published on 3 April 1896, allowing it to cover the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens. The paper is based in Milan. Its role extends beyond news reporting and features, to direct involvement in major events, including (since 1909) organization of the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) cycling stage race.

La Gazzetta dello Sport is part of the RCS media group. The paper was published in broadsheet format until 2008 when its format was switched to tabloid. The newspaper, published on pink paper, sells over 400,000 copies daily (more on Mondays when readers want to catch up on the weekend's events), and can claim a readership in excess of three million. A sports magazine, Sportweek, is sold with other newspapers on Saturdays.

Although a wide range of sports are covered in the newspaper, football is given by far most of the coverage. With some 24-28 pages out of 40 devoted to the sport on a daily basis, much of the journalism is speculative and sensationalist rather than the pure reporting of matches. The paper has a good record for campaigning journalism, and played a significant part in exposing the 2006 Serie A scandal that rocked Italian football and led to the relegation of Juventus and points penalties for other leading clubs. The largest and best supported teams in Italy, and especially the Milan teams of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan, and Turin team of Juventus dominate the coverage.