Industry update: more on pitch management, reusable cups and esports

Read more on FC Schalke 04’s augmented reality app, the 2019 FIFA eNations Cup™, the #passonplastic initiative at London Stadium and more in ESSMA’s weekly industry update.

Sustainability & SMART

• West Ham United and London Stadium are running a trial encouraging fans to use reusable cups with the hashtag #passonplastic. For the remaining home games of this season, all draught beer will be be served in reusable cups at no additional cost. With this project, West Ham United aims to raise awareness of the environmental issues caused by plastic usage and to stimulate its supporters to reduce their use of single use plastics. In addition, 100 green cup collection points will be installed around the stadium to ensure all reusable cups are collected.  

Fan Experience & Hospitality

• Schalke 04 wants to improve fan experience through Schalke Quest, an augmented reality app.Users are able to discover their local region, answering questions on the club’s history or founding a virtual fan club. Moreover, fans can win rewards including player collectable cards and trade virtual objects to complete their collection. The augmented reality app will offer a new virtual experience for Schalke 04 fans around the world, as well as improving the stadium experience on matchday. 
• 1. FC Magdeburg sells the seats of the stands that will be revamped to its fans and will donate the proceeds to their youth development center. Supporters had the opportunity to buy a stadium seat for €15 during the Sitzschalen-Happening. On 18 March, renovation works started at the Northern stand of 1. FC Magdeburg’s MDCC-Arena. 

Pitch Management

• LaLiga launched an app for greenkeepers to step up the effectiveness of registering all necessary details on the stadiums’ pitches. The app replaces a paper report and will provide LaLiga Santander and LaLiga 1l2l3 clubs with detailed reports on the condition of their pitch. Club ground staff can use the app to register all necessary details on the playing field, from the local weather forecast, the last time the surface was used, how hard the ground is and the irrigation programmes being used. 

General News

• London will host the first edition of the FIFA eNations Cup™ on 14 and 15 April. Representatives of 20 national teams from all six confederations will compete in individual (1v1) and team (2v2) matches on both Xbox and PlayStation during the group stage, with the top two nations in each of the four groups progressing through to the knockout stages.

• ECA announced the launch of its new visual identity. The new visual identity features a redesign of the association’s logo and accompanying visual graphics, which will be formally presented at the 22nd ECA General Assembly in Amsterdam on 25-26 March.

• FC Bayern München presented its FC Bayern World project, which will be opened at the end of 2020. The seven-storey building will include the largest FC Bayern München flagship fan shop, two restaurants, a Bavarian-style boutique hotel of approximately 30 rooms and an event location. With Allianz Arena located on the outskirts of Munich, this project will reflect and strengthen the club’s ties with the city. 
• LaLiga introduces an intelligent virtual voice assistant to enhance and improve the contact with its fans. Calendars, standings, results and player and club statistics are among the content offered by this service. The technology will be available across multiple devices including Bixby, Google Assistant and Skype. With this assistant, LaLiga intends to create a new communication channel with its fans, offering a new form of consumption and personalized interaction. The short-term goal is to continue improving the virtual assistant and to add new features.