Dan Sparks - Head Groundsman at Ashton Gate Stadium - focused on the multifunctional use of the Ashton Gate Stadium and the challenges for the grounds team during ESSMA’s Pitch Management Workshop.
St George’s Park was selected as the perfect host for the 2019 ESSMA Pitch Management Workshop because of their excellent reputation in the field of pitch management. As well as their remarkable business plan which sees the amenities being shared between professional sports teams and commercial guests, thereby ensuring year-round use of the facilities. Scott Brooks - Head Groundsman of St George’s Park - explained how they manage to balance the commercial use and use by professional sports teams while guaranteeing a high quality for all pitches on the premises.
ESSMA interviewed, Jan van Merwijk - Director Feijenoord Stadium - about their upcoming development project, Feyenoord City. Feyenoord City is a broad urban development including a new river-based stadium and a redevelopment of the current stadium. With the new 63,000 capacity stadium, Feyenoord Rotterdam wants to move the club forward in terms of commercial, organisational and team aspect. With the project, the revenue streams of the club should substantially increase due to additional ticket sales, higher revenues from hospitality, enhanced sponsor value and non-football events.
US Sassuolo recently officially opened its new training center, Mapei Football Center. The 45,000 m2 complex includes facilities for the first team, the youth teams and the supporting administrative services of US Sassuolo.
Read more on the ‘Save our shirt’ campaign of Huddersfield Town, the ticketbot at Hertha BSC, the cashless Red Bull Arena and more in ESSMA’s weekly industry update.
During ESSMA’s Fan Experience Workshop, Adam Piotrowicz - Director of Digital at Legia Warsaw - shared the club’s approach towards digital transformation and which tools they are using to improve fan engagement and data collection.
Over 20 club and stadium representatives from 13 countries including ESSMA Members Olympique Lyonnais, Legia Warsaw, FC Barcelona, Celtic FC, Malmö FF, FC Bayern Munich and Baku Olympic Stadium gathered at Allianz Arena for the first European event organised by ESSMA Stadium Partner, 24/7 Software.
ESSMA Corporate Partner SGL organised a showcase on 3 July at Brøndby Stadium. The event focused on economical grass management, with grow lighting systems in particular. In total, around 30 pitch professionals gathered to discuss and exchange information linked to pitch management. During the showcase both SGL and users of their grow lighting systems shared insights on the possibilities and opportunities for growing a high-quality pitch at the lowest possible costs.