13 minute read
ETIHAD ARENA GENERAL
BRINT JACKSON, GENERAL MANAGER, ETIHAD ARENA
THE REGION’S LARGEST MULTIPURPOSE INDOOR EVENTS VENUE, ETIHAD ARENA IS SET TO BECOME THE UAE’S LEADING ENTERTAINMENT LANDMARK. GENERAL MANAGER, BRINT JACKSON TALKS TPMEA THROUGH HOW THE ARENA IS DEALING WITH THE PANDEMIC AND SETS OUT HIS AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR THE FUTURE.
Etihad Arena General Manager, Brint Jackson.
Set on the stunning waterfront of Yas Bay, on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, Etihad Arena is a state-of-the-art indoor entertainment venue, offering world-class facilities and the ability to host everything from intimate gala dinners and cocktail receptions, to top-level international sporting events and electrifying concerts. The brand-new development has all the ingredients to become the UAE’s leading entertainment landmark, enhancing Abu Dhabi’s position as a global entertainment destination.
While this sparkling new facility is primed and ready to go, due to the global pandemic, we are still yet to see it operate to its full potential. The UFC Fight Island events earlier this year gave us a small taste of what the Etihad Arena has to offer, but according to General Manager, Brint Jackson, there’s plenty more to come. Here, the GM explains how the arena is navigating its way through the pandemic, shares details about the facilities that incoming productions can expect and reveals his ambitious plans for the future.
How has the pandemic affected the opening of Etihad Arena? Disney on Ice was due to be the first event to take place at Etihad Arena, in April 2020. Of course, that was postponed due to COVID-19, and we were finally able to open our doors for the first time in January this year for UFC Fight Island.
There has been a conservative approach to the re-opening of live events, which we agree with wholeheartedly. We consider ourselves lucky to live in a country where there is such a high level of safety, and the health and wellbeing of the residents is always the top priority.
Like the rest of the world, it’s likely to be a little while yet until we’re able to get back to full capacity and hosting major events regularly, which is what the arena was designed and built to do. However, we are very much up and running, and we are constantly updating our procedures in order to ensure that we work within the current guidelines. We’re looking forward to the continued rollout of the vaccine and we’re extremely positive that, in due course, we’ll be able to return to normal.
When did it become clear that UFC Fight Island would be the first event at Etihad Arena? The UFC events are part of a long-term deal with the Tourism and Culture Authority here in Abu Dhabi. They have done an excellent job on sourcing fantastic global content, but more than that, they did a great job over the pandemic to facilitate huge international events, such as UFC Fight Island, being held in Abu Dhabi during a time when almost every other global event had been cancelled or postponed.
The first few UFC Fight Island events took place at Flash Forum, then as soon as we were able to welcome spectators, we made Etihad Arena available to host the remaining shows.
What kind of measures were put in place to ensure everyone’s safety? Health and safety was the top priority throughout all of the UFC Fight Island events. Firstly, we had clear and concise messaging going out to all patrons and staff, so everybody knew exactly what they needed to do prior to, during and even after the event.
Social distancing measures were implemented, mask wearing was compulsory and sanitation points were available throughout the venue. As well as thermal scanning on entry, all attendees were required to produce a 48-hour negative PCR test using the Al Hosn app or a report from an accredited UAE medical centre.
How important do you think technology such as the Al Hosn app will be for you moving forward, in the short term at least? Things like the Al Hosn app are going to be
Etihad Arena General Manager, Brint Jackson.
critical to us being able to welcome back higher numbers of spectators in the near future. In short, the app displays a person’s test results from any accredited testing centre, allowing venues to quickly and efficiently check everyone’s status before they’re admitted to any event. Without all the hard work of the government putting these frameworks in place, it simply would not be possible to host events of any kind at the moment.
What kind of feedback have you received? The feedback we received was that everybody felt extremely safe inside the venue and, in general, there is a real desire for a return to live events – even if that means having to adhere to extra safety regulations. Here in the UAE, people are generally very accepting, and we didn’t face any difficulties with compliance.
A lot of the changes we made such as contactless payments, mask wearing, negative tests and social distancing are our way of life at the moment anyway, so we found that the guests understood the changes and accepted them. Looking at it from the glass-half-full perspective, our strategy has always involved going paperless and contactless.
Some other markets around the world have already adopted contactless technology much more than we have in the UAE so far, but the pandemic has definitely sped up this transition, which will only help in the long term.
Is the arena designed specifically to cater to sporting events such as the UFC, or is it truly multipurpose? I’ve worked in many different arenas and venues throughout my 20-odd years in the industry and one thing I can say with confidence is that Etihad Arena is definitely the most multipurpose space that I have ever seen.
We can host anything from an intimate 180-person cocktail reception, all the way up to an 18,000-capacity rock ’n’ roll show. Gala dinners, community events, ice skating,
swimming… it’s all possible. The way we can do that is through being able to operate in many different configurations. We’ve worked hard to make it incredibly easy for promoters to be able to manipulate the arena space to suit their needs. We can use curtains, we can block off sections of seats and the PA can be arranged into a range of different configurations quickly and easily.
How important is it to be able to switch configurations quickly? It is incredibly important. From a purely costeffectiveness standpoint, being able to turn around a space overnight gives us the ability to keep the arena operational for as many days of the year as possible. Every piece of in-house kit we have at the arena has been chosen with this in mind.
For example, we have a rollable stage from StageRight, which is among the first of its kind in the region. It’s one of my favourite things about our setup because it saves so much time on builds. Another thing I was very keen that we get right was event chairs. You tend to find that everybody goes to the same suppliers because of the cost factor, but we needed to make sure that what we ended up with was easily moveable yet still industry-leading in terms of comfort. Every purchasing decision we made in the arena fitout was with a view to giving the very best guest experience, while simultaneously reducing the cost of use for promoters.
What in-house technology are we likely to see? Our in-house PA is from L-Acoustics. Aside from being an amazing sound system, the fact that pretty much the whole industry has L-Acoustics in their rider meant that it was a natural decision for us to purchase it. Of course, you’re going to have the odd one-off show where a different sound system is specified, but in the vast majority of productions, L-Acoustics is the PA of choice.
What about lighting and video? While I felt it was important to keep the sound consistent throughout the venue, when it came to visual elements such as lighting, LED and SFX, they are so event-specific, we were keen to give incoming productions the option to bring in whatever they needed.
We offer options such as our four 4m by 7m LED screens, which can be configured either as a four-sided scoreboard or as IMAGs for concerts. However, we want to remain as flexible as possible and give show designers and promoters a blank canvas to create whatever event they like, so we decided against purchasing generic lighting fixtures or control consoles.
Similarly, we don’t handcuff promoters to using a specific production house to supply for shows at the arena. We have our own preferred rigging partner, Unusual Rigging, which takes care of the top rigging, but from those points, we’re happy for promoters to bring in any accredited UAE production company. We understand that promoters have their own favoured partners, and we don’t want to force anyone into working in any specific way.
How much of a focus has there been on infrastructure around the Etihad Arena? We’re lucky to be on Yas Island, which has essentially been positioned as one of the top global destinations in entertainment, leisure and business. We’re surrounded by theme parks, hotels, dining and retail options. So, we’re set up as an island to host multiple events at a time, welcoming thousands of guests at once. We’ve
Etihad Arena General Manager, Brint Jackson.
got ample parking, easy access to hundreds of nearby dining options for pre- and post-event, which always helps with ingress and egress as it means that people are arriving to our events over a longer period of time.
What about dining options inside the arena? Of course, we have our own concession areas for food and beverage within the area as well. We partnered with Imperial Catering, one of the top options in the region when it comes to event experience and large-scale catering. Not only are they entrusted with the event-day operations, but they are also incredible when it comes to gala events and more fine-dining options. They do everything from royal weddings to Oktoberfeststyle events, so they are incredibly diverse. Awards 2018. How important was sustainability in the design of the arena? This was a big one for us. It’s so important for us to be a green arena and we were in the very lucky position to be able to design a sustainable building right from the inception.
There are a range of features that contribute towards the building’s sustainability, from the self-shading illuminated façade, which provides adequate daylight while reducing overall energy consumption, to the various other energy and water-saving systems, which we anticipate will result in a saving of more than 20%.
We’re also working towards being free from single-use plastics. This aspect has been made more difficult during the pandemic, but looking forward, this is certainly one of our long-term goals. It’s something that everyone here – from our engineers, to marketing, to the owners – is really passionate about. Do you have a preferred promotion partner? We work across the board with a range of promoters. Obviously, some promoters will naturally do more shows with us than others – Flash Entertainment, for example, has always done many of the major Abu Dhabi shows, so we work extremely closely with them. However, we don’t have ‘preferred’ promoters – we work with everyone, from Live Nation, to Flash, to Done Events, Alchemy Project and a range of international promoters.
How much of an advantage does being indoor give you when it comes to summer events? It’s absolutely critical. Being able to expand the season here is such a bonus. That’s not to say we’re planning on necessarily doing major shows all year round at the moment because of the expat demographic here. However, while we might not bring a huge family show in the
middle of summer when many families typically go back to their home countries, we can certainly host events that cater to the demographic that we have in the UAE during these times. Whether that’s comedy, music or sport, we can change our configuration and extend or reduce our capacity to satisfy these needs, whatever they may be.
With the UAE now having two world-class indoor arenas, do you think the country could become part of a Middle East touring route? There’s no doubt about it. Having world-class facilities will absolutely help the UAE and in fact the Middle East to be part of the conversation when it comes to artists planning their world tours in the future. Now that we have permanent venues with permanent operating teams, multiple-city tours are a much more attractive option. Very soon that could mean jumping from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, to Saudi, to Bahrain. You can add Israel and Qatar in there now, too.
How much of a boost do you think the normalisation with Israel and Qatar will be? The reaching out that the UAE and Saudi governments have done has opened up so many opportunities that have never been available before. I’m interested to see who is going to take the first chance to link all the major cities in the region with a tour. It’s got the potential to be a real game-changer.
Pandemic aside, what are the main challenges you face? Historically in the region, it used to be a challenge to attract shows consistently. For many artists, the UAE was off the main route, but the country has now gained more traction and is an attractive proposition for big-name artists.
We also benefit from working directly with the Sports Council, which has helped put Abu Dhabi on the map as a leading destination when it comes to top-level sporting events.
We have the Formula One, the ITU World Triathlon and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship golf as regular events. We hosted the Special Olympics World Summer Games in 2019, and we have the FINA Swimming World Championships coming at the end of this year. Even during the pandemic with UFC Fight Island, we have proven the blueprint for hosting these world-class sporting events in Abu Dhabi. What are your future plans for Etihad Arena? In the short term, our goal is to bring events back safely and reignite the live events industry in a responsible manner. We need to get back to live events, but it’s vital that first and foremost, people are safe. All of our energy now is being put towards working with the government as well as all our stakeholders and suppliers to make sure that we’re in the best position possible to scale up quickly when the opportunity arises.
In the medium term, we talk a lot about guest experience and delivering that seamless experience that creates memories. That starts with knowing our audience and picking the right events for our various demographics, making it as easy as possible for guests and promoters alike to book, promote and enjoy experiences here at Etihad Arena.
In the long term, as the pandemic has shown, nobody can predict the future. However, we feel that we’re in an extremely strong position to be able to adapt to whatever comes our way. I am incredibly excited about our prospects for the long term. The sky really is the limit. Photos: Etihad Arena www.etihadarena.ae
20-22 APRIL 2021 | WWW.MONDOSTADIA-AGORA.COM
