What Christchurch could see in a new stadium: international trends in stadium design
WILL HARVIE Last updated 05:00, August 19 2017
Perth Stadium
Perth Stadium and precinct should open early next year and includes many innovations in stadium design that are popular in the United States. Many of those trends could be implemented in Christchurch.
Many stadium owners are struggling with the same problem. Watching a match or event from home is more comfortable, costs less and takes less effort than trooping off to the ground for a live experience.
The response has been broadly similar – make being in the stadium more fun.
"We focused from the beginning on building a unique fan experience," Arthur Blank, owner of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, said of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium that will open later this month.
Perth is building a $1 billion, 60,000-seat extravaganza that will host AFL, rugby, league, soccer, cricket and entertainment events when it opens early next year. According to marketers, the stadium is designed for "fan first" experiences.
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Stadium owners and teams can't change the rules of a sport but they can change the environment in which fans experience the game, especially if they are planning a new stadium.
The Christchurch Stadium Trust – owner of the transitional AMI Stadium in Addington – was asked to deliver a pre-feasibility study on a new multi-use arena for Christchurch by the end of July.
It's almost certain the trust has looked at international trends in stadium design and will be looking to incorporate those that make sense for Christchurch into the proposed arena.
So what are those trends?
More seating options
Perth's new round stadium will have 13 ticketing options. General admission seats won't really change, although every seat will be at least 50cm wide and will include a cup holder.
The real options come at the premium end and it's no surprise stadium operators in the US have targeted these richer customers as well.
So-called "club seats" are typically sold to season ticket holders and are more comfortable and wider. Buyers have access to better food and drink, more toilets and sometimes private entrances and other perks.
Higher up in the premium market are luxury suites, also called corporate boxes, for high rollers and corporate big shots.
Luxury suite numbers peaked in the North American professional sport stadiums in the early 2000s, according to a 2015 study by economist Aju Fenn of Colorado College.
They're expensive to lease and fitout and users often have to buy tickets to the match or concert on top of the lease. Food and drink for guests are often extra too.
In existing stadiums, owners are stuck with these spaces so they've been innovating to keep selling tickets. At Chase Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona, for example, an area in the bowl has been fitted with a swimming pool and spa pool with room for 35 fans.
KC Alfred
New seating options include swimming pools, like this one at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.
"We want the stadium to resemble features we have at our own homes," Derrick Hall, the Arizona Diamondbacks' baseball team' president and CEO, said.
The Jackson Jaguars, an NFL team in Florida, have taken the idea further by converting one end zone into a Fan Entertainment Zone with cabanas, pools, tables, umbrellas, and waiters delivering food and drink.
Prices aren't cheap but include all-you-can-eat and drink. It's a party zone that caters to those who aren't necessarily attending the game for the sport.
"What could possibly be better than going to a football game and then watching a pool party break out all around you," enthused a reporter.
This might not work at a Crusaders match in mid-winter but a rock'n'roll concert pool party could be fun.
Another trend seen in the US and Perth is luxury suites at field level and on the midway line.
Sometimes dubbed "coaches clubs", these premium seats are placed between the opposing teams' benches, giving fans new sight lines and insight into player and coach behaviour on the sidelines.
Access to players is getting big.
At Dallas Cowboy games, for example, some football fans can access a bar in the tunnel players, cheerleaders and mascots use to access the field before kick-off, at halftime and after the final whistle.
Bars, TVs and humungous screens
In Perth and the US, fans can buy tickets but never sit in their seats. Instead, they'll spend the entire game in a bar and restaurant overlooking the pitch. Waiters sling food and drink and customers cough up even more cash.
Televisions are everywhere, including in toilets. The idea is that fans never miss a moment of the game or event even if they're not in their seats. Perth Stadium will have over 1000 TV screens spread throughout the interior.
Meanwhile,the number of stadiums boasting they've got the biggest, widest, brightest and greatest big screen on the planet is beyond count.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium features a 17.5 metre tall big screen that encircles the entire stadium at roof height.
It will provide 5900 square metres of live action, highlights and "isolation cameras" that follow one player or sequence.
Perth will have two 340sqm screens that are "some of the largest in Australia".
US Bank Stadium
An LED light show changes the mood during a halftime show at a Minnesota Vikings game.
Better light shows
Lights for night games and indoor arenas have long been one colour – bright – and gleamed at either full power or no power.
New LED lighting technology changes the on-off status quo. At Eden Park in Auckland, LEDs have been installed in the bowl and outside. They use about 10 per cent less energy and require less maintenance.
Last month, Mt Smart Stadium also switched to LEDs. "The players will be able to see more clearly, the fans will be able to view a better product and the television broadcast will have a sharper picture," said Paul Nisbet, director of Auckland Stadiums.
But LEDs offer more than that and overseas stadiums have made lighting part of the spectacle. At US Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, LEDs bathe the bowl in purple – the Vikings' home jersey colour – but there's no limit to the colours.
Other LED installations can tie into the sound system and flash, strobe and bounce along to rowdy rock'n'roll during game breaks.
Sport team as social network
Fans are a self-defining group with passion for the same team. Catering for social media in arenas is becoming much more important because one selfie of a fan having a blast at a match is some of best and cheapest advertising available.
Catering for social media can require extra wi-fi infrastructure, for example, within the stadium precinct. And stadiums and teams are pushing out apps to advertise specials, upgrades, replays and the like.
Meanwhile, it's likely broadcast rights for sport and events will change from one monopoly provider to more distributed forms online and on devices. Twitter will stream NFL games this season, for example.
Perth's new stadium can take 5000 drop-in seats, taking capacity from 60,000 to 65,000 for "rectangular sports" like AFL and Wallabies matches. Temporary seating is used at AMI Stadium, Hagley Oval and many new stadiums in the US and Europe.
Retractable roofs, accommodation
Since it became clear that Lancaster Park was munted, there have calls for a roofed stadium in Christchurch. Many have identified Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium as the way forward because it has a roof as well as natural turf.
But technological changes – especially lightweight but strong and translucent fabrics – mean more retractable roofs are being seen in stadiums overseas. Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta features a roof that opens and closes like a camera aperture. This is an illusion but the video is cool.
The Atlanta stadium will cost more than US$1.6 billion and seat 71,000 for gridiron so isn't an exemplar for Christchurch.
The point is that roofing technology is innovating quickly.
Incorporating a hotel into a stadium structure has been around for decades and some locations have been selling apartments in the building as well.
Restaurants open on non-event days make sense depending on the stadium's location.
And one last thing: World Rugby has approved an artificial turf for use in union matches. Sacrilege? Maybe not.
- Stuff
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