ADI European Clubs Turn to ADI for Stadium Upgrades Ahead of New Season

For over 32 years, ADI have been providing world-class stadium solutions to football clubs across Europe, ranging from the Premier League and Bundesliga, to the EFL and SPFL.

As it stands, their state-of-the-art LED technology sits within 54 football stadiums worldwide, while they also run the full matchday production at 28 of those. It doesn’t look like there is any slowing down either, as the Preston-based company have been commissioned by more than 15 European football clubs to deliver a range of stadia upgrade projects this summer, in preparation for the upcoming 2023/24 season.

Clubs from the Premier League, Championship, League One, SPFL, Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie have all partnered with ADI to digitally enhance or transform their stadiums ahead of the new campaign, with the project details for Southampton, Aberdeen and Mansfield already revealed.

The influx of projects in recent months underpins the growth of the business, but also the shift in mentality towards fan engagement and maximising revenue streams through in-bowl digital displays. It is not just in the UK either, with four Dutch clubs choosing ADI to revolutionise their stadiums following a recent European roadshow.

Aside from their expertise in LED and content creation, it is ADI’s unprecedented end-to-end solution that adds the most value to their customers – a service which cannot be matched by anyone else in the market.

Unique End-to-end Service

What separates ADI from the rest of the field is their unique ability to manufacture, install and maintain the LED technology, as well as create and manage the content that goes to the displays in real-time – all of which can be achieved remotely from their in-house production galleries via a Live Venue Broadcast

Network.

Discussing the process, Head of Engagement Claire Fitzgerald-Firth said: “People only usually see the end result, but these projects are months, sometimes years, in the making and consist of an in-depth consultation process.

“Naturally, they all begin with an initial conversation, where our commercial, creative and operational teams come up with innovative concepts and ideas that provide a solution to the problems our client currently has.

“Once a brief has been agreed, we move onto the manufacturing phase, where all the bespoke drawings and specifications are brought to life in intricate detail. Every screen is custom-made for that specific installation – there is no one size fits all.

“It is then passed over to our engineers who will oversee the structural work and installation. Meanwhile, the Systems team will lay the fibre network and connectivity to enable the content delivery.

“Rigorous testing of the hardware then takes place, with content created and tested in all different formats and resolutions. If the club has opted in for our matchday production services, this is when our relationship just gets started, as we work with them to deliver the most visually engaging and immersive matchday experience possible.

“All our technology comes with a service and maintenance package that guarantees longevity and cost-effectiveness, and ties into our ambition to provide world-class customer service for our clients.”

Unlocking Engagement and Commercial Opportunities with LED

The main reason why football clubs choose to digitalise their in-venue signage is to maximise the breadth of fan engagement and commercial opportunities that LED can offer - a key driver for the 15 clubs undergoing digital makeovers this summer. From a matchday experience perspective, clubs are having to be more creative than ever to entertain their fans through content, from the moment they take their seat to the moment they leave.

ADI CEO Geraint Williams commented: “Anybody can go out and buy large-format LED screens and have them installed into a venue, but it is the vibrant, creative content being delivered to them that brings them to life.

“We’re seeing an increasing number of clubs turn to us for a full matchday production service because of the huge value that our creative teams can bring from a content perspective.

“Fan engagement is becoming more and more important to the wider matchday experience. Generating an immersive and interactive experience inside the stadia bowl is what makes supporters keep coming back and that is something that our new clients are invested in.”

“Commercially, we’re helping lots of clubs unlock their potential, both on a local, national and global scale –our work at Burnley FC is a perfect example of this.

“Our screens and digiBOARD perimeter solution gives clubs a stadium-wide platform capable of promoting various brands at the same time. This then allows a club’s commercial team to expand their advertising and sponsorship inventory due to the increased advertising space available and when all the displays are used together in a Total Stadium Takeover, it can be an extremely powerful activation.”

European Roadshow

The first leg of ADI’s European Roadshow saw them travel across the Netherlands visiting professional sports clubs, culminating in four new deals being won. Partnering with Azerion - a leading digital entertainment and media platform – ADI’s second leg is set to commence in October, where they will visit clubs in Germany and Belgium.

The Tour is being done in a state-of-the-art, airconditioned pod kitted out with a host of ADI’s latest interactive digital platforms and gives clubs the unique opportunity to see engage and interact with the technology in their back yard. Workshops, live demonstrations and Q&A sessions are also part of the collaborative 90-minute session, with an informal lunch rounding things off at the end.

For more information, visit www.roadshow.adi.tv. If you would like to book the Tech Tour to come to your venue, please email claire.fitzgerald-firth@adi.tv

Southampton Football Club

Ahead of the Championship season, ADI installed two large-scale digital platforms for Southampton Football Club, as they look to transform the look and feel of St Mary’s Stadium.

After a consultative process, The Saints chose to bring in stadia transformation specialists ADI to replace the existing 33.5 square metre screens in the Chapel and Northam stands and upgrade them with two superwide 72 square metre displays that feature ADI’s new proprietary MTX technology. The decision to upgrade to a 10mm 32:9 display and move away from the traditional 16:9 format will provide additional content zones for in-game club communications, brand activations and live match feeds – all of which can be displayed simultaneously.