While Los Angeles was buzzing with the excitement of Oscar Week, the Italian community added its own signature event to the city’s cultural calendar with the debut of the Italy-America All Star Game, a unique basketball gathering that brought together professionals from the entertainment industry, business leaders, institutions and members of the Italian-American community.
The game was played at the Intuit Dome, the new home arena of the Los Angeles Clippers, turning the NBA venue into a meeting point for Italian and American creatives, entrepreneurs and cultural figures during one of Hollywood’s most important weeks of the year.
Originally created as a celebration of the Italian-American community, the Italy-America All Star Game has evolved into a platform where sports, culture and networking intersect. Over time, the event has become a way to strengthen connections between Italy and the United States, using the universal language of sports to bring together people who collaborate across film, culture, business and the creative industries.
The evening opened with a live performance by Italian singer-songwriter Cristiano Cosa, who performed a medley of classic Italian songs that was warmly received by the audience.
Among the guests attending the event were Raffaella Valentini, Consul General of Italy in Los Angeles, Academy Award–winning producer Jonathan Sanger, actress Cristiana Dell’Anna, singer Shelea, actor Jacopo Rampini, and Olympic champion Alessandro Campagna, along with professionals from across the entertainment and creative sectors.
The Los Angeles edition follows two previous events held in Detroit, but this new chapter carried particular significance. Hosting the game during Oscar Week in one of the world’s capitals of the film industry turned the event into a unique moment of connection between institutions, entrepreneurs and professionals who work every day to build cultural and creative bridges between Italy and the United States.
“Events like this show how powerful sports can be in connecting communities,” said Raffaella Valentini, Consul General of Italy in Los Angeles. “The Italy-America All Star Game is not only a moment of celebration for the Italian-American community, but also an opportunity to strengthen dialogue between Italy and the United States through culture, business and the creative industries.”
Event organizer Emanuele Scamardella also highlighted the significance of bringing the event to Los Angeles:
“I’m very proud to be here at the Los Angeles Clippers arena during Oscar Week. Right after the NBA game, it was our turn to take the court. On the floor there was a mix of Italians, Italian Americans and Americans — all part of the same community. Our goal is to export this model of community built around sports and health.”
In addition to the game, the event also included free health screenings for the community, organized in collaboration with Campus Salute, reinforcing the initiative’s broader mission of combining sports, wellness and community engagement.
With its debut at the Intuit Dome, the Italy-America All Star Game marks a new milestone for the Italian and Italian-American community in the United States, demonstrating how sports can become a powerful platform for cultural exchange, networking and collaboration between the two countries.
