From Fan Parks to Live

From Fan Parks to Live Sites: The Politics of Pseudo Events DR DAVID MCGILLIVRAY & DR MATT FREW GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY

Presentation coverage y Fan Parks and Live Sites: The Context y Methodological preoccupations y Germany 2006 – key themes y Glasgow 2007 – key themes y Reclaiming public space y Power space y Consuming space y Conclusions y References

Historical context y 2004 European

Championships in Portugal first ‘pilot’ of Fan Park concept/Fan Embassies y 2006 World Cup attracted 13 million visitors across 10 Fan Parks from Berlin to Munich y 2008 European Championships in Austria/Switzerland hosted Fan Parks in each hosting city y Now a central institutionalised contractual obligation with hosting sporting ‘mega events’

y UEFA’s signature European

tournaments also on board y UEFA Cup Final (2007), Glasgow, Scotland – ‘fan zones’ hosted in city centres y http://www.eveningtimes.co. uk/videos/qt/160507uefacup /

Methodological issues y Three ‘cases’: { {

{

{

Germany 2006 World Cup Glasgow 2007 UEFA Cup Final Beijing Olympics Live Sites, 2008 Participant observation: Presence at Germany 2006 & Glasgow 2007 Ù Visual recording of ‘Fan Parks’ & ‘Fan Zones’ Ù

{

Observation: Ù

{

Media sources (newspapers, ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ sources, TV coverage)

Interviews: Germany 2006 ‘vox pox’ interviews Ù Glasgow 2007, stakeholder interviews Ù

Germany 2006 – Key Themes y Fan Parks at each host city y Deliberate and intentional strategy to ‘welcome’ the world to Germany

– overcoming national stereotypes {

“Symbolise their acceptance in the international community” (Allison & Monnington, 2002: 107)

y Typically held outside of city centre business districts – in municipal

spaces (e.g. Olympic Park, Munich) y Designed to manage ticketless ‘fans’ and create global ancillary spectacles alongside ‘real’ event y Spaces designed to encourage ‘performance’ and facilitate consumption – only main sponsors logo’s permitted y Extremely successful – the template for subsequent sporting events (e.g. European Championships, Olympics)

Glasgow 2007 – Key Themes y City hosted event as a means of reinforcing brand identity { City Marketing Bureau in lead role – Scotland with Style brand: { “as the city’s official place marketing agency…our task was to ensure key objectives were met and all opportunities maximised to deliver an outstanding event for Glasgow” (Scott Taylor, Chief Exec, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau) y ‘Fan Zones’ intentionally located in city centre (George

Square)– to exploit business potential and animate the city y Managed space with control and consumption as defining metaphors y Citizens invited to participate – as performers as part of the theatre show being staged

Glasgow 2007 – Key Themes y Managed space with control and consumption as defining

metaphors y Risk-rating governed approach to spatial location: Police said the all-Spanish final was a "low-risk" match and a "fan festival" with entertainment and beer gardens has been planned for the city centre (bbc news)

y Containment and consumption could clash e.g. imperative

to generate economic return over qualification to host major events: {

A question of managing public order/public safety in an ‘experience economy’ (Pine & Gilmore, 1999)

Re-negotiating public space y Fan Zones as a revitalisation of public space { Placement of ‘festivals of fun’ in central civic spaces (parks, city centres, squares) { Attracting families, visitors, locals to share spaces – communitas (Chalip, 2006) { ‘Public’ demonstration of identity – whether local, national or globalised { BUT they attract specific sort of performer, as the event space created correlates with a pre-defined subject position that enacts ‘self-observation and self-regulation’ (Rose, 1999: 45)

Power-space (Koskela, 2003) Disciplinary techniques now found in ‘fields of play’, (Danaher et al, 2000) where a whole range of activities, machinery, techniques and subject positions, which entail the gentle punishment and quiet coercion of disciplinary power, are employed.

These bring a gaze to bear, opening up individuals to an evaluating eye and disciplinary power (Ball, 1990) Fan Parks/Fan Zones as ‘managed arenas’ Manufacturing and accentuating intense dramatological experiences (Roche, 2000) BUT within a predominantly ‘disciplined set of spatial practices’ (Frew & McGillivray, 2008: 181) Control and containment the dominant priority – a feature of the specific s of travelling sports fans Audience is objectified, normalised and spatially located - given privatisation of public space this satisfied the remit of public order agencies

Consuming public space Fan Parks/Live Sites easing the means of consumption (Ritzer, 1999) The civic (public) colonised by consumption logic Carlsberg’s investment in ‘branded spaces’ Sponsor family ‘rights’ to dictate behaviour YET, these public spaces hosted by local authorities accountable to citizens - who owns these spaces?

Conclusions: the Politics of ‘Pseudo’ Events y y y y y

y y y

Fan Parks/Live Sites are contrived, manufactured spaces of liminality They serve a place marketing function and are clearly ‘managed spaces’ They contribute to city branding messages They do not, revitalise public spaces as they exclude and work to a privatised logic Organisers of the ‘pseudo events’ of fan sites wish to adopt tried and tested techniques of branding, marketing, pricing, ancillary product sales, safety, staff (or ‘cast’), performance and the like’ (Cloke and Perkins, 2002: 525) But, as ‘civic’ spaces (for all?) become branded spaces (for consumers), so specific disciplinary practices are enacted to secure specific outcomes Citizens are essentially passive spectators as they accept civic spaces being gated for the purposes of hosting events which often have little direct relevance to their lives Rather than being lived spaces (social space) for the city’s residents they become a theatre stage for visitors. The performances staged thereafter are distilled, edited, imprinted and ‘packaged’ and circulated to further reinforce the aspirational branded identity pursued by the city’s place marketing agencies. The question for public policy makers is whose space is this, for whom is it secured (by cameras, barriers, police, stewards) and who is excluded or marginalised in the process?

References y Cloke, P & Perkins, H.C. (2002) Commodification and Adventure in New y y

y y y y

Zealand. Current Issues in Tourism, 5 (6), 521-549 Frew, M & McGillivray, D (2008) Exploring Hyper-Experiences: Performing the Fan at Germany 2006, Journal of Sport & Tourism, 13 (3), 181-198 Koskela, H (2000) ‘The Gaze without Eyes’: Video Surveillance and the changing nature of urban public space, Progress in Human Geography, 24 (2), 243-265 Marcuse, P (1997) Walls of fear and walls of support. In Ellin, N (ed), The architecture of fear, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 101–14.

Websites http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6658581.stm (accessed 25/11/08) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6664731.stm (accessed 25/11/08)