Tiger House opens doors for ESSMA Connect
FC Utrecht has built a home for its mascot Tiger and Tigergirl in the center of the stadium.
All fans, but especially the youngest, are welcome there on match days to interact with the mascots and enjoy fun-filled moments. Reservations are not necessary family fans can walk in at any time and color, play a game of table football, or chill at the picnic table.
Daddy, where does Tiger live?
This simple question was the start of this project. Tiger has been long time part of the club, being active in the stadium, but children wondered where he lived. Utrecht FC decided to come up with an original answer to this question and designed the Tiger House. The strategy behind this idea is that this focus on the growth of families in the hometown Utrecht will pay off in the long term. The early and fun memories created in the minds of the young fans can lead to future fans for life. And in addition, the parents (and current season ticket holders) are pleased with the service. In short, Tiger and Tigergirl apply for a place in the hearts of children and families.
Remarkable is that the investments were made after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time in which few clubs invest in fan engaging projects in the stadium. Nevertheless, FC Utrecht felt this was a good and budget-smart choice to make with good outlooks on return in the future.
First speaker of the ESSMA Connect-series
ESSMA Connect is a new digital touchpoint for our community to learn about each others projects. As the name suggests, the goal of these ESSMA Connect sessions is to connect professionals from the stadium industry in these times when physical meetings are impossible. To do this we will be organising an ESSMA Connect session every 2 weeks and will allow one of our members to share insights on a project that they have developed in the recent past. Kicking of the very first session of ESSMA Connect was Stef Van Der Weide & Sonny Van Kranenburg from FC Utrecht.
Next up: Almere City FC shares insights on testmatch with 1000 fans.
Almere City FC will play a test match with 1,500 fans on February 28th. This is about 30% of the total capacity and various COVID-19 protocols will be tested during this match against Cambuur FC. Ezra Eland, safety & security responsable will share his learnings one week later with us! Want to see if you can pick up some best practices for your stadium?Register now and join us on March 5th, at 3PM CET
Register now for March 5th, 3 PM CET
Always on the outlook for new stories!
ESSMA aims to bring the stadium community closer together and share insights and learning. Don't hesitate to contact us with your story!