SportsPro Stadiums and Venues Special Report 2014

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FEATURE | STADIUMS AND VENUES

The New Builds

The Estádio Olímpico João Havelange Stadium, or Engenhão, is being renovated to host athletics at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

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As 2014 draws to a close, gleaming new sports stadiums are rising up in all corners of the world, overcoming the economic challenges of the day. Each boasts a distinctive design and carries the hopes of team owners, federations or governments. Some are intended to be national symbols, many have been crafted entirely as revenue-generators, but a common theme is the desire to integrate technology which will enhance the fan experience. From Wi-Fi to acoustics, sightlines to surrounding amenities, architects and contractors have far more to consider than structure and safety when embarking on a modern major sports venue project. SportsPro has sought out a diverse collection of current stadium developments, renovations and upgrades as well as new builds, and pinpointed the features which will make them stand out when the building work has been completed and the sport begins.

Picture by: Nick Potts/EMPICS Sport

By James Emmett and David Cushnan

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FEATURE | STADIUMS AND VENUES

Entertainment and Sports Center (ESC), Sacramento, USA At the core of the plan that saw a Vivek Ranadive-led group buy the NBA’s Sacramento Kings in May 2013, the downtown Sacramento Entertainment and Sports Center got council approval a year later. The multi-purpose indoor arena becomes the new home of the Kings in 2016. City-funded to the tune of US$255 million, the 17,500-capacity ESC is part of a larger,1.5 million square feet retail, residential and hotel development. The arena will be lead architect Aecom’s 12th in the NBA, while Turner Construction, which built Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, broke ground on 29th October 2014.

Planned opening: October 2016 | Construction cost: US$477 million

FFR Grande Stade, Paris, France

Planned opening: 2017 | Estimated construction cost: â‚Ź600 million (US$745 million)

In 2017 the French national rugby team will move into its new custom-built home on a site in Evry-Essonne, 25 kilometres south of Paris and 15 kilometres from Orly airport. The 82,000-seater Grande Stade de Rugby is being funded by the French Rugby Federation (FFR), which currently rents the Stade de France where it is beholden to the vagaries of other events in its scheduling. = €

! / and up to 15 more events. Populous’ design !

corner suites, multi-level lounges, a !

Production of a tonne of steel generates

! and around 720 million tonnes of steel are produced in China every year, so lead architect NBBJ and local partner CCDI win points for greatly reducing the amount of steel needed for the Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium. The stadium bowl, which broke ground in 2011, is one element of the wider construction project for China’s largest sports park, covering 400,000 square metres along the Qian Tang riverfront. Such facilities could point the way to future major event bids from Hangzhou, a city of 8.8 million located on China’s east coast. 62 | www.sportspromedia.com

Credit: NBBJ

Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium, Hangzhou, China

Planned opening: 2015 | Estimated construction cost: Unknown

— ' " Games, Baku’s 68,000-capacity Olympic Stadium will become Azerbaijan’s national

| 6 of the pan-continental Uefa Euro 2020. Heerim is the designer of the venue, which

& ÂĽ; ! = % = % ! which has worked on other major Azeri infrastructure projects, responsible for the build. The stadium will be owned by the ~

! SOCAR is funding construction. 82,000 square metres of ‘green area’ has been earmarked for land immediately outside.

Baku 2015

Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan

Planned opening: February 2015 | Estimated construction cost: US$640 million

Credit: Populous

Casement Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Planned opening: 2015 | Construction cost: UKÂŁ77 million (US$122 million)

After the collapse of a plan to construct a stadium which would cater for Gaelic sport, rugby union and soccer on the site of Belfast’s Old Maze prison in 2012, the Ulster Gaelic Athletic Association decided to push ahead with Heron Buckingham on a major revamp of its Casement Park home instead. The venue, which opened in 1953, is now being upgraded, with capacity set to rise from 32,600 to 40,000 to create Ulster’s largest stadium. The project has been funded by a grant of UK£61.4 million " UK£15 million investment from the GAA’s central council.

Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, England The Jockey Club, which owns and operates Cheltenham Racecourse, got the go-ahead on a major development of the venue 6;<‘Œ time for the 2016 Cheltenham Festival. The concept is based around improving facilities for spectators, owners and trainers 6& grandstand. Contractor Kier was appointed early in 2014, with the project plotted to allow meetings like the 2015 Festival to take place with minimal disruption. The statues of legendary Cheltenham horses, including Arkle and Best Made, will be returned to the course once the new facilities are in place.

Planned opening: March 2016 | Construction cost: UKÂŁ45 million (US$71 million)

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FEATURE | STADIUMS AND VENUES

Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, USA Host of the Daytona 500, the Daytona Motor Speedway is undergoing a multiyear makeover. Facilities and grandstands along the nearly mile-long front stretch are being revamped, with the creation of 11 6 ~ { ' of a ‘Daytona Rising’ plan to improve the

inventory. Every seat will be replaced – there will be 101,000, potentially rising to 125,000 – with 53 new hospitality suites installed. International Speedway Corporation is privately funding the project. Barton Marlow is the contractor, with Rossetti leading master-planning work.

Planned opening: January 2016 | Construction cost: US$400 million

Estadio de Futbol Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico The 52,000-capacity Estadio de Futbol Monterrey will be the new home of Club de FĂştbol Monterrey, the Liga MX team owned by beverage giant FEMSA. Its distinctive asymmetrical armadillo shape, apparently inspired by the Cerro de la Silla mountain which overlooks it, was the work of HOK Sport (now Populous) and HOK Q Â’ }۠ “ % ;<<¢ The roof will cover 100 per cent of seats and has been designed for the ‘optimum distribution of sound’. According to the club, the stadium will have ‘areas of social interaction, creating a perfect atmosphere of privacy and security’.

Planned opening: June 2015 | Construction cost: US$200 million

Picture by: Nick Potts/EMPICS Sport

Estadio La Peineta, Madrid, Spain

Planned opening: June 2016 | Construction cost: â‚Ź270 million (US$335 million)

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_ Q ' # BernabĂŠu Stadium may have generated more headlines, but another major stadium project is underway in the Spanish capital. Estadio La Peineta, which opened in 1994, is being turned from a 20,000-capacity ¼¤!ÂŒ<<6

6 home of AtlÊtico Madrid. The La Liga champions plan to move in in the summer of 2016. The renovation project, led by ~ † ~ ! originally part of Madrid’s unsuccessful bids to host the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. An athletics track has now been removed from the plans.

De Nieuwe Kuip, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Planned opening: 2018 | Construction cost: â‚Ź200 million (US$248 million)

A project nearly a decade in the making years, as work begins on a major upgrade to Feyenoord’s stadium in Rotterdam. The club

its ageing home – De Kuip, as the Stadion Feijenoord has long been nicknamed, opened in 1937 – earlier this year. Chief among their priorities is to retain to the cauldron-like atmosphere of the current venue in the 70,000-capacity new version, while new training facilities will be built in the vicinity, making Feyenoord’s project one of the most visible in the wider regeneration of south Rotterdam.

New Mosaic Stadium, Regina, Canada New Mosaic Stadium will replace Mosaic Stadium as the home of Canadian Football League team Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2016. Located in the city of Regina, the new facility has been designed by HKS Architects and & ! 40,000 spectators but with a standard of 33,000. HKS is part of a consortium, PCL Construction Management, which also includes B+H Architects and TD Securities brought together to bring an open-air design, featuring a translucent spectator roof, to life.

Planned opening: August 2016 | Construction cost: US$244 million

New Vikings Stadium, Minneapolis, USA

Planned opening: 2016 | Construction cost: US$1.024 billion

The NFL’s latest billion-dollar venue opens in 2016. New Vikings Stadium will feature seven seating levels with a working capacity of 65,400. 8,000 seats will be at club level and above, split across seven separate ÂœÂŚÂœ žŒ< points of sale will enhance the Minnesota } %

‡ play at the similarly sized but ageing Mall of America Field – as will 11 lifts, 33 escalators and 2,500 parking spaces. The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority-owned venue was designed by an HKS-led group and is being built by Mortenson Construction. It will host Super Bowl LII in 2018. SportsPro Magazine | 65

FEATURE | FOOTBALL

The San Francisco 49ers’ new home in Santa Clara is one of the most technologically advanced sporting facilities in the world, but its opening months have been plagued by a series of teething problems. Chief operating officer Al Guido explains how he plans to rectify those early hiccups and why Levi’s Stadium has already proved to be a goldmine. By Ian McPherson. Photographs by Tom Kubik.

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hen you boil it down to its constituent parts, football is a numbers game: yards, tackles, # is the business of football, and when 6 ! #

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žœ = \#ŠÂ‘ ÂŚ ‹ ' # # ! € ‹ ' Â’ €‹“ _ Goodell in July this year, is the younger, more attractive replacement for their

! % Z % And making the move south has done ' ‹ ' # ' ‘¤¼ ! instance, have already guaranteed the \#ŠÂž<< ! while sponsorship sales, including

San Francisco 49ers chief operating officer Al Guido, pictured on the halfway line at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Friday 10th October

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FEATURE | FOOTBALL

Naming rights sponsor Levi’s has extensive branding throughout the stadium; fans can enjoy a loftier view from the venue’s open rooftop suite

/ ‹ ' \#Š;;< naming rights deal, have generated closer \#ŠÂŒ<< Q ! '

Â’#^‹“ ! which applies to every seat in the ¼¢!ÂŒ<<6 the right to buy a season ticket, has raised \#ŠÂŒÂŚ< ! žœ ' sales staff have come up trumps and, ! “We were in the bottom tier of revenues €‹ % Z %! Guido during an interview at Levi’s # † ! & 6 ‚ † ! ' # ^ # ' ‚^ '

6 €‹ was built for baseball it didn’t lend itself

> didn’t have any club spaces, we only had ¢< ! ! the sponsorship opportunities were limited based off the footprint and the layout of = opportunity to change the game from a > Âœ!<<< ' / > ! ' €‹ teams now in the three big buckets: ! %  # % ' and butter having spent a large chunk of his career selling suites and seats in major league football, basketball and ice % X / žœ ' ;<‘ž 68 | www.sportspromedia.com

& Z Q up to replace the outgoing Gideon Yu as ! ! spent four years working closely with the 49ers, their chief executive Jed York and # # former role as senior vice president of „ %6 | sports, entertainment and media

‹ X been a whirlwind, especially given the fact his remit is now far wider than it

{% business initiatives’ which now fall under his jurisdiction, Guido is charged with overseeing the fan experience at the venue – and for anyone who has followed the stadium’s early history, that has been a

‚= % % ! Â‚= % been the biggest concern that we’ve had = / We have moved 49 miles south of where we were before, we have infrastructure that’s very different from what we had at % Z % > ' with city streets as opposed to being > # run a major event, unlike the city of # €

! ! = were very used to large scale events and # ' Â = congestion in parking lots has certainly

allegations on the stadium’s rap sheet X events such as the friendly soccer game Q # of fans having to wait two hours to just = ! Guido says, was cause for concern at the time, but the 49ers have been working ‚ ' ' talking about a new building with new infrastructure, everyone gets really excited about the things that are going ! Â‚\

[problems] it’s almost as if sometimes the % ! { ' ' > ¤<!<<< % % ' ‚> ;ÂŒ!<<< %

‘¢!<<< % Z % We have two forms of public transit

~ % > What we needed to work on was the „ plans on a piece of paper, you can draw it all out on a blueprint, but until you see ¤<!<<< ' % ' % | % ! ^ % > ÂŒ< = ' / = ' just all us learning our fan behaviour; what our fan interaction with the place is Â

was also early trouble with the turf at the

Top-end hospitality in rooms like the Yahoo Fantasy Football Lounge is blended with environmental features, such as the 27,000 square foot ‘Green Roof’

stadium, which Guido admits nobody ƒ ‚ ! that’s not something that we didn’t focus on per se, it was just a hiccup in the fact that the sand-soil base mix on the bottom / ' % = ' | grass situation was something we didn’t %

— %

£ „ — % £ „ — think we were going to encounter folks £ > % "  =

enduring excessive heat during games, particularly if their seats were in direct ! # † large numbers of fans visibly opted to

seek shade on the concourses rather than watch the game, leaving substantial % = ! ! žœ ' % ‚> % # ^ % Z % % % ! \ † ' œ<!<<< ! Z ‘Œ!<<< water bottles that we were giving out at > ' % future such as misters and the like if it “We need to partner with the people at the stadium, we need to partner with the city to make sure people are hydrated, make sure people are wearing appropriate attire, we need to make sure

The 68,500-seater Levi’s Stadium is a better fit for football than the 49ers’ old home, Candlestick Park

the concourses stay nice and shady so = ' / ^ ' going to put a roof on the stadium, it’s

> ^ do anticipate those games early in the ‚> % > ' % % > '

! ' — % £ „ — % we’ve built areas that are very shady and £ „ ^ ' | ' /  Although there have been complications along the way, the stadium % ;‘

6 teething problems have faded and operations start running smoothly, 49ers fans are set to enjoy one of the most sophisticated game day experiences in the €‹ \ inside the stadium will give fans constant access to information and game replays, plus they will be able to order food and / another example of a team striving to improve their in-stadium experience to ensure fans resist the temptation to stay at When asked how exactly the 49ers convince their fans to leave the comfort { ' % ! ƒ ‚ ' challenge in professional sports, there’s

| % we really attack the at-home television SportsPro Magazine | 69

FEATURE | FOOTBALL

Guido was brought in primarily to sell suites and seats but his remit has since expanded considerably

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> ' it, we didn’t try to create things that ‘¢< > ! {> ÂŁ' ' convenience of sitting on your couch and getting as many replays and as much

' convenience of being able to deliver a pizza to your house or get up and walk '

being able to use your phone to text your ‚ ! { £' tell fans they’re going to be disconnected from the world for six hours, they’re = ' =

and beverage: could you get a drink £ > do it in just their club areas; we said ' £ ' a business operations challenge, and ' ž<<

> last game in an average of eight minutes — ~~ £ Food and beverage is nice, but content is king and the 49ers – who are now

# } ! perhaps the most forward-thinking technology hub in America – are well =

employs a dedicated content team | ‘;

such, fans using the in-house application in their seat have access to replays € ! ' ‚ ! {>

A 49ers fan welcomes a new era in Santa Clara ahead of September’s game against the Chicago Bears

^ % ’ ^ “ game get to watch one of the coaches do an interview at the end of the third | their hard earned money to sit in the ' £' = ' % > of having access to the team, to the coaches, the fans, and we can deliver that content to people on their phones and have it be somewhat personalised off % ' % ' / '  = ! however, between engagement and distraction, and the 49ers are keen and foremost, with the supplementary % ‚= way that we look at it is that’s the hero

! ! ‚= feature, that’s what people pay their † /

ÂŚ< another three and a half hours of time ' / ^ ÂŚ< ' eyes on exactly what’s going on on that ' % “Whenever we create something, whenever we do something on the marketing side or content side we always ask ourselves will it take away from the ! ' ! ' ! = '

KEY DEAL San Francisco 49ers – Levi’s

Levi Strauss & Co sits at the top of a sponsorship structure that also includes ten founding partners. The likes of AnheuserBusch, Sony, SAP, Brocade, Violin Memory and NRG Energy all pay signiďŹ cant seven-ďŹ gure sums annually. Levi’s US$11 million annual commitment is some way short of other recent NFL naming rights deals. MetLife pays an annual US$20 million for rights to New York’s Meadowlands Stadium, while Farmers Insurance also committed to US$20 million a year to put its name to an as-yet unbuilt NFL venue in Los Angeles. SportsPro Magazine | 71

FEATURE | FOOTBALL

Levi’s Stadium: America’s new hockey, soccer and wrestling arena

^

eyond selling tickets, sponsorships and hospitality suites at their new Levi’s # ! # Francisco 49ers have also boosted their 6 €‹ 6 Q / ‹ #

’Q‹#“ # * " | % ‹ ' # Q‹# international soccer matches in the

! team have also secured the rights for > X % ‹ Â’ X‹“ ;<‘Œ = ;<‘¼ ‹ ' # # ^ ‹ = !

‚„ ' \#ŠÂ‘ ÂŚ stadium and have it just play ten ` ' % ! Al Guido, the 49ers’ chief operating ‚ % # ! { ÂŁ' # ^ ‹ { ' = ' # ^

we built our device for; we didn’t want a bunch of people staring at their phones >

 " ! hospitality areas and corporate suites, which cost anywhere between \#ŠÂ‘ÂŒ<!<<< \#ŠÂŒ<<!<<<! world away from the shabby facilities % Z %! / / = % „ ! ! ' { ! social networking, and photo and video sharing partner’, were allowed creative input into a number of design and development decisions around their title sponsored Yahoo Fantasy Football ‹ † ! 6 ;¤!<<< | ! complete with its own hospitality area, and a whole host of energy saving 72 | www.sportspromedia.com

Mexico drew 0-0 with Chile in an international soccer friendly at Levi’s Stadium in September

^

‘œ¢Âž! ' ' > { ' ! X‹ outdoor game, which is going to have ¤<!<<< ^ 6 % % > Q 6 ¤<!<<< ! % >

Q‹# We feel the stadium itself can bring > good about the venue and what it’s ^ because the lion’s share of revenue # Â

technology, enabling it to become the \# ‹""— ! impressive inside and out, and despite ‚  ^ challenge facing the 49ers now is a big one: to monitor – or even manage – the Guido explains, large developments such as this often sprout new local business, “We need to focus on the infrastructure ‹ ' # ' available so we have a two million | | > % outside of our facility you have some temporary things that are happening right now; you have a golf course that’s under

> '

make sure that we focus on whatever happens outside of this facility that the žœ ‹ ' #

> ' % from parking stalls that are going to

We want to make sure the development %

‹ ' #

“What we’re really focused on now outside of the building is the infrastructure % % / % ! # €

% that was underdeveloped and underutilised and have really built that up but it didn’t = % and then it took probably another ten years for all of that infrastructure around % #

' ‹ ' # | Â

FEATURE | FOOTBALL

Falcons nesting Atlanta is undergoing a city-wide sports stadium construction boom. Between now and 2017, when the Braves open a new ballpark and the NFL’s Falcons move into a state of the art new facility, more than US$1.822 billion will have been spent on sports venues. According to Falcons president Rich McKay, overseeing the construction of the New Atlanta Stadium, it is a process that is pushing the envelope of both design and fan experience. By Michael Long

I

f stadium construction is as much about making an architectural statement as it is building a building, the New Atlanta Stadium certainly ! ! \#ŠÂ‘ ; billion project has all the hallmarks of a new breed of technologically advanced, strikingly designed, environmentally

„ ! recent renderings show, it is clear the new home of the Atlanta Falcons National Football League (NFL) franchise will not % Though conceived by 360 ! 6 which previously worked on the Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the mastermind behind the New Atlanta project is Arthur Blank, the billionaire

6 X — purchased the Falcons for a reported \#ŠÂŒÂžÂŒ ;<<; ‚X ! ! an iconic building that would be a true attraction,â€? says Rich McKay, the president € ‚X wanted a worldwide attraction to Atlanta where we could try to impact the fan experience and also create a building that would be a magnet for Atlanta: something that hasn’t been done before and would  6 ! ^ %' 6 / as “a piece of metal origamiâ€? and “a

6 6 Â % to its focal point: a fully retractable roof comprising eight interlocking panels which rotate to open and close, not unlike

A groundbreaking ceremony kicks off the three-year New Atlanta Stadium project in May 2014

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= panels, each made from a clear, polymer material whose opacity can be adjusted to control light, is designed to create a central oculus that will cast a pillar of _ ' Z ! ÂĽÂŒ6 { ' video board will afford fans in each of the venue’s 65,000 seats a 360 degree view of the game as seen from a sideline ‚ ' % ever attempted to create the scoreboard that we’re going to create in this venue so that is something that we’re trying to make a signature piece,â€? adds McKay, who in January was installed as president of AMB Sports & Entertainment Group, the Falcons’ newly formed stadium management division established to run the building as a tenant of the Georgia > Â’ > “! ' Elsewhere, on the northeast side of the facility, the middle concourse and upper

The concept for the New Atlanta Stadium has a fully retractable roof, made up of eight rotating, interlocking panels, as its distinctive centrepiece

{ window’ that will provide uninterrupted views of the Atlanta skyline, while additional glass façades on the exterior of the building will open in tandem with the \

' 6 catching design is an equally ambitious € ! 6 yet unnamed Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise which Blank purchased in April ;<‘¤

= | ‘¤ to the venue and indeed was already foreseen in the stadium’s design, with a mechanised draping system set to convert ÂŚ<!<<<6 Q‹#

& % In addition to those two anchor tenants, the New Atlanta Stadium will also stage { ' hosted at the Falcons’ current home, the — =

football in the form of the Georgia

# Z ! %6 6 ^ #

'

! % All in all, the New Atlanta Stadium will boast a strong calendar of domestic events when it opens in the spring ;<‘¤ X ! spectacles – Super Bowls and Fifa World ‡ = ! ! % ‚> ' 6 purpose venue – it’s going to try to attract worldwide events, it’s going to try > ! ' # ^ ! ” % Âą € € ! championship in football – you’ve got to build a venue that can live up to those ! Q ‚> ' trying to get on the world stage and play the biggest events in the world in your venue, then I do think you need to change Â

Of those standout events, the Super Bowl is invariably a priority for any €‹ football game showcases a host venue, city or region quite like the league’s annual showpiece and if recent history is anything to go by, the Falcons and Atlanta can reasonably expect to take the coveted Indeed, the NFL has grown partial to giving its greatest prize to its newest " * ' MetLife Stadium played host to Super Bowl XLVIII, just four years after ;<‘¼! # €

žœ ' 6 ‹ ' # # have its turn at not even two years old, 6 } % Stadium in Minnesota has already been ;<‘¢ % — ;<‘Œ The next available edition, then, is ;<‘œ! Q “been in the league for too longâ€? to ever # SportsPro Magazine | 75

FEATURE | FOOTBALL

Bowl, he believes Atlanta, which last ;<<<! ‚  â€œOur hope is not that we host a Super Bowl but that we host Super Bowls, # ^ ! Â‚> ' ‘œ ;< # ^ they award those – it’s probably a year away ‡ ' %  Like McKay, Blank is equally reluctant to predict the outcome of what is perhaps €‹' “It’s the only secret ballot that’s done in the NFL so you never know,â€? he says, speaking during a conference call ahead of the Falcons’ NFL International Series — ‹ † ‚„ work closely with and they all want to be ' = time we were in it and bid for a Super Bowl, I thought I had 31 other votes and  The ace up Blank’s sleeve this time round, however, could well be in the terms of the agreement underpinning the New # ' >

6 / ! 6 now the norm in the United States but the split of that partnership tends be a key determinant in whether a new venue 6 # ^ In the case of the New Atlanta # ! \#Š;<<

through state bonds secured by a portion 6 been used to pay off debt on the Georgia — ;< =

! \#Š¢<< million, is being stumped up through €‹' 6ž scheme for funding new stadium builds, which will contribute the full allowance \#Š;<< ! € ! who will also take on construction cost overruns as well as operating risks in exchange for capturing ticket, concession, sponsorship and parking revenues derived ^ %! personal foundation, has also committed to investing US$15 million in regeneration / “In this case, the private side of the partnership is going to be a much greater percentage than we would typically see and, as our budget has grown, it has become a bigger percentage because we have all the upside, all the revenue ! ^ % ‚€ ! obviously it’s a huge investment but given all the activities that will take place in the stadium, we think the investment will % ‚ ! 6 private partnership, given the amount of public funding that will be invested in the stadium, given the uniqueness of its location in downtown Atlanta and how important it is to the city and the region, and given that the stadium itself will be very iconic, I’d like to think our partners will look on that and at some point # ^ ' ! '  The increased commitment from the Falcons – whose lease at the Georgia — ;<;<

!

;<‘¤

‡ & Blank’s desire to build the new stadium / — 6 ;< years, team owners have, to some extent, held their city to ransom by threatening relocation, but Blank was always set on ! authorities in Atlanta a somewhat unique “Arthur is a downtown Atlanta person and I think he wanted this project in that location both for the future of downtown Atlanta and to try to impact ! Q ‚> you limit your goal that way – don’t create competition amongst counties or even locations, if you ever consider moving a team – it makes it probably ” Âą ^ % it also creates an opportunity to create 6 6  Blank’s insistence upon the downtown € & in other areas, particularly in relation to — ! ‘œœ;! > — /

grounds – “it wasn’t going to affect us on the revenue side very much,� says McKay, “so we weren’t certainly willing to invest in that� – the Falcons proposed 6 — / = > ! however, responded with understandable concerns over creating direct competition

Glass panels on the exterior of the stadium will create a ‘window to the city’, creating views for fans inside and allowing passers-by a glimpse of the interior

76 | www.sportspromedia.com

BY THE NUMBERS The New Atlanta Stadium

between the two venues, and Blank had “In the end, Arthur agreed to make a single solution, a new retractable roof stadium that we knew was going to cost us a lot more but was truly in the best interests of the state and the region and the city,� says McKay, who led

^ %' “I give him a lot of individual credit for doing that because there aren’t that many owners that I know that would have been > 6 for us, the Falcons, and potentially MLS by building an outdoor stadium, I think he looked at the greater good and decided that this was in the best interests of a lot more people – ie the state, the region and ^

 X % Q ! 6 / expected to create more than 4,500 new jobs and around US$400 million in total economic impact across the state of ! ! / sparked criticism from those who believe

public funds would be better spent ! “Whenever there is anything written ! consensus by the public is typically

your way through that and explain the ! Q ‚ ! case that was made in Atlanta by Arthur was: we’ll take the same tax that was — ‘œœ; ‡ ÂŚÂœ ÂŚ 6 ‡ will take that exact same percentage – no growth in it, no change – and we’ll let you contribute that towards the new stadium '

> ' % all the cost overruns, take whatever else it is, and because their contribution was capped, because the risk was all going to go to us, I think that was an easier sell and “In this case, our tax is coming from 6 that the stadium is necessary to drive the # % argument and one that, when you had the % !  McKay himself has unique expertise when it comes to negotiating NFL stadium

manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ‘œœ¢ construction of Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, and he remains the only current league executive who has led negotiations

X

= has inevitably served him well in Atlanta, even if the two projects might have ‚ Tampa it was different in that we had new owners that bought the franchise,� begins Q ‚= = % team, but if the team couldn’t be kept and a deal couldn’t be reached then the team “That was a different negotiation and certainly a different experience than this one where we were trying everything we could to create consensus towards a very narrow goal, which was getting That wasn’t easy to achieve but in Tampa our goal was simple in that we needed a new stadium and we needed it real soon and we were going to use the leverage

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Legends Global Sales has been asked to fill the venue’s luxury suites; the stadium bowl, dominated by the ‘halo’ video screen, has a soccer-specific mode

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FEATURE | FOOTBALL

After many months of back and forth discussions, the Falcons ended up signing 6 % them at the New Atlanta Stadium for the ÂŚ<6 over two years ahead of the move, McKay reports that the team is now “pretty far alongâ€? in the process of securing agreements are already in place but, at the time of writing, none have been formally

> rights partner, which is being sought with the help of Premier Partnerships, McKay insists the Falcons are taking their time to ensure they get “the right partner that ! set by the owner, that aligns with what the  On the ticketing side, sales are also ‹ # (LGS) has been brought in to oversee all aspects of the sales strategy for luxury suites, as well as for premium

% ‹ % the Vikings to the north, the Falcons 6 centre to offer prospective customers the

6 6 ! 6 ! % When sales of personal seat licences (PSLs) are fully ramped up in the coming months, the US$1 million centre will ÂŚÂŒ 6 McKay has also been busy making new executive hires as AMB Sports &

The Falcons will leave the Georgia Dome in 2017

78 | www.sportspromedia.com

Arthur Blank (right) with MLS commissioner Don Garber at the launch of a new Atlanta soccer team

Entertainment works to ensure the New Atlanta Stadium is an industry leader in # * % ! experienced facility manager who spent seven years overseeing operations at Seattle’s Safeco Field, has been brought on board as general manager of the venue, having been attracted by the Falcons’ commitment to innovation and > % * % is Jared Miller, who joined AMB in March ` Q % ! — % up the newly created position of head of

` — ! who was appointed in September as the ' = “We’re trying to do everything we can to be on the front edge of the fan

! Q ‚= ` the fans are very high and Levi’s Stadium has set a really good example of what can > 6€ > ' take the learnings from that and you can be assured that we’re looking to raise the > ' % really tries to move the needle as far as

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