ESSMA interviewed both Piotr Bielecki, Deputy Competition Director at Ekstraklasa, and Krzysztof Szumowski, Operations Manager at Legia Warsaw, to learn more about Ekstraklasa’s restart and its new guideline which allows for a limited amount of fans to attend the matches (with a maximum stadium capacity of 25%).
The main challenge for restarting operations in the stadium is the installment of all hygienic measures and requirements. Once that was covered and a hygienic officer was appointed, Borussia Mönchengladbach felt they faced the most difficult hurdle
Allsvenskan and Superettan, the highest divisions in Sweden, have kicked-off its 2020/2021 season with 2.5 months delay. ESSMA interviewed both Robert Johansson, Head of Communication at Swedish Professional Football Leagues, and Ola Gällstad, Project Manager at Malmö FF, to learn more about their preparations towards the postponed season.
Obviously, stadium experience had disappeared since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent closure of nearly all football stadiums in Europe. Season ticket holders had to miss out on seeing their team play.
Vissel Kobe is one of the leading clubs in the J.League with a sustained ambition for excellence.
All stadiums are confronted with the question how to offer added-value to the sponsors? Evidently, there is a severe impact for sponsors on their stadium visibility as there are currently no matches with public and a limited number of matches behind closed doors which are broadcasted on national TV. As a European stadium association, we saw different creative ideas arise from several stadiums, driven by other insights but nevertheless, all adding branding opportunities for their sponsors. All stadiums were confronted with the question how to offer value in this time period?
How does segmented hospitality influence stadium development? Is there little difference with mainstream hospitality or is it worth the extra effort? Two top clubs of the Premier League are convinced it pays off.
On April 23th, ESSMA hosted its first webinar with Francesco Gianello, Stadium & Facilities manager at Allianz Stadium. An interesting session, with numerous questions in the Q&A was the result.