It was an extraordinary September for Italian volleyball: Both national teams, male and female, triumphed in their respective World Cup in the Philippines and Thailand. A back to back only to the USSR in history (twice, first in 1952 and then in 1960). The blue world championship will also be celebrated at the Quirinale where the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday 8 October, will receive the boys coached by Fefè De Giorgi and the girls led by Julio Velasco. What are the numbers of volleyball in Italy between listening and practicing data and why are we so strong in this sport? Let’s find out together.
In those who practice volleyball in Italy: comparison with other sports
In 2024 with 356,759 members was the Fourth sport more practiced in Italy. Compared to 2023, the members grew by 6%. In addition to the members, the movement today has a large basis of managers, coaches and referees: in fact, over 63 thousand managers committed daily to make companies work, more than 17 thousand coaches and over 14 thousand referees between officers and associates. Numbers that are intended to increase in the coming years thanks to the successes of Egonu and Michieletto: such a boom in practice and media had occurred in the eighties and nineties, thanks to champions such as Zorzi, Giani, Lucchetta or the same CT De Giorgi (the only one able to win five World Cup, three as a player and two as a coach).
The largest strength of Italvolley is the capillarity: according to the data of the CONI of 2023, Volleyball is the second sport after football by number of sports clubs affiliated in the area. In support of these there are the 21 regional committees and the 65 territorial committees, for a total of 86 active Presidia in every corner of the country.
How much volleyball followed in Italy
Volleyball It is also confirmed in the Top 5 of the sports most followed by the Italians. In a 2024 demos survey 31% of the interviewee fans declared Volley’s “passionate”. The interest remained almost in line with respect to about ten years ago.
There were 3,350,000 viewers, with the 25.8% sharewho followed the final Italy-Bulgaria in the male live on Rai2. The last act of the Italy-Türkiye women’s tournament, broadcast on Rai 1, had kept even 4.3 million spectators glued with the 33.5% share.
Descending in the detail of the appearances in the Palazzetti, the last season of Superlega (the old A1 series) recorded a +11.34% in regular season compared to the previous championship, with the average (almost 3,000 appearances per race) higher than the last 30 years, and a +7% in the 26 playoff races (here the average rose to almost 4,000 spectators). For the female A1 series (Conegliano is Italian, European and worldwide reigning champion), however, the turnout grew by 8% compared to the previous season and 78% compared to the first data recorded in the 2011-12 season.
Can volleyball follow the same virtuous parable as tennis?
As we have noticed, tennis is the second Italian sport both for members and for media interest: an exploit son of the victories of the current N ° 2 of the world, Jannik Sinner and the National Cup Davis, Bi-Campione in 2023 and 2024. Already because the triumphs, in addition to the many hours of viewing on TV, are one of the main reasons why a sport is chosen at a youth level. The successes of the Italian volleyball of the last period, between 2024 (gold of the girls in the female) and 2025 (the two World Cup won in September) can represent a real watershed for the future of this sport, opening the doors to another generation of phenomena.
