One month after the end of the FISU World University Games Torino 2025, it is useful to summarise the results achieved by the event. This was the purpose of the press conference held today in the Sala Colonne of the Palazzo Civico in Torino, in the presence of the President of the Torino 2025 Organising Committee, Alessandro Ciro Sciretti, the Councillor for Sport and Major Events of the Municipality of Torino, Domenico Carretta, Claudia Porchietto, Undersecretary to the President of the Piedmont Region, Jacopo Suppo, Deputy Mayor of Torino Metropolitan Area, and Adolfo Lorenzi, Matilde’s father and promoter of the foundation of the same name.
Representatives of the University of Torino and the Politecnico also spoke at the meeting, namely the Vice-Rector for Institutional Communication and Student Relations, Prof. Cristopher Cepernich, and Prof. Tania Cerquitelli, the Vice-rector for Society, Community and Programme Implementation at the Politecnico.
President Sciretti opened the press conference by explaining the data related to this 32nd edition of the World University Games, which has been held in Torino and the Olympic Valleys from 13 to 23 January 2025.
During the 10 days of the FISU World University Games Torino 2025, more than 10,000 people came from all over the world. In particular, the 6 competition venues where the 13 disciplines were held in 12 different cities – Torino, Pinerolo, Pragelato, Torre Pellice, Bardonecchia and Sestriere – were invaded by more than 2565 athletes and staff from the 54 delegations that came to Piemonte from all over the world, with a number of nights spent in a hotel equivalent to 26,500 nights spent in a hotel (equal to 72 years in a row), distributed between Pinerolo, Bardonecchia, Fenestrelle, Pragelato Rua, Borgata Sestriere, Sestriere, Cesana, Bardonecchia and Torino. The number of people accredited for the competitions was over 15,000, while the total number of tickets sold exceeded 100,000. The opening and closing ceremonies, the exhibition gala at the Palavela and the semi-final and final competitions were all sold out. 114 committee members, 75 internship trainees, 2099 volunteers. There were 2099 volunteers, ranging in age from the youngest barely 18 to the oldest 87 years old (more than 16,000 shifts covered).
More than 150,000 meals were served, 44,550 passengers used public transport on the GTT, SFM metro and Trenitalia lines (including accredited participants, volunteers, guests and staff), with more than 6,500 metro journeys.
The cultural programme organised by the Committee registered 9,000 bookings for the FISU Village, 50 meetings in the ICE Cube and 1,200 bookings for the exhibition at the Archivio di Stato.
On the media side, the FISU network collected around 1,000 hours of linear TV coverage around the world and 140 hours of live coverage on Eurosport, while the Opening Ceremony was estimated to have an average of around 85 million views, in addition to more than 10,000 online publications tracked. The Committee’s social media channels attracted 694,404 unique users during the Games, with 33,093 user interactions on the channels and 10,957 interactions through comments, tags, re-shares and likes.
From the point of view of the “economic value of media visibility” of the event, the Eco della Stampa monitoring system quantified that the publications on the Games from October until the end of the event achieved an AVE – Advertising Value Equivalency – of € 10.772.411, broken down into €3.224.533 for press publications, €2.293.460 for publications on the web, €3.047.042 for TV reports, €88.821 for radio reports and €2.118.555 for releases on social media, across all the different sections and themes involved. To these results must be added the numbers for international press reviews, which amounted to around 16.000.000 €, mostly related to web articles
Furthermore, for the first time in the history of the Universiade, the Torino 2025 Committee was involved in the preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment case history. The event was analysed using a model presented by Dr. Ropolo, President of the Scientific Committee of Event Green, the first environmental offsetting service designed for events. This is an innovative tool for quantifying the event’s CO2 emissions and investing in concrete projects that return value to the territory to achieve a positive environmental impact. The activities carried out by the Committee include preventive measures to reduce emissions with the “Make school (and sport) more sustainable” project, the programme to raise awareness of sustainability issues among young people, and the planting of trees, which will be looked after by schools in the near future.
Finally, the amount raised by the committee – through the sale of tickets, for which 1 euro was donated – in favour of the Matilde Lorenzi Foundation, the charity partner, was announced: 27,210.00 euros.
The symbolic cheque was handed over by Committee President Alessandro Ciro Sciretti to Adolfo Lorenzi, father of Matilde, the young national skier who died in a tragic accident during a training session last October, who commented: “This extraordinary collaboration with the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games represents much more than a simple partnership for the Foundation: it’s a concrete opportunity to promote safety on the slopes and to raise awareness among young athletes and fans of the value of prevention. Thanks to the FISU’s decision to donate 1 euro for every ticket sold to our Foundation, we have reached a truly significant figure. This contribution will allow us to continue investing in research, training and the development of new solutions to reduce risks in skiing. It is a very valuable gesture that will help us to continue Matilde’s dream: to make skiing safer for everyone. I would like to sincerely thank the FISU, the Torino 2025 Organising Committee, everyone who bought a ticket, the athletes and the families who shared this experience with us. Your support is not only an economic help, but also a strong signal that encourages us to continue our commitment with even more determination”.
Alessandro Ciro Sciretti, President of the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games Organising Committee: “The numbers presented today tell the story of a successful event, an event that was not ‘just’ sport – an area in which our athletes achieved excellent results, especially in the ice disciplines – but also and above all passion, sharing, fun, a meeting of different cultures, exchange, planning, vision. An event whose communication has given our territory great visibility, both nationally and internationally, from an academic, tourist and sporting point of view, with an important media echo in the press, on the web and on the many social channels activated both by the institutional actors involved and by the many young athletes who took part in the Games. Next week, the International University Sports Federation will take the Torino 2025 Committee to Cairo at the FASU, the African University Sports Federation: another opportunity to promote the Piemonte System in the world. These results are indeed the result of the work of the Organising Committee of the Games, but above all of the synergy between all the institutions and bodies that have participated in this great event, proving that what really counts to achieve success is teamwork. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have contributed to the success of the Torino2025 FISU Games. Your commitment, your passion and your participation have been decisive in making this a special occasion that Piemonte will remember for a long time to come.”
