In Poland, football matches have a very important social and economic role. As a result, experts from the football and stadium industry have been working on plans for the re-opening since April.
Read more on Johan Cruijff ArenA’s pop-up restaurant, Visit Mallorca Estadi, Bundesliga Match Facts and more in ESSMA’s industry update.
The competition in Poland has restarted a few weeks ago and several Ekstraklasa competition rounds have already been played. How did the Polish clubs prepare for it? As 25% of fans are allowed inside the stadium, how to decide which fans can enter? Which social distancing guidelines will they have to follow? And how to adapt the crowd management flows?
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
Read more on the season ticket campaigns of PSV and Royal Antwerp FC, virtual fans at LaLiga and more in ESSMA’s industry update.
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.
In this period of physical distancing, European clubs are more dependent on digital and audiovisual ways to keep in touch with the fan base. Platforms such as YouTube-channel help to engage with fans and to build a brand.